Girls at a Team-Up for Youth program. Research shows that girls who participate in high-quality sports programs have increased self-confidence, improved body-image, do better in school and are less likely to experiment with illegal drugs or have unsafe sex.
February 2, 2011 marked the 25th anniversary of National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Across the country, people celebrated the great strides women and girls have made in the sports world. But one group that didn’t have much to celebrate are girls living in low-income communities and communities of color. Especially in Oakland.
When compared to surrounding, and wealthier communities – Oakland girls are sitting on the sidelines at alarmingly high rates. As a matter of fact, in 2010 at Piedmont High School, just on the outskirts of Oakland, 67% of the girls were involved in sports. But just a few miles down the road at Oakland High School, a mere 11% of the girls were involved in sports.
The difference between these two schools? Demographics and Economics. At Oakland High, 72% of students qualified for free or reduced priced meals while at Piedmont High, only 1% did. Additionally, 69% of students at Piedmont High were white while a mere 1.4% at Oakland High were.
These data illuminate the grave disparity in access and opportunity for far too many of our girls.
Despite all of the benefits of Title IX, girls living in poverty often still find themselves with little-to-no access to high-quality sports opportunities. And it matters. These girls already get less of everything we know they need to carve out successful lives. Their schools are low on resources, their neighborhoods often lack safe places to play and their community based organizations struggle to keep the doors open. These young women also run the highest risk of falling prey to a host of social ills including low academic achievement, teenage pregnancy, obesity, illicit drug use, violence and incarceration. While on the other hand, girls who participate in high-quality sports programs have increased self-confidence, improved body-image, do better in school and are less likely to experiment with illegal drugs or have unsafe sex.
So on February 2, Team-Up for Youth honored National Girls and Women in Sports Day by shining a spotlight on this most vulnerable population. Our newest report – The Peril’s of Poverty: The Health Crisis Facing our Low-Income Girls and the Power of Sports to Help – highlights the health crisis of low-income girls but more importantly provides one proven low-cost remedy to help: Sports. The recommendations in the report range from making better use of volunteers, involving parents at deeper levels and developing partnerships to pool resources and share successful strategies.
Beginning in February, 2011, Team-Up for Youth tackling this issue head on in Oakland by partnering with Citizen Schools to build high-quality and sustainable girls soccer programs at three school sites. Team-Up for Youth coaches through our signature Team-Up for Girls program will work with teachers at those schools to build programs that are girl specific, strong and sustainable.
And this is just the beginning, moving forward we hope to work with the Oakland Unified School District, community based organizations and Parks and Recreation to build programs for girls across our city that help them become strong, competent and successful women capable of forging out healthy, happy and active lives.
Team-Up for Youth works to eliminate disparities in access to high-quality after-school sports programs for young people living in poverty and communities of color to increase and improve their physical, emotional and social health. Visit us at www.teamupforyouth.org
[Editor’s note: Team-Up for Youth was founded by Walter J. Haas, scion of the local family of business and philanthropy who formerly owned the Oakland A’s. Walter J. Haas is the Chair of the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund and the Founder of Team Up For Youth. In this video interview, he explains the rationale for Team Up For Youth. In the past, when the Haas family owned the Oakland A’s, Walter saw the power of sports to transform lives. He and his organization bring that power to help children living in poverty and children in communities of color to have access to first-quality after school sports programs that will improve the health outcomes of their communities. Watch the interview below:
