Elevating Women's Sports in the Media

Participation in sport helps middle school girls maintain confidence, promotes physical fitness, has mental health benefits, and much more. For this reason, Play Like a Girl is committed to helping girls stay in sport and reach their full potential.

By the age of 14, girls drop out of sport at twice the rate of boys.

Part of the reason for this disparity is the lack representation of females in sport media. Only 4% of sports media coverage features women. The failure of mainstream media to highlight more female athletes is a large contributing factor in girls’ declining participation past middle school.

By the time middle school ends, the lack of exposure to female athletes, compared to male athletes, takes a toll. This results in the declining sports participation among girls. Yet, girls benefit psychologically from exposure to successful female athletes. Girls demonstrate increases in motivation, confidence, and levels of overall happiness when exposed to female role models. 

Former Stanford University Soccer Player Haley Rosen is looking to increase female representation within sports coverage with her new website and brand Just Women’s Sports.

Haley is teaming up with other elite female athletes including Hilary Knight, Kerri Walsh Jennnigs, Kelley O’Hara, and others to offer a more comprehensive representation of women in sport media. 

Just Women’s Sports is hoping to “change how women’s sports are covered. No more pink and glitter. No more ‘give us a twirl.’ Just sports.” The initiative strives to spotlight the aspects of female sport that traditional media lacks. These aspects include women in nontraditional sports such as rugby and football. It also includes focus on the routines and training habits of female athletes.

Along with its website, Just Women’s Sports is putting out regular podcasts and newsletters. These feature exclusive interviews with female athletes and highlighting those who are really changing the game. The website also helps users easily find the schedules for women's professional sports and where to watch games. This is useful, as mainstream networks do not air most of them.

Just Women's Sports is one of many initiatives opening the door for increased participation and success among girls and women in sport.

 Elevating the platform, voices, and performance of empowering female athletes helps influence the next generation of women. Girls internalize what they see on the screen and in the media, so seeing more successful women in sports only reinforces the message that girls have a place on the field.

Check out Just Women's Sports at https://www.justwomenssports.com.


STEM+ Academy 2019

Play Like a Girl's STEM+ Academy is a one-of-a-kind STEM field trip program specially designed for 8th and 9th grade girls residing in Nashville, Murfreesboro and surrounding areas. STEM+ Academy exposes students to positive female role models in a variety of STEM fields; engages them in hand-on STEM activities; and, offers confidence-building opportunities that help girls to develop leadership skills for the workplace.

Register here! FREE and open to the public. Meals and refreshments included. Parents are invited to attend the Tesla event. All others are drop-in events; pick-up time is 15 minutes prior to end time. A signed Consent & Waiver Form must be submitted for each student.

Registered but had a change of plans? Please be sure to login and cancel your registration at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled trip. To volunteer, please contact [email protected]

Summer 2019 Series:

May 30 | Sustainable Energy - Tesla
Thursday, May 30, 6-7:30 PM
Tesla, 1641 Westgate Circle, Brentwood
Students will:

  • Tour the Tesla facility and test drive an electric car
  • Hear from female STEM professionals at Tesla
  • Learn about physics and engineering concepts
  • Build a balloon-powered car to take home

June 6 | Robotics - Bridgestone Tires
Thursday, June 6, 10 AM-1 PM
Bridgestone Tires, 1201 Bridgestone Parkway, La Vergne
Students will:

  • Tour the Bridgestone Tire Plant
  • Meet female STEM professionals at Bridgestone Americas
  • Learn about the use of robotics in the tire industry
  • Build their own motorized tin can robot

June 14 | Science of Baseball - First Tennessee Park
Friday, June 14, 10 AM-1 PM
First Tennessee Park, 19 Jr Gilliam Way, Nashville
Students will:

  • Go behind the scenes at First Tennessee Park
  • Be inspired by female STEM professionals in baseball
  • Get hands-on experience in technology, nutrition and more
  • Improve their game in an on-field skills clinic with the pros
  • Enjoy a free Sounds game and fireworks (7:15 PM)
  • Compete to win a trip to Silicon Valley (CA) for all-girls STEM Hackathon (July 17-19)!

June 28 | Emergency Medicine - TriStar Skyline Medical Center
Friday, June 28, 10 AM-1 PM
TriStar Skyline Medical Center, 3441 Dickerson Pike, Nashville
Students will:

  • Tour a Level II Trauma Center
  • Be inspired by female leaders in medicine
  • Learn about exciting careers in trauma and emergency medicine
  • Get hands-on training in a life-saving blood emergency protocol, Stop the Bleed

July 25 | Physics of Ice Hockey - Ford Ice Center
Thursday, July 25, 3-5 PM
Ford Ice Center, 5264 Hickory Hollow Parkway, Antioch, TN
Students will:

  • Be inspired by leading woen in hockey
  • Learn about friction, momentum and the law of equal and opposite reactions
  • Get a free on-ice skating lesson with the Predators Kids on Ice program