Charitable Partner

“The Exergy Tour shall showcase the power and excitement of women’s professional cycling and its growing influence globally, while working at all levels to engage our communities in teaching young girls the benefits that individual and team sports competition can bring throughout their lives,” said James Carkulis, CEO, Exergy Development Group. “Our vision with the Exergy Tour is to communicate this global message and align with relevant organizations dedicated to advancing self confidence, self-esteem and overall well-being of girls and women through physical activity.”

The National Association for Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS), in existence since 1899, seeks to develop and deliver equitable and quality sport opportunities for ALL girls and women through relevant research, advocacy, leadership development, educational strategies, and programming in a manner that promotes social justice and change.

“In identifying a charitable partner for the Exergy Tour, it was critical to find a partner that could understand and align with our vision in terms of the overall mission, efforts and activities, and that we see potential to work collaboratively to identify and expand upon programs that speak to our bigger message at hand,” said Heather Hill, Marketing, Communications and Events Director for the Exergy Tour. “We are delighted to be partnering with the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport.”

One focus area for NAGWS is providing educational resources related to Title IX. Title IX states that “no person shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal assistance;” however, Title IX is best known for its impact on women’s athletics.

Table 1 presents a summary of the growth in women’s participation in sport at the high school and collegiate level since the inception of Title IX.

Table 1: Girls and Women’s Participation in Sport

Note: These data were adapted from: http://www.aauw.org/act/laf/library/athleticStatistics.cfm; http://www.nfhs.org/content.aspx?id=3282; http://www.nfhs.org/content.aspx?id=3282; and http://www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/article/2011-11-02/ncaa-participation-rates-going

Many positive things have resulted from Title IX. These include increasing the number of opportunities for girls and women to participate in sport, providing a vehicle for individuals to work together on a variety of issues related to women’s participation in sport, and hosting National Girls and Women in Sports (NGWS) Day in February. The physical, mental, and societal benefits to sport participation are numerous (Ransdell & Petlichkoff, 2005). Women’s participation in sport can help bust myths about women’s capabilities, which is good for everyone in society–not just women.

HOW CAN YOU HELP? There are many ways in which you can get involved in the quest to improve women’s experience in sport and continue to increase opportunities.

• First, if you are a leader in sport, mentor a female to be a sport leader and stay committed to training and hiring women to work in sports.
• If you are an athlete, don’t assume that your work is done and that you have achieved and received everything you need to be successful. Work hard to be a role model as there are many young girls looking up to you.
• Give time, energy, and/or financial support to these organizations that work so hard to ensure that women will continue to enjoy the benefits of sport and physical activity.
• Locally, volunteer to participate in the EXERGY Tour. The EXERGY Tour is looking for 1000 volunteers to help with this event so if you have time, please give it to this event which is so important to Boise and the surrounding communities.

For more information about topics related to girls and women in sport, and to learn more about NAGWS, click HERE