DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation Celebrate Girls in Sport
July 2, 2021
The DICK'S Sporting Goods Foundation's Sports Matter Giving Truck is hitting the road for its third tour around the US, this time working exclusively with girls' sports programs in under-resourced communities.
The foundation, a two-time Beyond Sport Collective Impact Award supporter, first launched the Giving Truck in December 2020, giving 10,000 gifts of sports equipment to youth sports organizations in under-resourced communities. It completed its second tour in March 2021, providing 10,000 pieces of equipment to youth baseball and softball athletes.
This time around, the Giving Truck is taking a 'Let Her Play Tour' focused on celebrating girls in sport. Professional female athletes Sabrina Ionescu, Sam Mewis, Elena Delle Donne, Swin Cash, Arike Ogunbowale and Amy Rodriguez will help the organization provide 15,000 gifts of sports equipment to youth athletes along the route - including Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Knoxville — throughout July.
A number of athletes from girls’ sports organizations were selected to distribute the gifts in the eight cities. Alongside the sports equipment, is a DSG Brand sports bra as part of The DICK’S Foundation’s previously announced commitment to donate 100,000 sports bras to youth athletes. The sports bra is considered a critical piece of equipment for women and one that often goes unprovided. The Giving Truck will also unveil a newly installed mini-pitch in Kansas City, as part of a partnership with the U.S. Soccer Foundation’s United for Girls initiative.
According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, by the age of 14 many girls are dropping out of sports at two times the rate of boys. There are a number of reasons for this dropout rate from cost to a lack of access, where girls experience 1.3 million fewer opportunities to play high school sports than boys have.
Through gifting sports equipment, The DICK’S Foundation aims to remove the financial burden most families feel, to keep young female athletes playing sports. The Giving Truck has provided 20,000 gifts throughout 16 cities in the US to date.
“It is crucial that we embrace the power of women and girls in sports, both as a company and as a foundation,” said Aimee Watters, Executive Director of The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation. “Especially as we turn a corner on the pandemic, we are thrilled to see girls returning to the sports they love this summer. We are also especially excited to increase the number of gifts we are distributing, as it’s so important to provide as many kids as we can with the equipment they need to keep playing.”
Since 2014, The DICK’S Foundation has committed over $145 million to support young athletes through its Sports Matter initiative, which aims to raise awareness for the youth sports funding crisis as the fight to save youth sports continues across the US.