It’s our favourite day of the month: Women’s Sports Love List day!
Spring has sprung and we’re pumped for warmer weather, summer sports, and a new Spring wardrobe supporting women in sports.
If you’ve missed our last two, you can read the inaugural one here and last month’s Love List celebrating Black History Month and the incredible Black women in sports here!
We know this isn’t anywhere near an exhaustive list of the incredible women making waves in the sports world, but these are our current tried and true favs. If you have a suggestion or want to get featured, tell us more here!
Instructions: Support the heck out of the following women in sports. That’s it, that’s all.
BOOKS TO READ WHILE CATCHING SOME RAYS
SIDELINED: SPORTS, CULTURE, AND BEING A WOMAN IN AMERICA
By Julie DiCaro
Julie DiCaro writes about her journey and experience as a woman working in sports in her new book, Sidelined: Sports, Culture, and Being a Woman in America. She is a former lawyer and current sports journalist and editor at Deadspin.
This book will give you an inside look into being a woman in the sports world and the incredible women who refuse to be sidelined by sexism in sports.
We can’t wait to dive into this one with a glass of wine in hand.
CHRISTINE’S MIGHTY SWING
By Andy LaMar
Christine’s Mighty Swing is based on author Andy LaMar’s wife’s story of becoming a DI softball player.
Until May 31, all profits from the book are going to the Women’s Sports Foundation!
A great book for kids to see equity and sports while supporting a worthy cause? That’s a home run for us!
DARE TO MAKE HISTORY: CHASING A DREAM AND FIGHTING FOR EQUITY
by Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando
The Lamoureux twins are two of the best hockey players to hit the ice in a Team USA jersey. Their new book, Dare to Make History reflects on their journey through hockey, winning Olympic gold, and fighting for gender equity in hockey.
Whether you’re a hockey player, fan, or simply enjoy cheering on women who are changing the game for all, this book is a must-read!
SHE PERSISTED IN SPORTS
by Chelsea Clinton & Alexandra Boiger
Written by Chelsea Clinton and illustrated by Alexandra Boiger, She Persisted in Sports is an empowering children’s book that features various Olympic athletes to encourage little girls around the world to take their shot in sports.
Grab this one for your kids (or yourself)!
HELPING HER PLAY SPORTS THIS SPRING & ALL YEAR ROUND
CANADIAN GIRLS BASEBALL
Canadian Girls Baseball is changing the game and empowering girls through sport and you know we’re HERE for it!
Founded by Dana Bookman, Canadian Girls Baseball offers scholarships, free opportunities for girls to try baseball, and more to decrease barriers for girls to get into and stay in sports.
Canadian Girls Baseball started with one girl who loved baseball. We changed the game for her, so she wouldn’t quit, and we’ve since been changing the game for girls across Canada. We’re on a mission, building a movement and making space for girls in sport. But we can’t do it alone.
At Canadian Girls Baseball, our belief is that ALL girls who want to play with us should be able to. We know that girls face enough barriers to joining sports – especially male-dominated sports like baseball – and we work hard everyday to break down as many barriers to participation as possible.
Learn more about Canadian Girls Baseball and get involved here!
CONNECT WITH CANADIAN GIRLS BASEBALL:
THE SPORTS BRA PROJECT
For most of us, we’re usually worried about finding the right sports bra for our bodies. We overlook sports bras as being a piece of sports equipment that many girls and women don’t have access to, though.
Founded by Sarah Dwyer-Shick, a soccer coach and advocate for girls in sports, The Sports Bra Project is an incredible initiative that enables more girls and women to play sports by providing sports bras girls and women who don’t have access to them.
There has been significant growth in sports programming available to girls and women around the world. Yet certain barriers to participation too often remain unaddressed. Proper equipment is a simple — and yet major — obstacle. Without the support and coverage of a sports bra, essential for both comfort and cultural modesty, girls and women are often hesitant to participate. As a result, even the best run and well intentioned sports programs can be inaccessible. The Sports Bra Project aims to change that.
Learn more about The Sports Bra Project here.
Donate to The Sports Bra Project here.
Learn how you can get involved here.
CONNECT WITH THE sports bra project:
NORTHEAST OHIO WOMEN’S SPORTS ALLIANCE
The Northeast Ohio Women’s Sports Alliance is exactly what the women’s sports world needs! By providing services for female athletes, teams, coaches and staff, NOWSA, ensures women are supported to integrate sports into their lives at all ages.
Whether you want to be an athlete, coach, or volunteer, NOWSA strives to empower girls and women to pursue the athletic route of their choosing and to give them the tools to achieve it.
CONNECT WITH NOWSA:
HOCKEY 4 YOUTH
Hockey 4 Youth is a Canadian charity that helps youth of all backgrounds get into the game of hockey. Their focus is on helping new Canadians and high-priority youth through hockey by providing them with free access to the sport and helping them with life skills off the ice through their T.E.A.C.H program.
You can learn more about Hockey 4 Youth here and donate to their mission here.
Listen to Hockey Girlz founder, Alero talk about her partnership with Hockey 4 Youth and the goals they’re working towards to make hockey more accessible for girls on the her Soul Shot Podcast here.
CONNECT WITH Hockey 4 youth:
HIJABI BALLERS
Hijabi Ballers is a Canadian organization celebrating Muslim women in sports. Based in the greater Toronto area, Hijabi Ballers works to increase the participation and exposure of Muslim women in sports by providing sports opportunities, increasing the representation of Muslim women in sports in the media and sport spaces, and celebrating Muslim women in sports, from athletes, to coaches, and more.
You can learn more about Hijabi Ballers and get involved in their programs here.
The name Hijabi Ballers represents three things: being a female of Muslim faith, being an athlete, and being a boss. The project is meant to shine light on those who visibly represent their faith while portraying themselves as athletes, in the urban diaspora. The word ‘baller’, an umbrella term for all athletes and holds a strong connotation of being a boss, being successful and being bold. A Hijabi Baller is a Muslim female athlete who is proud of her intersectional identity.
CONNECT WITH hijabi ballers:
GAME ON! SPORTS 4 GIRLS
Game on! Sports 4 Girls is an organization helping more girls get into sports and experience the fun and life benefits sports has to offer through various sports camps for girls. We are SO here for this!
Originally started in 2006 in Illinois, Game on! Sports 4 Girls now offers sports camps for girls across the United States.
Game On! Sports 4 Girls is the premier organization committed to empowering young girls through sports. Our unique & fun programming, all-girl environment, and staff of passionate role models foster the “GIRLSTRONG” crucial to every girl’s development as an athlete and a person.
CONNECT WITH GAME on! sports 4 girls:
PRODUCTS FOR & BY WOMEN IN SPORTS TO ROCK THIS SPRING
HERO HOCKEY
HERo Hockey is new on the scene and we’re loving the initiative by 10-year-old Kennady Bruun to bring more awareness to women in hockey after her experiences of seeing how under-represented female hockey players are.
Kennady is selling apparel to grow awareness for women’s hockey and to encourage people to “Play for Her”. Plus, a portion of the sales go to the HERo fund, which goes directly to girls in hockey!
You can grab youth and adult sizes to rock this spring here!
CONNECT WITH HERO HOCKEY:
KELSEY TRAINOR x PWRFWD
Kelsey Trainor is a lawyer, producer, and writer who is a blessing to women in sports. She’s one of our favourite follows on social AND she just launched a shop with PWRFWD (a platform allowing fans to support their favourite athletes) with some fire apparel for women in sports with all proceeds going to the incredible Black Girl Hockey Club!
“Invest in women. Pay women. Hire women.” is the name of the game for Kelsey’s shop and we are HERE FOR IT! It’s the perfect apparel to rock this spring and make a statement.
While you’re at it, check out your other fav female athletes to support on PWRFWD here!
CONNECT WITH KELSEY TRAINOR:
DRAWN BY BILLIE
Art that makes a statement for women in sports? Sign us up! Billie Sankey is a talented artist who has some epic designs for women in sports (among many others).
Grab some of her designs to throw on your laptop, phone, water bottle, or wherever else you want to make a statement!
CONNECT WITH DRAWN BY BILLIE:
WOMEN IN SPORTS BRINGING THE HEAT
COACH LEE ANNA OSEI
What doesn’t Lee Anna Osei do?!
Currently the head coach of women’s basketball at StFX in Nova Scotia, Lee Anna Osei is also the founder of the Black Canadian Coaches Association and Canletes Sports. As a former student-athlete herself, she saw the need for more opportunities for women in sports, especially Black women, and took the initiative to make it happen as both a role model, coach, and entrepreneur.
We’re incredibly inspired by Osei, her story, and her mission to create a better world for women in sports.
Watch her story below:
CONNECT WITH COACH LEE ANNA OSEI:
NCAA MARCH MADNESS
The NCAA March Madness women’s tournament has been absolute FIRE and we’ve been locked in on every game, but unfortunately the tournament didn’t start the way it should’ve.
By now you’ve probably heard about the treatment of the women’s NCAA March Madness teams compared to the men’s, which included major inadequacies in the weight rooms, food, swag bags, and more:
Now, let’s take a look at some of the incredible women using their voices and creating what should’ve been in the first place:
Let this serve as a reminder that YOU can be the change. Women’s sports deserve better. Stay in the game, keep using your voice, and together, we’ll create a better world for women in sports.
HEELS & HELMETS
Founded by Shavannia Williams, Heels and Helmets brings women together through business, fashion, fitness, and sports to help women succeed in all areas of life.
Through events, community connection, a YouTube series, coaching, and more, Heels and Helmets helps women in sports level up their game and their lives.
We are women who recognize that all women are powerful. Together we will tackle gender inequality and develop SHEMAKERS.
CONNECT WITH HEELS & HELMETS:
SPRING INTO ACTION & TAKE YOUR SHOT IN SPORTS
Our community board has the latest jobs, playing opportunities, events, women’s sports organizations to support, and more to help women around the world take their shot in sports.
