National Girls & Women in Sports Day

Last month, many of our partners celebrated National Girls & Women in Sports Day recognizing the contributions of women and girls in sports, and to advocate for equal opportunities.

Philadelphia Eagles 

  • Through our partnership with the Philadelphia Eagles, Philadelphia Public League (PPL) celebrated National Girls & Women in Sports Day with a Student-Athlete Leadership Summit for 250 female student-athletes from PPL high schools. The event took place at St. Joseph’s University. The event began with a speech from keynote speaker, Director of Athletics at Saint Joseph’s University, Jill Bodensteiner. The young women then participated in two PCA workshops – Competing with Empathy and Making Teammates Better: Leadership. During the workshops they discussed the impacts of stress on day-to-day life and performance, competition at the high school level, empathy, leadership styles, and team culture. After the workshops, the student-athletes participated in a Saint Joseph’s University student-athlete panel discussion and experienced a tour of the campus.
  • The Philadelphia Public League has been a long time partner of PCA and works hard to provide every student-athlete with a positive, character-building sport experience through coach training and student-athlete leadership development.

Dove

  • The Dove brand is a strong supporter of women and girls in sports, especially through their focus on the Body Confident Sport program – a resource to help build girls’ body confidence and keep them playing sports.
  • This February, and during the 2025 Super Bowl, they launched their new Ad which highlights how toxic body talk drives girls from sports.

UC Berkeley’s Cameron Institute

  • The Cameron Institute for student-athlete development at UC Berkeley hosted its community Go Girls*, Go Bears, Go Play!  event for student athletes, community partners, and families to come together and engage in a wide range of sports and activities, connect with Cal athletes, and have a blast!  
  • The Cameron Institute supports student athletes as they develop their career paths and develop deep roots within the community. They are involved in the Oakland Sport Equity Coalition and coordinated efforts with several other Coalition organizations to bring Oakland youth to campus and provide the platform to share their youth sports programs with girls and athletes from across the Bay.
  • The turnout was tremendous:
    • 13 Cal Athletics Teams & 145+ student-athlete volunteers 
    • 25 AMAZING Community partners 
    • 2000 Families and Participants 
  • In addition, all youth participants earned free admission to the Cal Women’s Basketball Game vs. Syracuse following the event! It was an amazing day celebrating the power sports have to bring together communities and empower girls to play, learn new skills, connect with fantastic role models, and discover new athletic pursuits.

Memphis Grizzlies

  • Fresh off the heels of an impactful MLK Day Coach Symposium in January, which saw PCA and the Memphis Grizzlies lead a passionate panel discussion on the critically important work of sports equity, the Grizzlies were back at it again in February, hosting an all-girls leadership workshop in honor of National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
  • The LeadHERship workshop event was held on February 22 at the Memphis Athletic Ministries Grizzlies Center (MAM).  During the workshop, the participants focused on mental wellness awareness, vision boards, and positive affirmations, leaving with tangible tools to lead with a growth mindset and the importance of using mistakes to learn and grow. While the athletes participated in the interactive leadership sessions, their parents were taken through a 45-minute parent talk that gave them practical tools to help them better support their daughters on and off the field, encouraging them to pursue their passions fearlessly and with a positive mindset.
  • As we look ahead, we are so excited to continue to foster the critical dialogue of equity in sports, ensuring all kids, regardless of social or economic circumstances, have access to a positive youth sports experience.