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USA Today
4 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
NWSL's Gotham FC produces book focused on keeping girls in sports
Two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion Ali Krieger grew up playing three sports -- basketball, volleyball and, of course, soccer. She said playing multiple sports not only helped build different skills, but kept her in the game. "(Playing more than one sport) is so valuable because ... around age 14 or 15, a lot of athletes who are just playing one sport burn out," Krieger said. "They have had enough and they don't really enjoy the game anymore, or have the same love of the game, that they did at the very beginning, which is so unfortunate." Burnout is among the reasons that by age 14, girls are dropping out of sports at two times the rate of boys, according to the Women's Sports Foundation. Gotham FC has been working in partnership with Dove on an initiative called "Keep Her In the Game." The latest iteration of the partnership includes Rebel Girls Sports and a book called "Changing the Game: A Playbook for Champions in Training." Copies of the book will be handed out when Gotham FC hosts the Washington Spirit (noon ET, Saturday) at Sports Illustrated Stadium. A digital copy (linked above) will also be distributed in New York public schools, the Brooklyn Public Library and the Manhattan Children's museum. "Our goal is to inspire young girls to keep them playing sports and become the best version of themselves," Rebel Girls CEO Jes Wolfe said. "We're hoping to reach more than a million girls and their grownups with this book. "What's so cool about (the book) was every player was very open and honest about their journey and some of the roadblocks that came along the way." NWSL MVP frontrunner Esther Gotham shared her struggles with shyness, Gotham FC teammate Midge Purce tore a knee ligament right before the 2024 Olympics and Rose Lavelle has struggled with a hamstring injury for years. Gotham FC general manager Yael Averbuch West, a former player, shares that her career was cut short by ulcerative colitis. She said her shift to the front office shows young women that you can succeed in sports off the field. "We're going to persevere regardless of what obstacles come our way," Averbuch West said. "Success may look different for different people. And it's not always exactly as you expected it. "Things come up, life happens, and there's a lot of different ways to be successful and to impact people." More than 700 of the Keep Her in The Game program's 1,700 members have attended Gotham FC games since last August and 750 plan to attend Saturday's match vs. Washington. Krieger said the players work to make themselves available to the fans. "You do that extra work behind the scenes, whether it's creating this book, creating a campaign, or how can I go over to fans and stay after the game for 30-plus minutes and sign however many autographs," Krieger said. Gotham FC hopes the program and new book have a lasting impact. "We do hope to continue to be able to influence and provide opportunities for girls to play the game, to watch the game, maybe to one day work at our club, to own a club," Averbuch West said. "You know, there's so many avenues. These young women, we're interacting with them as soccer players, but we are also interacting with them as fans, as future leaders of households and business -- decision makers. "The hope is to inspire these girls to have a longstanding love and involvement in the game that goes far beyond the field."
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's Energy Department proposes dismantling parts of Title IX allowing girls on boys' teams
The Trump administration has leaned heavily on Title IX in its effort to purge sports of transgender women and girls, but attorneys and experts on the 1972 civil rights law say its latest move will disproportionately affect girls who are not transgender. The Department of Energy is preparing to roll back a portion of Title IX requiring that some sports be open to 'the underrepresented sex,' a cornerstone of the federal law against sex discrimination in schools that President Trump's administration has said conflicts with his executive order to restrict trans athletes' participation. The department plans to rescind a rule that has for decades allowed girls to try out for boys' sports teams or vice versa when there is no equivalent team at their school, with some exceptions for contact sports. The move would only affect schools and education programs that receive funding from the Energy Department. The department, which traditionally does not regulate or enforce Title IX, plans to rescind a rule that has for decades allowed girls to try out for boys' sports teams or vice versa when there is no equivalent female team at their school, with some exceptions for contact sports. The Women's Sports Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by Billie Jean King, a foundational figure in women's fight for parity in sports in the 1960s and 70s, said the Energy Department's proposal threatens to unravel years of progress and limit athletic opportunities for girls. 'To uphold the spirit and promise of Title IX, we urge for it to be withdrawn,' the group said in an emailed statement to The Hill. In justifying its proposal, announced last month, the Energy Department said athletics rules allowing girls to compete on boys' teams 'ignore differences between the sexes which are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality,' language from Trump's day one executive order proclaiming the federal government recognizes only two sexes, male and female. Rescinding the regulation, the department said, aligns with another Trump order declaring the U.S. opposes 'male competitive participation in women's sports' as a matter of 'safety, fairness, dignity and truth.' The Education Department, which has historically enforced Title IX, has launched more than two dozen investigations this year into states, school districts and sports associations that allow trans girls to compete against and alongside girls who are not transgender. In announcing that the department would recognize June, which is traditionally Pride Month, as 'Title IX Month,' Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the administration 'will fight on every front to protect women's and girls' sports.' The changes the Department of Energy proposed would do little to further that objective, said James Nussbaum, an attorney focused on education and sports law at Church, Church, Hittle, and Antrim in Indiana. 'I'm scratching my head for the motivation behind [rescinding the rule] because they mention the 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports' executive order, but it won't really apply in the vast majority of those cases because [the rule] only allows a person to participate in a sport of the other sex on two conditions,' Nussbaum said. 'One, the school doesn't already offer that sport for their sex, and two, they're the 'underrepresented sex' historically, and that's just not male sports at the vast majority of schools.' While no high schools in the U.S. offer an all-girls tackle football team, for example, more than 4,000 girls played 11-person tackle football on boys' teams for the 2023-2024 school year, according to the National Federation of State High Schools Association. An Energy Department spokesperson did not return a request for comment. Government agencies looking to change federal regulations must typically do so through a lengthy administrative process beginning with advance notice of proposed rulemaking and a public comment period generally lasting 30-60 days. The Energy Department's Title IX proposal, submitted as a 'direct final rule,' (DFR) would skirt traditional regulatory channels, allowing it to take effect automatically on July 15 absent 'significant adverse comments,' the deadline for which to submit is Monday. DFRs are exempt from parts of the standard rulemaking process, with which federal agencies must comply under the Administrative Procedures Act. Agencies may use DFRs when addressing issues that are technical, uncontroversial or unlikely to elicit a significant adverse response. 'None of that applies in this situation,' said Shiwali Patel, senior director of safe and inclusive schools at the National Women's Law Center. 'These are regulations that are long-standing, that have existed for decades.' That the athletics proposal originated in the Department of Energy rather than the Department of Education, whose Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is typically responsible for regulating and enforcing Title IX, is unusual, legal experts said. Other agencies providing federal financial assistance to educational institutions also bear some enforcement responsibility, and under the Trump administration, the Health and Human Services and Justice departments have moved to carry out the law. In April, the departments of Justice and Education launched a joint special investigations task force to streamline the government's handling of Title IX inquiries, citing ballooning caseloads. 'Generally, things have followed kind of a principle of logic — you stick to the things you're experts in, you regulate the things that you are tasked with regulating,' said Maha Ibrahim, program managing attorney for Equal Rights Advocates, a nonprofit gender justice and women's rights organization. In the past, she said, federal agencies such as the Energy Department might propose updating their Title IX regulations to mirror those issued by the Education Department to ensure cross-agency consistency, but they don't usually 'step out of their lane and do the initial regulatory change.' 'This is unusual in an alarming way,' she said. The Department of Energy, with a larger budget and greater resources to conduct investigations, was perhaps the better choice to introduce the proposal over the Education Department, which Trump has sought to close, Ibrahim said. In March, the agency shuttered seven of its 12 civil rights enforcement offices and fired hundreds of workers, K-12 Dive reported. Through its Renew America's Schools Program, the Energy Department has invested $372.5 million in K-12 public school districts nationwide. The department also provides over $3.5 billion annually through grant programs to more than 300 colleges and universities. While the Energy Department's proposal would only directly affect schools that receive its funding, the plan would create inconsistencies among federal agencies with Title IX regulations, confusing schools and potentially hampering students' and educators' ability to file claims, said Patel, of the National Women's Law Center. The organization, which advocates for women's and LGBTQ rights, plans to submit a comment opposing the rule change, she said. More than 1,800 comments have already been submitted, but their content is not publicly available. The Title IX proposal is part of a larger Department of Energy push to quickly eliminate or reduce dozens of regulations that it said in May 'are driving up costs and lowering quality of life for the American people.' 'While it would normally take years for the Department of Energy to remove just a handful of regulations, the Trump Administration assembled a team working around the clock to reduce costs and deliver results for the American people in just over 110 days,' Energy Secretary Chris Wright said last month. The department's deregulatory efforts include terminating or modifying 47 rules that would, once finalized, free up an estimated $11 billion and cut more than 125,000 words from the Code of Federal Regulations, the department said. Rules on the chopping block include diversity, equity, and inclusion requirements for federal grant recipients, which the Energy Department has called 'unscientific.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
14-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Trump's Energy Department proposes dismantling parts of Title IX allowing girls on boys' teams
The Trump administration has leaned heavily on Title IX in its effort to purge sports of transgender women and girls, but attorneys and experts on the 1972 civil rights law say its latest move will disproportionately affect girls who are not transgender. The Department of Energy is preparing to roll back a portion of Title IX requiring that some sports be open to 'the underrepresented sex,' a cornerstone of the federal law against sex discrimination in schools that President Trump's administration has said conflicts with his executive order to restrict trans athletes' participation. The department plans to rescind a rule that has for decades allowed girls to try out for boys' sports teams or vice versa when there is no equivalent team at their school, with some exceptions for contact sports. The move would only affect schools and education programs that receive funding from the Energy Department. The department, which traditionally does not regulate or enforce Title IX, plans to rescind a rule that has for decades allowed girls to try out for boys' sports teams or vice versa when there is no equivalent female team at their school, with some exceptions for contact sports. The Women's Sports Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by Billie Jean King, a foundational figure in women's fight for parity in sports in the 1960s and 70s, said the Energy Department's proposal threatens to unravel years of progress and limit athletic opportunities for girls. 'To uphold the spirit and promise of Title IX, we urge for it to be withdrawn,' the group said in an emailed statement to The Hill. In justifying its proposal, announced last month, the Energy Department said athletics rules allowing girls to compete on boys' teams 'ignore differences between the sexes which are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality,' language from Trump's day one executive order proclaiming the federal government recognizes only two sexes, male and female. Rescinding the regulation, the department said, aligns with another Trump order declaring the U.S. opposes 'male competitive participation in women's sports' as a matter of 'safety, fairness, dignity and truth.' The Education Department, which has historically enforced Title IX, has launched more than two dozen investigations this year into states, school districts and sports associations that allow trans girls to compete against and alongside girls who are not transgender. In announcing that the department would recognize June, which is traditionally Pride Month, as 'Title IX Month,' Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the administration 'will fight on every front to protect women's and girls' sports.' The changes the Department of Energy proposed would do little to further that objective, said James Nussbaum, an attorney focused on education and sports law at Church, Church, Hittle, and Antrim in Indiana. 'I'm scratching my head for the motivation behind [rescinding the rule] because they mention the 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports' executive order, but it won't really apply in the vast majority of those cases because [the rule] only allows a person to participate in a sport of the other sex on two conditions,' Nussbaum said. 'One, the school doesn't already offer that sport for their sex, and two, they're the 'underrepresented sex' historically, and that's just not male sports at the vast majority of schools.' While no high schools in the U.S. offer an all-girls tackle football team, for example, more than 4,000 girls played 11-person tackle football on boys' teams for the 2023-2024 school year, according to the National Federation of State High Schools Association. An Energy Department spokesperson did not return a request for comment. Government agencies looking to change federal regulations must typically do so through a lengthy administrative process beginning with advance notice of proposed rulemaking and a public comment period generally lasting 30-60 days. The Energy Department's Title IX proposal, submitted as a 'direct final rule,' (DFR) would skirt traditional regulatory channels, allowing it to take effect automatically on July 15 absent 'significant adverse comments,' the deadline for which to submit is Monday. DFRs are exempt from parts of the standard rulemaking process, with which federal agencies must comply under the Administrative Procedures Act. Agencies may use DFRs when addressing issues that are technical, uncontroversial or unlikely to elicit a significant adverse response. 'None of that applies in this situation,' said Shiwali Patel, senior director of safe and inclusive schools at the National Women's Law Center. 'These are regulations that are long-standing, that have existed for decades.' That the athletics proposal originated in the Department of Energy rather than the Department of Education, whose Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is typically responsible for regulating and enforcing Title IX, is unusual, legal experts said. Other agencies providing federal financial assistance to educational institutions also bear some enforcement responsibility, and under the Trump administration, the Health and Human Services and Justice departments have moved to carry out the law. In April, the departments of Justice and Education launched a joint special investigations task force to streamline the government's handling of Title IX inquiries, citing ballooning caseloads. 'Generally, things have followed kind of a principle of logic — you stick to the things you're experts in, you regulate the things that you are tasked with regulating,' said Maha Ibrahim, program managing attorney for Equal Rights Advocates, a nonprofit gender justice and women's rights organization. In the past, she said, federal agencies such as the Energy Department might propose updating their Title IX regulations to mirror those issued by the Education Department to ensure cross-agency consistency, but they don't usually 'step out of their lane and do the initial regulatory change.' 'This is unusual in an alarming way,' she said. The Department of Energy, with a larger budget and greater resources to conduct investigations, was perhaps the better choice to introduce the proposal over the Education Department, which Trump has sought to close, Ibrahim said. In March, the agency shuttered seven of its 12 civil rights enforcement offices and fired hundreds of workers, K-12 Dive reported. Through its Renew America's Schools Program, the Energy Department has invested $372.5 million in K-12 public school districts nationwide. The department also provides over $3.5 billion annually through grant programs to more than 300 colleges and universities. While the Energy Department's proposal would only directly affect schools that receive its funding, the plan would create inconsistencies among federal agencies with Title IX regulations, confusing schools and potentially hampering students' and educators' ability to file claims, said Patel, of the National Women's Law Center. The organization, which advocates for women's and LGBTQ rights, plans to submit a comment opposing the rule change, she said. More than 1,800 comments have already been submitted, but their content is not publicly available. The Title IX proposal is part of a larger Department of Energy push to quickly eliminate or reduce dozens of regulations that it said in May 'are driving up costs and lowering quality of life for the American people.' 'While it would normally take years for the Department of Energy to remove just a handful of regulations, the Trump Administration assembled a team working around the clock to reduce costs and deliver results for the American people in just over 110 days,' Energy Secretary Chris Wright said last month. The department's deregulatory efforts include terminating or modifying 47 rules that would, once finalized, free up an estimated $11 billion and cut more than 125,000 words from the Code of Federal Regulations, the department said. Rules on the chopping block include diversity, equity, and inclusion requirements for federal grant recipients, which the Energy Department has called 'unscientific.'
Time Magazine
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Time Magazine
Billie Jean King
How much impact can you have with a $5,000 donation? If you're tennis legend Billie Jean King, quite a lot. That's how much King gifted in seed money to launch the Women's Sports Foundation (WSF) in 1974—an organization that has since channeled over $100 million into creating opportunities for women in sports through research and grants to individual athletes and nonprofits. That initial gift reflected King's trademark fusion of activism and savvy institution-building, honed during a pivotal year in 1973 when she co-founded the Women's Tennis Association, successfully lobbied the U.S. Open to become the first major tournament to offer equal prize money, and beat Bobby Riggs in the historic 'Battle of the Sexes' match. In the ensuing five decades, she's remained dedicated to advocacy for equality in sports and to philanthropy that supports the power of sports to transform lives and foster social change. Her Billie Jean King Foundation provides grants to the WSF, where she is honorary chair, as well as awards for young sports leaders. Celebrating WSF's 50th anniversary last October, King said, 'We must all remain committed to protecting the progress made, while working toward a future where the playing field is truly level.'
New York Times
11-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Billie Jean King on investing in women's sports, player security and what's next
LOS ANGELES — Billie Jean King can work a room like few others in women's sports. It is no different at the SheBelieves Summit in Los Angeles, as she headlines the U.S. Soccer event intended to empower women across sports and business. There's an immediate standing ovation from the crowd when she takes the stage, sporting a blue Adidas tracksuit with matching shoes, a string of pearls and the contrasting pop of red between her glasses and lipstick. Advertisement Only the 81-year-old, who won 12 Grand Slam singles, helped found the WTA Tour and spearheaded equal prize money in tennis, could get away with an all-Adidas look at a Nike-sponsored event. 'The more you know about history, the more you know about yourself,' she tells the sea of mostly young women staring in rapt attention, many taking notes in their brand new co-branded notebooks handed out in the day's swag bag. 'Most importantly, it helps you shape the future. That's the reason I want you to know about history.' There are few better ambassadors than King for both the history of women's sports and the future she continues to build alongside her wife Ilana Kloss. And she's not slowing down. In addition to her eponymous foundation and the Women's Sports Foundation, and her investment portfolio across various sports including the Los Angeles Sparks, Angel City FC and the entirety of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL), King is also trying to finish a college degree that she never actually completed at California State University. In the cavernous room at an event space in downtown Los Angeles, branded heavily by U.S. Soccer but still resembling its true roots as a half-rustic half-industrial wedding venue, King hits the big stories she wants, maybe needs, to hit. She quizzes the crowd on the language of Title IX and its impact. Former U.S. women's national team champion Julie Foudy sits alongside King on stage for the headlining panel and points to her own history with King. The stories are centered around conflict with the U.S. Soccer Federation over contracts and pay. Even a few years ago, to talk openly about this sort of conflict with the federation at their own, very expensive event, would have felt unimaginable. 'She is literally the thread that runs through women's sports history,' Foudy says. 'Learn the business you're in,' King says to the crowd. She feels passionately about that, and it's clear she doesn't think enough current athletes are really digging into that work. Backstage, there's a gravitational pull around King when she steps behind the curtains. The aura is real. The walk between the backstage and the green room is maybe 50 steps; King is stopped multiple times. There are many photographs. She is handed things, she takes them. Finally, in the relative quiet of the green room, King lists all the things she could have talked about — the things she should have talked about. There could have been more about Angel City, about Michele Kang and how her buying the Washington Spirit increased the value of every single other NWSL team. She's seen that impact firsthand, as her and Kloss's investment grew with Angel City's recent sale for $250 million. Advertisement King has been thinking about the relationship between money and women's sports for decades now, even if her approach isn't always the most popular one. Her mood on stage had been upbeat. Here, even pausing 20 minutes for an interview, she has a sense of urgency, still prodding to find every single seam she can to break through. Maybe that's why she admires Kang so much — how one transaction had jolted an entire league forward. 'Everybody understands money,' King says. That's never changed. Money is why she wanted to pull in a $100,000 paycheck because people would understand that nice big number. 'They'll start watching the tour, and I can talk about the other players,' King recalled. 'I can talk about our dreams, I can talk about the future generations and all that.' Money has changed the world of women's sports in a lot of ways, but the rapid influx of investment and viewers over the past few years means the feel of a decade ago is fading, maybe gone already — players staying after games until every fan gets an autograph or a selfie, for instance. The accessibility of players isn't what it used to be, for anyone. It can't be. This strikes a nerve with King. It bothers her, she says. She tells players they have to be available for the media, for reporters to tell their story. The players will say they have social media now. 'I don't care,' she says, throwing her hand in the air. 'You need everything.' Her argument could come off as a lecture, but it goes back to what King said in her panel. Athletes have to understand every part of the business — how they work together and how the money flows through the sport and into their pockets. 'These (reporters) are trying to make a living, and they're covering our lives, our sport,' she says. 'I'm so thankful to the media because we didn't have anything then, except them, and they told our story. But we killed ourselves to be available. We didn't leave the arena until we signed every autograph. I was doing interviews at two o'clock in the morning for magazines. I'm big on that this is part of our job, to give people time and effort.' Advertisement There is a dark side to women's sports and accessibility, though. Tennis player Emma Raducanu's life changed after an experience with a spectator with 'fixated behavior' in Dubai, opening up about how vulnerable she felt and how she's rarely alone to provide some additional safety and support. It's not just a tennis problem. Last year, a 40-year-old man pled guilty to stalking UConn's Paige Bueckers after he was arrested walking on a Connecticut highway from the airport to the university. Caitlin Clark has been a target as well. 'Security is another aspect,' King says. 'There's another job, or two jobs, or four or six.' She has her own story on this front about Monica Seles, working directly with her to make her feel safe at a Fed Cup (now the Billie Jean King Cup) following her return from a stabbing attack in 1993. That's still the specter that lingers in the back of everyone's mind on this issue. 'If we have the money, we have to pay for security. We have to take care of that, and that's part of the deal,' King says. There are risks everywhere; this is not one that King wants to allow to shape women's sports. This cannot stop the larger project. 'We're so in our infancy, but we have to just keep busting our backsides to get it out there, to get the women's names out there and to talk about them,' King says. 'We just have to keep doing what we're doing because we need media. Once we get media, we get attention. Once we get attention, people know who we are.' This is where it's fair to expect some sort of victory. Instead, King says, 'Well. It's difficult.' This is why she wants everyone to know the history. She's been first in a lot of things, like being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. But where she asks, are the same honors for those that came before her, that were her heroes, like Althea Gibson? The national tennis center and grounds of the U.S. Open in Queens were named after King; Arthur Ashe had a stadium named after him, and a statue installed on the grounds. Advertisement 'Took 30 years,' King says, 'we finally got (Gibson) something at the Open.' A granite statue honoring Gibson was installed in 2019. 'These are the challenges, the 24/7 things, that go in my head all the time. And I just would like to have it change somehow.' King's car is waiting to take her to the next stop on her day. Just like the long walk from backstage to the green room, it takes a while for her to actually make it to the door. Even here, people are waiting for her, for a word, a hug, a check-in of what's next. There's always something up next, after all.
