It takes a team to plan a night, an experience like the Play Like a Girl Honors Gala. While that may sound a bit clichéd, it’s true. Behind the scenes, it takes a team that comes together through challenges, unexpected turns and a myriad of details to do what needs to be done, and have fun while doing it. To become the best kind of team, a true community of can-doers dedicated to one goal: celebrating the contributions of leading women and men in sports and the girls they inspire.

Take a look at how we’re preparing to knock the Play Like a Girl Honors Gala out of the park on Monday, November 26 at Marriott Hotel Cool Springs in Franklin, Tennessee.

Behind the Scenes with Play Like a Girl 

The First Play

Honors Gala preparation began on Saturday, August 18, 2018 at a watch party for Trisha Yearwood’s “Trisha’s Southern Kitchen” airing on the Food Network. This particular episode featured Trisha and her sister, Beth, as they volunteered for snack duty at a Play Like a Girl camp where they taught how to make Easy Snack Skewers and then had fun playing with the girls!

It was here that the Planning Committee was officially formed with volunteers from across industries at some of the biggest companies in the city, from Nissan and Schneider Electric to Vanderbilt, NC2 Media and CBS.

Volunteers were separated into teams in these functional areas: Marketing & PR, Production, Logistics and Procurement. Within these teams, volunteers have done planning work to execute Play Like a Girl Founder and CEO Dr. Kimberly Clay’s vision for the Honors Gala.

Our volunteers are supported by an eight-member Host Committee chaired by Kelly Ford and Danielle Breezy along with Honorary Chair Trisha Yearwood who will be in attendance at the Honors Gala.

Host Committee

  • Deon Brown
  • Sara Chain
  • Laura Lubin
  • Sheila O’Neil
  • Lindsey Paola
  • Nada Taha
  • Destiny Whitmore
  • Kim Wilson

In addition, our Gala Committee includes:

  • Leah Alexander-Otukpe
  • Allison Bailey
  • Carla Brookins
  • Caylin Bursch
  • Kristina Carter
  • Char Dennis
  • Katelin Ford
  • Lynne Garrison
  • Julie Herman
  • Allyson Lanahan
  • Janessa Lewis
  • Tracy Saunier
  • Kelsey Trainor, Esq
  • Kiarra Walden
  • Ashley West
  • LaPourche White
  • Olivia Woodbine

Getting the Ball Rolling

Our team started out strong with a video shoot and interviews with all the Honorees to show at the event itself. We also captured footage of eight of our girls talking about their sport and their experiences with Play Like a Girl.

We then began reaching out to local companies for Silent Auction donations and have worked with some wonderful people with whom we’ve developed strong relationships.

“It’s exciting on my part to find people throughout the area that have already heard of us and really want to donate to help our cause. It makes this so much fun to do.”

– Allison Bailey with NC2 Media, Volunteer

A special thanks to those who’ve donated products and services:

The Full Court Press

Play Like a Girl social media has been infused with Honors Gala content and we reached a milestone in October: 6,000 page likes! By and large we have grown our followers across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

“Social is picking up traction; people are excited about the Honors Gala and a lot of people are sharing content, more so than ever so it’s really an exciting time for Play Like a Girl.”

– Janessa Lewis with SmileDirectClub, Volunteer

A New Play

Being 100 percent volunteer run, one thing we face, as do many non-profits, is a struggle with organization, communication and accountability. Although volunteer Kiarra Walden joined the Honors Gala planning a few weeks in, she sought to remedy that struggle immediately by creating a Slack channel for free through their nonprofit program and also integrated MeisterTask with the channel.

Now communication is streamlined; we can see all the tasks that need to be completed, who’s assigned and if something isn’t done, another can easily jump in. We’re all on the same page!

“It’s so much more efficient to have a central communication hub, outside of email. And this is something we can use beyond the Honors Gala. It will help Play Like a Girl tremendously going forward not only by engaging volunteers, but with everything we do!”

– Kiarra Walden with The Crichton Group, Volunteer

Down to the Wire

With the Play Like a Girl Honors Gala now just a few weeks out our volunteers are working on our fabulous Silent Auction items; taking photos and getting descriptions ready as we prepare to launch our pre-bidding app which will run until November 25, the night before the event. You can also bid at the event!

And we’re busy with all sorts of last minute details; doing whatever it takes to create an event to remember even when crisis strikes. In mid-October when Dr. Clay suffered a stroke, our core volunteer team stepped up, made sure nothing fell through and stayed on schedule and on task.

“It’s been an honor to work with all these women, their support has been such a blessing to Play Like a Girl, and to me personally. Due to the leadership of Allison Bailey and Tracy Saunier, we will come close to doing an at cost event, a first in our almost 15 year history. Another milestone we hope to achieve is to bring on three new staff members; in our history we’ve never had a paid staff person. We’ve been 100 percent volunteer run. Our entire fundraising goal this year is to pay those three salaries.”

-Dr. Kimberly Clay, Founder and CEO, Play Like a Girl

Join us at the Play Like a Girl Honors Gala. The event will feature a cocktail hour with open bar, passed hors d’oeuvres, live music, red carpet and more. Get your ticket today!

Follow the event on Facebook for updates and other information.