Sports
Sports exemplify the best in us
Few things are as engaging as athletes achieving seemingly impossible feats. Sports are exhilarating, awe inducing and evoke respect. They showcase our racial diversity and shatter societal stereotypes of women, non-binary and trans people. Through sports we witness stories that amplify our human dignity.
Sport opens portals to new possibilities.
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“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair.”
— Nelson Mandela —
Leadership that transforms
Sports teach team work and develop growth mindsets. Athletes are encouraged to be strong, competitive, determined and to reach for the stars. When kids play sports it creates a vibrant leadership pipeline. Research shows that 94% of of female c-suite executives played sports.
A microcosm of society, sports mirror inequities and systemic injustice. Women and gender expansive athletes face pay inequity, a lack of student/workers rights, unequal opportunities, racism and discrimination. Their mere existence provokes backlash.
This catch-22 means that they don’t have the option to “just play”. Unjust conditions demand they advocate and organize in order to forge a healthy, equitable and financially viable pathway for themselves and the generations to follow.
The personal becomes political.
The leaders of women’s sports are breaking barriers and shaping culture
Opportunity, innovation and experimentation
Women’s sports are soaring to new heights. Seemingly every day another attendance record is broken, viewership climbs, and new deals are announced. The product has been here, continues to elevate, and the world is catching on.
This is a pivotal moment in herstory and an opportunity to innovate and experiment with new social and economic models. It matters more than ever whose stories are told, who’s included, and who benefits. Women’s sports are showing the world what's possible.
Women’s sports can shape our future.
Put me in, Coach
I’ve caught the fever, I’m smitten, I’m ready to throw down.
Quite frankly, women’s sports bring me endless joy, and I can’t stop seeing opportunities for societal and economic transformation.
I’ve spent my career supporting changemakers to make meaning, to boldly imagine what’s possible, and to take the individual and collective leaps to make it so.
Women’s sports are now calling me to take my own leap. I’m here for it. LFG
Wanna play? Reach out to connect and follow along at @thebenchstrategy.