Athletes for Hope and the Women’s Sports Foundation hosted a Twitter Chat in honor of the 44th anniversary of Title IX. The #EqualityInSports Twitter chat brought together an incredible group of nearly 60 organizations and athletes to talk about gender equality in sports and what we can do to help female athletes have all the resources they need to succeed. Here are the top 6 take aways from the chat.
Title IX Has Improved Women’s Access to Sports
Many of our athletes are too young to know the true impact that Title IX had on women’s access to sports. In a way this is a good thing. Less time struggling to prove value of women’s sports means more time devoted to improving your skills as an athlete. We do; however, know that the road to Title IX was not an easy one and things are clearly still not equal. More and more women are involved in sports at the collegiate level because of Title IX. This will lead more and more to push for professional level sports for women.
Inequality Remains for Female Athletes
This chat is a timely one. The USWNT is in the middle of an epic fight for pay equality. Women are headed to Rio to proudly represent our country at the Olympics. The US, and the world, are watching. During the chat the group agreed that gender inequality in sports is just one example of a larger issue. Our partners at the Women’s Sports Foundation suggested a global approach and Girls Inc. Louisiana sees a major cultural shift is needed.
Men Play a Role in Gender Equality
Men are coaches, training partners, heads of governing sports bodies, dads, and patrons of the game. Our group came up with great suggestions for how men can be champions for women in sports. Take away here? We must educate our young male athletes to be respectful and we must push for more gender diversity from the top down and bottom up.
Young Female Athletes are Counting on You
Participants talked about the female athletes that inspired them growing up and everyone agreed that mentoring is imperative to keep moving forward towards gender equality in sports.
Athletes for Hope Can Help You Inspire Others
If there is one thing you take away from this chat, let it be that Athletes for Hope can help you continue the conversation about equality in sports. We want to help you make meaningful connections with schools and organizations to inspire girls to get involved in sports. Whether it is setting up a school visit through our partnership with Let’s Move Active Schools or volunteering with a group like Girls on the Run, Athletes for Hope can help make that happen. Please contact our team today. Let’s keep up the momentum!