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2021 Sport 4 Life Grants Serve Girls of Color in 23 States, Expanding into the Native American Community

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FOUNDING PARTNER ESPNW, ALONGSIDE MORGAN STANLEY, THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY AND THE KATIE & PERRIE FUND, JOIN WOMEN’S SPORTS FOUNDATION IN EXPANDING THIS IMPACTFUL INITIATIVE

New York, NY (October 27, 2021) – The Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF) announced the 2021 grant recipients of the Sports 4 Life program, a national initiative to increase sport participation and retention of African American and Hispanic girls, and now Native American girls as well. A total of $294,000 has been awarded to 42 organizations across 23 states, including Washington, D.C., helping to fuel and diversify sports opportunities expected to serve nearly 8,000 across 31 traditional and non-traditional sports.

Sports 4 Life was co-founded by WSF and espnW in 2014 based on the knowledge that while sports participation offers tremendous life-long benefits – from improved physical health and self-esteem, to better grades in school and enhanced leadership skills – girls of color are disproportionately excluded. The program seeks to close the gap by strengthening and expanding the opportunities for sports participation available to young girls of color. With the knowledge that Native American youth are disproportionately impacted by poverty, inadequate healthcare, along with a higher risk of obesity, WSF has expanded Sports 4 Life to serve Native American girls, including American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Additional funding provided by Morgan Stanley, The Walt Disney Company and the Katie & Perrie Fund is allowing Sports 4 Life to support 42 organizations this year, which will reach 7,898 girls — 87% of whom identify as Black or African American, Hispanic or Native American.

“The Women’s Sports Foundation believes that all girls – regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, ability, zip code or family income – deserve equal access to the lifelong, transformative benefit of sports,” said Deborah Antoine, CEO of the Women’s Sports Foundation. “We are proud of the Sports 4 Life initiative, its enduring impact, and our expansive reach to include Native American girls.  We are so grateful for our partnership legacy with espnW, and our shared imperative to positively impact the lives of girls across the country.” 

Sports 4 Life supports programs that help girls in four foundational areas – leadership, confidence, self-esteem, and perseverance – fostering girls’ physical and emotional health and academic success. Later this month, WSF will be rolling out a new discussion guide focused on developing girls’ confidence and supplementing last year’s guide on leadership. 

“At ESPN, we believe that we all have a very important role to play in creating a more inclusive and equitable society,” said Kevin Martinez, vice president of Corporate Citizenship at ESPN. “Sports has the ability to transform lives, and we are proud that with the Women’s Sports Foundation, our funding through Sports 4 Life is continuing to foster strong recruitment, engagement and retention of girls of color participating in sports.”

The Sports 4 Life initiative strengthens and expands sport participation opportunities for young girls of color through its grant making, leadership training and capacity-building efforts. Since its inception, the initiative has funded 170 organizations across 35 states, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands, providing $1.7 Million in grants to 69,000 girls participating in 34 sports. Half of the girls reached by Sports 4 Life programming were not previously participating in sports with regularity, and nearly all girls were interested in continuing sports after participating in Sports 4 Life funded programming. 

Learn more and meet our 2021 grant recipients here.

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Puma Has Its First Women’s Basketball Collection

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By Devine Blacksher

“Every other sports brand is taking a male-centric approach,” says author, costume designer, stylist, and #Rockmom June Ambrose while explaining the vision behind Puma’s first women’s basketball collection. “They’re keeping it safe with mesh shorts and tank tops. My whole entire career has been about taking risks, tapping into my authentic intelligence to make decisions for a consumer who I want to see imagining themselves outside of themself. You can’t do that without trying on things that scare you a little bit.”Court Appearances A newsletter by New York‘s Choire Sicha, covering the Ghislaine Maxwell trial.

In 2020, Ambrose joined Puma as the creative director of womenswear for the brand’s basketball category, Puma Hoops. She focused on transforming the women’s basketball collection into gear that can be worn while training or while meeting your friends for a cozy Sunday brunch. With her hand in everything from design to creative, Ambrose set out to add personal flair to the brand’s apparel, accessories, and footwear by reinventing what women’s basketball wear can look like.

Take professional athletes like Serena Williams, Elizabeth Cambage, and Ashlyn Harris — they all have a personal style they sport on and off the field or court. For Ambrose, it was important to create a collection with women of all ages, body types, and identities in mind, while acknowledging the history of women being unseen and unheard in professional, and even recreational, sports.

The Puma High Court collection is a first for the brand; in the past, the women’s basketball category simply looked like the men’s but in smaller sizes. The new collection was designed to celebrate the contributions, fearlessness, and boldness of all the women of Puma. The visuals for the campaign were directed by Hype Williams and feature WNBA stars Skylar Diggins-Smith, Breanna Stewart, Katie Lou Samuelson, and Jackie Young.

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Three Women’s Soccer Members Named All-CCIW

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Liesl Whitener, Molly Fank First Team and Kayla Garcia Second Team were named CCIW All-Conference on Tuesday

APERVILLE, Ill. — Liesl Whitener, Molly Fank, and Kayla Garcia of Augustana Vikings women’s soccer were named to the CCIW’s all-conference teams on Tuesday, with Whitener and Fank earning First Team honors and Garcia earning Second Team.

Whitener led a balanced Vikings offensive attack in goals this season with four that included one game-winner. She was the team leader in assists with four and was the top points-getter with 12. The sophomore started all 16 games played this season and was second on the team in both shots and shots on goal. In league play, she ranked in the top ten in four different categories, including second in assists and seventh in shots.

Joining her on First Team, Fank played a pivotal role on the defense side that helped the team ranked third in goals allowed this season. The junior anchored a defense that posted five shutouts this season and held opponents to just 1.13 goals per contest. She had one goal on 11 shots this year.

Garcia joins her teammates on the All-CCIW selection list on Second Team after finishing second on the team with three goals during the regular season. The junior from Rock Island started all 16 games played this year and led the team in shots (47) and shots on goal (24). She ranked third in the conference in 2021 with two game-winning goals.

This year’s selections makes it three straight seasons the Vikings have placed three members on the all-conference list. No CCIW selections were made in 2020 due to COVID-19. Senior Anna Bross was also named a recipient of the CCIW’s RESPECT Award.

Allyson Felix, Naomi Osaka Earn Women’s Sports Awards

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by: AP News

NEW YORK (AP) — Olympians Allyson Felix and Jordan Larson were honored as Sportswomen of the Year by the Women’s Sports Foundation.

Felix won two medals at the Tokyo Games — giving her 11 in her career — to surpass Carl Lewis as the most decorated American in Olympic track and field history. Larson led the U.S. women’s volleyball team to victory against Brazil for its first Olympic gold medal.

Naomi Osaka earned the Wilma Rudolph Courage Award for bringing awareness to social justice and mental health issues at the Annual Salute to Women in Sports on Wednesday night.

“I got the courage just to speak out growing up and seeing all of the people around me doing amazing things,” Osaka said, “and not having any fear and standing up for what they believe in.”

Kim Ng of the Miami Marlins, the first female general manager in baseball, received the Billie Jean King Leadership Award. Larry Scott, the former commissioner of the Pac 12 and former CEO of the WTA Tour, accepted the Champion for Equality Award.ADVERTISEMENThttps://65bceafc6476064c638f4381ef648bbd.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

A reception with King was held at the New-York Historical Society ahead of the virtual awards show. Also featured on the virtual program were former baseball manager Joe Torre, Olympic hockey star Meghan Duggan, two-time World Cup champion Julie Foudy, Stanford women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer and Women’s Sports Foundation President Phaidra Knight.

BIG TEN TABS MEGAN KAHN AS VICE PRESIDENT OF WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

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By: EMMA HRUBY | just women’s sports

Megan Kahn has been named Vice President of Women’s Basketball for the Big Ten, the conference announced Thursday.

The creation of the position was announced in October at the conference’s combined Basketball Media Days in Indianapolis. It’s the first senior-level position in the conference dedicated specifically to growing women’s basketball.

“Megan has been a leader and innovator in women’s college basketball for many years,” said Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren in a release. “She has an extraordinary amount of experience in various roles and has developed a wide network of strong relationships in the women’s basketball community. Her ability to work collaboratively, while also thinking creatively and strategically, will be a tremendous asset to the Big Ten Conference and we are thrilled to welcome her to the Big Ten family.”

Primarily, Khan will be tabbed with “developing cohesive strategy to strengthen, enhance and expand the Big Ten women’s basketball operations, brand and strategic initiatives.”

As part of her new role, Khan will serve as the liaison to head coaches and campus administrators as well as Big Ten Network and other national television partners. Additionally, she will assist in the development of conference scheduling and in coordinating all day-to-day women’s basketball operations.

“I am excited and energized to take on this new role as the Big Ten’s first Vice President of Women’s Basketball,” Kahn said. “Big Ten women’s basketball is trending in an extremely positive direction, making this an ideal time to join our student-athletes, coaches, fans and the whole Big Ten community in taking our sport to new heights. We are at a critical inflection point nationally, not only in women’s basketball, but when it comes to gender equity as a whole and I believe the Big Ten is uniquely positioned to make impactful change in this area in the future.”

Khan most recently worked at WeCOACH, a non-profit committed to the educational and professional development of women’s coaches across all sports and levels. There, she served as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to WeCOACH, Khan served as both an assistant and associate commissioner at the Atlantic 10 Conference from 2008-12 where she supervised all of the conference’s women’s basketball operations.

2021 USAFLUA Umpire Accreditation Awards

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Every year the USAFL looks forward to the National Championships where teams are crowned as champions of their respective divisions and the Best and Fairest and the Most Consistent medals are awarded. The USAFLUA is no exception as we look forward to see all the umpires from across the country and beyond trying to show they have improved and are worthy of their accreditations.

With the borders to Australia being closed and limited access to Canada, the crew was severely short staffed both at the umpire level and at the coaching level, but in true UA spirit and commitment to excellence, everything got done and got done well! Field coaches did 34 observations over the weekend and you see below how many awards were earned at both field and goals.

We look forward to everyone having a wonderful off-season and suiting up for 2022. Until then, Play On!

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Hyundia World Archery Cup: Williams Tops Ellison In All-American Final; Kaufhold Claims Women’s Crown

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With the Hyundai World Archery Cup held on U.S. soil for the first time, it was appropriate the men’s title match was an All-American affair.

Jack Williams of California won a shootout over Brady Ellison of Arizona for the gold medal Thursday at Riverside Park, the last two standing from among the division’s eight best men in the world.

Their finale not only guaranteed gold for the U.S. but also marked the first time that the host nation has won the World Archery Cup.

Williams said he felt great about his performance, and winning the gold medal in an All-American final on U.S. soil made it that much sweeter.

“For something like that to happen for the first time, and for me to be that person, is amazing,” he said. “For an archery tournament, this was a really good crowd, and it was great to have all these people cheering for us.”

The two men weren’t the only ones making history for the United States while in Yankton. Last week, Casey Kaufhold of Pennsylvania claimed silver in the women’s recurve at the World Archery Championships, the highest finish in 33 years for a U.S. woman in a world championship. On Thursday, she returned for the World Cup finals and fell just short of another medal.

And she’s only 17 years old.

“It feels really good to win the silver medal, and it makes it even more special to win it in your home country,” she said. “It felt wonderful to have people here supporting me. I have my coach and a lot of teammates here, cheering me on. It was a great atmosphere, and I’m super happy to win.”

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Meet the Athletes: Casey Kaufhold

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Casey Kaufhold is a 17-year-old archer looking to make her Olympic debut. She won bronze in the women’s individual recurve event at the 2019 Pan American Games and took gold in the mixed team event paired with veteran Brady Ellison. She also won gold in the women’s team event.

As part of our preparation for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, NBC Olympics sent questionnaires to a wide range of athletes to learn more about their lives on and off the field of play. 

Here’s some of what we found out about Casey Kaufhold:

Tell us about your family.
My parents, Robert and Carole Kaufhold, own Lancaster Archery Supply. My dad has an archery background and made two national field teams for the U.S. My [older] brother, Conner, is also involved in archery. He also likes to hunt and fish.

What’s a typical training day like?
I train during outdoor season about four to five hours each day, and for indoors I practice three to five hours a day. I sleep about eight hours, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

What’s your favorite workout?
I like doing cardio like running, swimming, or biking. I’ll go on runs with my coach and we will race each other on the way back.

What’s the most grueling workout you’ve ever done?
When I used to do gymnastics, we would have workout days during our camps and the hardest circuit we did was a five-minute dead hang on bars and then a two-minute wall handstand followed by 20 leg lifts from a dead hang again.

What’s your first memory of archery?
My earliest memory of me doing archery is when I used to do compound archery. I was on a 3D target course and I had to “sneak up” or move closer to the targets because my bow didn’t shoot the length of the full distance. I think that memory was when I was 5 years old. I liked archery because it was so different from any other sport I had ever tried. I wanted to dedicate my life to it when I placed top three in my first national senior outdoor event.

What’s your earliest memory of watching the Olympics?
The first memory of me watching the Olympics was when Simone Biles, a U.S. gymnast, went to her first Games is 2016. At the time I wanted to go to the Olympics for gymnastics. I definitely wanted to do something I loved in a setting that big.

Is there anything you wish you could change about your sport?
I wish that archery had the rushing feeling of performing like gymnastics or figure skating does. I miss the way performing for the crowd and how moving to the music felt in gymnastics. I wish a part of archery could give me that same feeling of exhilaration.

What’s the biggest obstacle you’ve overcome?
In order to participate in the 2020 Olympics, I had to begin competing at 70 meters at 14 years of age. I skipped over valuable competition years at 50 and 60 meters in order to achieve my goals.

What’s your music of choice while training?
My go-to song before a competition is “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen. I like a lot of older music. My top five songs on my playlist are “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” by Paul Anka, “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” by Looking Glass, “Careless Whisper” by George Michael, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye, and “My Girl” by The Temptations.

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AGSA Goes to Austin for the United States Australian Rules Football National Tournament

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From October 13th to October 17th, the American Gold Sports Alliance leadership team traveled to Austin, Texas to help umpire the United States Australian Football League National Tournament! The Onion Creek Sports Complex was filled with 50 teams and over 2,500 athletes who competed from around the country for a chance at victory. This was their first Nationals since 2019. 

The United States Australian Rules Football League was founded in 1997 and is the sole representative of Australian Football within the United States. The USAFL is a grassroots, amateur sports organization dedicated to the development of and participation in Australian football. The organization is focused on the promotion and awareness of Australian Football and Aussie culture and has created a sense of community among USAFL clubs and club members. Since its inception, the USAFL has grown to include more than 50 teams across 25 states with four men’s divisions and one women’s division with more teams being created every year.  

While AGSA’s Director of Operations, Tara Miller, was just being introduced to the sport during this tournament, AGSA’s President, Sid Caesar, has been a part of the Umpire’s Association for over 15 years. In fact, he is now the treasurer of the United States Australian Football League Umpires Association. The team at AGSA is honored to be a part of this ever-growing sport. 

In order to continue to support this sport, AGSA has embraced the efforts of the United States Australian Football League Foundation. The USAFL Foundation was launched in 2020. The Foundation’s mission is to provide ongoing financial assistance for the development of Australian Football in the United States. The Foundation will act as an annual funding mechanism to the USAFL, a USAFL emergency fund for extreme situations, and to support the growth of Australian Football in the United States. Their goal is to raise over $2.5 Million over the next three years to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the League in 2022, starting with raising pledges, in 2020, for $1M. Each year the Foundation will support development activities, identified by the USAFL Board, that support the USAFL’s mission of growing Australian Football in the USA. 

If you are interested in Australian Rules Football, you can visit their website at www.usafl.com. To donate to the USAFL Foundation, please visit www.agsa.org/donate. 

The American Gold Sports Alliance is a 501(c)(3) Sports Foundation dedicated to identifying, encouraging, and supporting student-athletes to excel at their chosen sport, irrespective of their financial status. We strive to assure that dedicated athletes have the ability to receive the support and opportunities they need to succeed.  

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