August 19, 2024 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)
NJ/NY Gotham FC News Release
Harrison, NJ – NJ/NY Gotham FC today announced the launch of an innovative, research-backed initiative, Keep Her in the Game, to directly address the disproportionate rates at which adolescent girls opt out of sports, by offering curated resources and programs to empower youth players on and off the field.
The comprehensive, soccer-based program is launching at a time when interest in women’s sports is on the rise, and holds potential to set a new standard for how professional sports teams use evidence-based research and data-backed programming to positively impact and effectively encourage the young athletes in their community.
The start of the program will be recognized later today, during a pre-game ceremony at the Gotham FC vs. Chelsea FC Women match, attended by more than 200 participating youth players representing 15 teams in New Jersey and New York, and 28 of their coaches. In celebration of the launch, the pre-game ceremony will include one of the most powerful, groundbreaking couples in women’s sports, Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss. King and Kloss will participate in the ceremonial torch lighting ceremony that Gotham FC holds before every home game. The torch lighting moment is a Gotham FC tradition and is a symbol of the club’s bold commitment to growing and improving the sport.
Keep Her in the Game is designed to directly tackle the staggering research that reports that by age 14, girls drop out of sports at nearly twice the rate of boys, and on average, girls have 1.3 million fewer opportunities to play high-school sports than boys. Yet, the noted benefits of sports participation for girls are astounding, with 70 percent of girls involved in sports reporting high self-esteem and 61 percent indicating they learn critical communication skills through sports that are valuable for leadership roles.
For each participating team, Keep Her in the Game will offer integrated youth development resources that focus on three core components – training courses and leadership activities for coaches, resources for girls’ parents and caregivers, and special access to Gotham FC players for ongoing, once-in-a-lifetime experiences in sports. The program includes transportation and Spanish language resources.
In its first year, Keep Her in the Game will reach 1,000 girls in the New Jersey/New York region through partnerships with New Jersey Youth Soccer and South Bronx United,…