Game Changers: The Global Force of Women’s Sports
From Aristotle-era medical theories on the effect of physical activity on female fertility to the former classification of pregnancy as a career-ending condition, women continue to fight for their right to play. Despite performing at the highest levels of athleticism, women’s sports have historically received less funding, coverage, and opportunities on local, national, and international levels.
During the fourth annual Culturefix Morning Conversations, AJ Ross (CBS Sports), Lorrie Fair (U.S. Department of State), Danita Johnson (D.C. United), and Dan Mickelson (U.S. Department of State) gathered to discuss the challenges, opportunities, and innovations in women’s sports, now one of the fastest-growing sectors within the sports industry.
Here are some key takeaways from the panel:
1. A Place to Eat, A Place to Worship, A Place to Play
“In communities across the globe, you can find a place to eat, a place to worship, and a place to play.” Regardless of culture, sports fields, playgrounds, and even street blocks serve as spaces to create connection, community, and belonging. Throughout her travels, Sports Envoy and retired professional soccer midfielder Lorrie Fair found that sports can serve as their language, bringing together individuals who may not be able to communicate with one another otherwise.
2. Everyone Deserves to Play
When a ball rolls out on a field, who comes running, and who sits along the sidelines? In Lorrie Fair’s experience as an international Sports Envoy, the exclusion of women and girls in sports in many countries is not an issue of interest but an issue of access. It is crucial to create socially safe play spaces for girls. As seen with the rising interest in women’s sports, it is not just the right thing to do but also the smart thing to do socially and economically. The U.S. Department of State takes an intersectional approach to its programming to further the dialogue around accessibility by considering gender diversity, racial equity, and adaptive sports.
3. The Power of Investment
Women’s sports were highly successful and competitive well before they were deemed profitable by sports stakeholders; however, there is an opportunity for more investment through time, dollars, and access from stakeholders, organizations, and fans. Danita Johnson calls for this investment to extend across sports, engaging emerging sports leagues such as volleyball and supporting the longevity of women’s sports. In response to this space for investment, the U.S. Department of State, in partnership with espnW, created the Global Sports Mentoring Program, which pairs international athletes with mentors from the American sports industry to advance the rights and participation of women and girls in sports.
4. Importance of aligning on policies and initiatives
From private stakeholders to international organizations to governments, it is important to align on policies and initiatives that push women’s participation in sports forward. According to Dan Mickelson, there has been an increased push by the United States government to work with international sports organizations such as FIFA to bring more games to the United States, providing the U.S. with a unique positioning to set that standard. Through the year 2034, the U.S. is confirmed to hold ten major international sporting events. It has placed bids on several others, including the 2034 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games and the 2031 Women’s World Cup. Right off the heels of the 2026 World Cup, the 2031 Women’s World Cup would allow women access to the same hotels, stadiums, and media partnerships as the men’s teams, which historically has not been the case. This issue of gender disparities in sports speaks to deeper societal issues, so this unique positioning would serve as an opportunity to address more significant issues of gender inequalities beyond the field.
5. Respect for the Competition
The dialogue around women's sports has not evaded socio-cultural understandings and expectations of women. According to Johnson, who spent 10 years with the WNBA, the coverage of hot-topic encounters such as the play between the Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese and Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark, testifies to this discrepancy. While it is important to have discussions around plays, it is simultaneously vital for this dialogue to uphold and respect that women have the same competitiveness, drive, and desire to win as men.
Project summary
| Game Changers: The Global Force of Women’s Sports | June 2024 | |
|---|---|
| Number of Attendees: | 750 |
| Impact Areas: | Cultural Diplomacy, Sports Diplomacy |
| Program Areas: | Culture |
