Women's Olympic Council

Frequently Asked Questions

The Women’s Sports Foundation is an educational nonprofit 501(c)(3) charity organization founded in 1974 by tennis legend Billie Jean King.

What is the Foundation’s mission? 

The Women's Sports Foundation is dedicated to creating leaders by ensuring all girls access to sports.

READ A FEW OF OUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE.

What are the results of the Foundation’s work?

• One of the top five public grant-giving women’s funds in the United States, the Foundation distributes upwards of $10,000 per week from operating dollars to provide opportunities for socioeconomically underprivileged and inactive girls to participate in sports and physical activity.
• The Foundation’s advocacy efforts have directly affected the amount of scholarship dollars supporting educational opportunities for female student-athletes in the United States.  In 1972, women received only $100,000 but now receive $1.8 billion a year across NCAA Division I & II (NCAA, 2014).
• We advocate for equal playing fields for professional and Olympic athletes by helping to get sports in the Olympics, like ski jumping and supporting the international women's World Cup Soccer teams who fought FIFA's mandate that the women must play on artificial turf fields when the men play on grass fields.
• Over the past 41 years, the Foundation has awarded more than $50 million in programming to advance participation, research and leadership in sports and physical activity for girls and women. Our major grant programs range from getting over 1 million girls active in physical activity (GoGirlGo); to providing grass-roots sports opportunities to over 6,000 girls of color aged 11-18 (Sports 4 Life); and over 1,300 grants to aspiring champion athletes and teams to help defray the expensive travel, training and equipment expenses required for them to reach their championship potential (Travel & Training).
• Over the past 30 years, the Foundation has produced more than 40 national, evidence-based research studies that provide a data driven approach to gender equity. Research informs our advocacy and forms the basis of how we develop our programs.
• We continue to advocate for Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 by working with the NCAA leadership, the Office of Civil Rights, coaching organizations, parents and the media to provide education and guidance to achieve compliance of the law. Title IX protects people from the discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive Federal financial assistance. Title IX states that: No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.
• The Foundation’s support of national laws prohibiting sex discrimination has resulted in an increase in high school girls’ varsity sports participation from 1 in 27 in 1972 to 2 in 5 girls in 2006.
• Recognizing that more work needs to be done to ensure safe access to sports, the Foundation worked with the USOC to develop a comprehensive plan for their new independent agency, which will oversee sexual abuse investigations in club and Olympic sport.
• In the 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games (Sochi): Twelve recipients of the Travel & Training Fund competed in Sochi, with two women earning medals for Team USA - one silver and one bronze.
• In the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games (London): Thirty-one Travel & Training Fund recipients traveled to London, with one team and four individual recipients earning seven medals - five gold, one silver and one bronze.

Why does the Foundation exist?

The Foundation is dedicated to creating leaders by ensuring girls' access to sports. We provide safe and equitable sports opportunities so that all girls receive the significant health, education and leadership benefits both on and off the field.

• Only 25% of girls are getting sufficient physical activity to combat the development of chronic disease and enhance quality of life. Barriers to participation and other socioeconomic factors compound this deficit in females of color as well as for girls and women living in urban and rural settings. (Staurowsky et al., 2015)
• Disordered eating, depression and poor self-esteem are commonly associated with a negative body image, which can develop in girls as young as 6 and be well-established by the age of 9. Physical activity is shown to have a positive effect on body image over time. (Staurowsky et al., 2015)  
• Sport is where our children learn about teamwork, goal setting and the pursuit of excellence.  In an economic environment where the quality of our life is dependent on two-income families, our daughters cannot be less prepared for the highly competitive workplace than our sons.
• The Foundation works to afford females equal opportunity to work and be volunteer leaders in sports organizations and the sports industry.

Who are the Foundation’s leadership?

• An innovative CEO, an experienced team, a champion athlete President and a diverse Board of Trustees who are leaders in sport, corporate and educational institutions, industries, organizations and philanthropy.
• An Athlete Advisory Panel, a Corporate Advisory Panel, an Advocacy Committee, a Research Panel and a Founder's Circle comprised of experts in all aspects of sports, gender equity, education, health and leadership.
• The Board of Trustees and Founder’s Circle includes leading women and men in Corporate America, Olympic, Paralympic and world champion athletes, sports industry executives, and experts in fields of law, research and academia.  
• Staff and Board leadership reflect the Foundation’s commitment to diversity and integrity.

Why does the Foundation need to exist today with the multitude of opportunities for girls and women in sports?

Participation: There has been great progress in opportunities for girls and women in sports participation. In 1972, 1/27 girls played high school sports. Today, over 40 years later, that number has grown to 2/5 or 40 percent. But, 60 percent of girls DO NOT have access and those are primarily girls of color who come from disadvantaged backgrounds.

• Too many girls, especially those who are economically disadvantaged, are inactive and, as a result, at greater risk for obesity, diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis and other serious diseases.
• More than 3/4 of 12th-grade girls are unhappy with their bodies, and one in three adolescent girls will experience depression, anxiety or eating disorders. Physical activity has been shown to improve self-image.
• Girls have 1.3 million fewer opportunities to participate in high school sports than boys. (NFHS, 2014)
• Women have more than 60,000 fewer college sports opportunities than men and receive $201 million less in athletic scholarships. (NCAA, 2014)
• Not only have girls NOT reached equity in high school sports, their share of opportunities has actually declined in the first decade of the 21st century. (Sabo & Veliz, 2012)
• Women athletes are actually covered less in media now than they were in 1989 (5% of TV coverage). In 2014, only 3.2% of network television coverage was given to women's sports; SportsCenter only gave women 2% of coverage. (Cooky, Messner, & Musto, 2015)
• Women represent 43 percent of coaches of collegiate women’s sports, only 4.2-3.5 percent of coaches of men’s sports and 22 percent of athletic directors. (Acosta & Carpenter, 2014)
• Women’s Sports Foundation’s GoGirlGo! has helped nearly one million inactive girls get active.
• Female athletes are smart and hold high aspirations both on and off the field. Some already enjoy economic success while others require additional guidance to reach their professional potential. The Foundation is committed to helping athletes make the transition from athlete leadership to their next business or professional career.

For these reasons and many others, there is still much work to be done to get girls active and for those who are active, to experience equal treatment at all levels of sports. The stakes are too high, the benefits of sports too important for girls and women to sit on the sidelines.

Is the Foundation a trade association?

No.  However, the Foundation is considered to be “the voice” of women’s sports—an umbrella organization serving and “speaking for” girls and women in all sports, and of all ages, skill levels and abilities.  The Foundation is a clearinghouse for all research and information on girls' and women’s sports and physical activity and is quoted regularly in major media platforms including The New York Times, CNN, Forbes, Huffington Post and USA Today; generating 1.5 billion media impressions annually on issues of sports, health and equality.

What are the sources of financial support for the Foundation?

The Women's Sports Foundation receives funding from a variety of sources including: National Sponsors, organizational sponsors and program sponsors, Individual and Family Foundation and Government grants, individuals, the Annual Salute to Women in Sports Gala, as well as planned giving and bequests.  

What are some honors the Foundation has received?

• GoGirlGo! — Gold and Bronze awards in the 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011 and 2015 National Health Information Awards recognizing the nation’s best health information programs
• Effie Awards for effective marketing communication (North America, 2013) awarded for the Keep Her In The Game campaign; Goodworks - Nonprofit (Silver) and Small Budgets - Services (Bronze)
• Billie Jean King - In August 2009, King was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. The award was presented to King by President Obama on Aug. 12, 2009 in ceremonies at The White House.
• WSF Board of Trustees continue to be included among Forbes The Most Powerful Women in Sports and Most Powerful Men in College Sports.
• The International Olympic Committee’s highest award, the Women and Sport Trophy, in 2000 — the first time the award was given
• United Nations Consultative Status to the Economic and Social Council, the first non-governmental sport organization in the world to receive such designation
• Public Relations Society of America Big Apple Award for Cause-Related Marketing  

What are funds used for?

For the past decade the Women’s Sports Foundation has spent on average more than 80 cents of every dollar on programming support for girls and women in sports and physical activity and less than 20 cents on fundraising and administration costs, well below the general guidelines for nonprofit organizations requiring that total fundraising and administration costs not exceed 35% of total income.

Why give to the Foundation?

The Foundation is meeting a critical need. The request for a gift is an invitation to join in an entrepreneurial social change venture, an opportunity to invest in the health, empowerment and success of women through sports.  When we expand participation and leadership opportunities for girls and women in sport, these experiences pay dividends in the form of a stronger, healthier society. We cannot do this work alone. We have a strong leadership and team of experts to ensure that we maximize our financial and other resources. We encourage you to join the Women’s Sports Foundation and help more girls get off the sidelines and into sports and good health!

For More Information:

Women Olympic Council-WOC

WOC. 45/5, S.K.Deb Road;

5Th Bye Lane; Kolkata-700048;

West Bengal; India.

E-Mail: womenolympic@india.com

Mobile: +91.9874091619

Women's Sports Foundation

Our History

The Women’s Sports Foundation was established in 1974 to advance the lives of women and girls through sports and physical activity. Our mission today - we are dedicated to creating leaders by ensuring girls access to sports. We provide financial fuel to aspiring champion athletes. We fund groundbreaking research. We educate. We advocate. And we help communities get girls active. Sure, there's a long way to go. But, it's gratifying to see our hard work make sure a difference.

Billie Jean King

1974

The Women’s Sports Foundation is founded by Billie Jean King in San Francisco. Since then, more than 225 Trustees from the worlds of sport, business, education and entertainment have volunteered and led the way towards carrying out the mission and vision.

1975

The Foundation publishes the first College Athletic Scholarship Guide for Women at a time when few opportunities existed for women to compete in college athletics, and there was virtually no media coverage of the few competitive opportunities. Today, more than 150,000 women are competing in sports at NCAA member institutions, making up more than 40 percent of the participants in intercollegiate athletics and receiving about 43 percent of the scholarship dollars.

1976

The first Executive Director, Eva Auchincloss, is appointed and heads up the office of the Foundation on only $5,000 and a donated office space in San Mateo, Calif. Athletes like Jane Blalock, Donna de Varona, Chris Evert, Diane Holum, Joan Joyce, Micki King, Karen Logan, Sandra Paulson, Paula Sperber, and Wyomia Tyus were members of the first advisory board.

1977

• The first official Women’s Sports Foundation newsletter is distributed to its members. Today, a weekly e-mail newsletter is sent out to more than 38,000 members, the Women’s Sports Experience newsletter is circulated to 25,000 members per quarter and SportsTalk reaches 5,000 youth members per quarter.
• The first grant programs, including summer camp scholarships, are established by the Foundation. Since then, more than $8 million in cash grants and scholarships and $42 million in educational materials and services has been provided to individuals, teams and grassroots organizations.

1979

Donna de Varona becomes the Women’s Sports Foundation’s first president, setting the standard for athlete involvement in the organization’s leadership. An Emmy award winning pioneer sports broadcaster Donna used her contacts and visibility to help launch the foundation and build it into a strong, credible and viable organization. Under her leadership the foundation initiated the Hall of Fame Dinner (now the Annual Salute to Women in Sports Awards Dinner), Travel & Training grants, research projects, media awards and a toll-free telephone number. Donna has worked to insure there are annual visits to educate Congress about Title IX and the importance of providing sport and physical activity opportunities on an equitable basis. Still involved with the Foundation, de Varona is now the Chair of the Founder’s Circle.

1980

• The first Annual Salute to Women in Sports Fundraising and Awards Dinner is held. This year marks our 34th year of honoring the women who are dedicated to making a difference, advancing participation and who dare to compete.
• The inaugural induction class of the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame is honored. With 124 members of the Hall of Fame, the organization continues to direct and advise hundreds of other non-sport organizations to salute women athletes and coaches as leaders and award recipients across all areas of society.

1981

The Foundation’s toll-free information line opens. The Foundation now receives more than 100,000 requests for information each year, sends more than 10,000 general information packets each year and distributes more than 2 million pieces of material each year to girls, parents and program leaders.

1982

The Foundation’s Internship Program begins. More than 450 young professionals have learned professional skills, provided assistance in the implementation of programs and have gone on to successful careers.

1983

The New Agenda Conference brings together the leaders of women’s sports to create a blueprint for the future of women’s sports.

1984

The Foundation’s Travel & Training Fund grants are first awarded. To date, more than $1,200,000 has been awarded from this fund so that athletes can continue their dreams of competing at the highest level.

1985

The High School All-Star program begins and provides recognition for more than 1,700 outstanding high school female athletes. Since then, the Foundation has granted more than $1,000,000 in college scholarships to deserving female athletes in need.

1986

• The Women’s Sports Foundation relocates to New York City and hires its second executive director, Deborah Slaner Larkin.
• The Women’s Sports Journalism Award program is created to honor women’s sports media coverage. In the 15 years that this award was given, 117 journalists from around the country were honored for excellence in media coverage of women’s sports.

1987

The inaugural National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) celebration is held in Washington, D.C., as a day to remember Olympic volleyball player Flo Hyman for her athletic achievements and her work to ensure equality for women’s sports. Since that time, 18 years of NGWSD celebrations have acknowledged the past, recognized current sports achievements and celebrated the move toward equality and access for women in sports.

1988

• The Foundation’s second major research study, The Wilson Report: Moms, Dads, Daughters and Sports, is published. To this day, it is recognized as the first large-scale, nationwide intergenerational study of the female sports experience.
• Kristi Yamaguchi receives a Travel and Training Grant for her athletic success in figure skating. Four years later at the 1992 Olympic Games, she becomes the first U.S. woman since Dorothy Hamill in 1976 to win the women’s Olympic figure skating gold medal. 

1990

The first “Grants for Girls” are awarded. In its 12 years of existence, $545,000 is distributed to fund equipment, facility rental and apparel to girls’ sports programs across the country. Its direct descendant, the GoGirlGo! grants, awarded more than $1 million in its first three years, 2002-2004.

1991

Soccer player Michelle Akers receives a Travel and Training Grant. Nine years later, she is named the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Player of the Century and Best Female Soccer Player Ever.

1992

• The Community Awards and Grants Program (later the Community Action Program) is established. This program brings together community leaders from youth-serving agencies, sports organizations, schools and businesses to promote girls’ and women’s sports in their local communities. Through the Take Action and Spread the Word awards, granted to more than 100 grassroots organizations across the country, communities are encouraged to celebrate participation and support the achievements of girls and women in sports and fitness.
• The Minority Internship Program begins, giving more women of underrepresented populations the experience to make their mark in sports-related careers.

1993

• The Women’s Sports Foundation gets a “new home” in Nassau County, N.Y., when the eight full-time staff and two interns move into the Lannin House in Eisenhower Park. Twenty-nine full-time staff, nine part-time staff and consultants, and 14 interns share their passion for the cause on a daily basis.
• Michelle Kwan is named a recipient of the Travel and Training Grant. Four years later, during the 1997-98 season, she becomes the first woman to earn a perfect score at the U.S. national championship when she earns seven 6.0 scores in the short program.

1994

The Athletes’ Speaker Service is officially launched. Since its inception, hundreds of athletes have educated people at schools, companies and conferences.

1995

The Annual Salute to Women in Sports Awards Dinner is televised on TNT. This is the first of a total of five times that the Dinner is televised on a major cable network.

1996

• The Olympic Games in Atlanta include 45 Foundation Travel and Training grant recipients competing for the United States. Twelve of them win 16 medals, including Mary Ellen Clark in diving (bronze), Kerri Strug in gymnastics (gold) and Brooke Bennett in swimming (gold).
• The Foundation launches its first web site. Millions of people around the world have accessed the Foundation’s information via the Internet.
• The first Wilma Rudolph Courage Award is given to Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Since then, eight other women who have demonstrated the ability to overcome adversity, make significant contributions to sports and serve as inspirations and role models for others have received this prestigious honor.

1997

The Foundation publishes The Women’s Sports Foundation Gender Equity Report Card. This publication examines the compliance with Title IX of more than 700 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) colleges and universities.

1998

• The Women’s Sports Foundation Report: Sport and Teen Pregnancy is published. Until this study, there was little or no recognition among teen pregnancy prevention experts and policymakers that athletic participation helps reduce many girls’ risk for pregnancy. The report is so successful that it is published in major newspapers such as USA Today, San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times and international outlets, generating about 250 million media impression.
• The Foundation is granted United Nations Consultative status for being concerned with matters within the competence of The Economic and Social Council. To date, the Foundation is the only non-governmental sport organization in the world to receive such status.

1999

The Women’s Sports Foundation Report: Addressing the Needs of Professional and Amateur Athletes is published. With this data, the Women’s Sports Foundation helps National Governing Bodies address issues of importance for female athletes.

2000

• The Foundation’s first bilingual (English/Spanish) guide, the Parent’s Guide to Girls’ Sports, is published. Since its first printing in 1986, more than 1 million copies have been distributed.
• The Foundation is awarded the International Olympic Committee’s first-ever Women in Sport Award for the Americas.

2001

• The Foundation publishes The Women’s Sports Foundation Report: Health Risks and the Teen Athlete study. Now, program leaders, educators and policymakers have solid evidence that sports participation is a fundamental solution to the health risks faced by teen girls.
• The first grant in The Project to Eliminate Homophobia in Sports is awarded. An educational curriculum and video entitled “It Takes A Team” is created to reach athletes, coaches and administrators nationwide.
• GoGirlGo! education and grant programs are established. More than 625,000 girls aged 10-14 have been educated about avoiding health-risk behaviors and more than $2,000,000 has been given to support girls’ physical activity opportunities.

2002

• The National Public Service Announcement campaign “Do you know who I am?” is created thanks to Element 79 Partners, Seven Worldwide and the many individuals who donated their time and expertise. The campaign appears more than 18,000 times in print, on television and on the radio and generates 500 million media impressions.
• The Olympic Winter Games take place in Salt Lake City, Utah. Travel & Training grant recipients win four of the 11 Olympic medals earned by United States women and seven medals, four of them being gold, in the Paralympic Games.

2003

The Foundation helps lead a 12-month campaign with a coalition of more than 100 organizations to engineer grassroots demonstrations in seven cities to oppose the administration’s attempts to dismantle Title IX. Without these efforts, high school participation opportunities for women might have fallen by 163,000, college rates by 43,000 and as much as $103,000,000 might be lost in college athletic scholarships annually.

2004

• The GoGirlGo! National Campaign to get one million inactive girls active and to keep one million active girls motivated to participate is launched. Obesity rates have doubled in children and tripled in adolescents over the last two decades. One in seven young people is obese and one in three is overweight. The Foundation is combating these health risks one girl at a time. Atlanta becomes the first GoGirlGo! community.
• SuperWomen: 100 Women-100 Sports, is published. The book shows everyone that female athletes come in all races, ages and body types and that there is a sport for everyone.
• The XXVIII Olympic Games is held in Athens, Greece. Seventeen Travel & Training grant recipients compete for the United States, four of whom brought home medals in cycling, rowing, swimming and track and field.

2005

Chicago becomes the 2nd GoGirlGo! community project.

2006

• San Antonio becomes the 3rd GoGirlGo! community project
• The Foundation publishes Women in the 2006 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games: An Analysis of Participation, Leadership and Media Coverage. This report examined the extent to which both the international and U.S. sports communities provide equitable sports participation and leadership opportunities for women and assigned grades based on the assumption that men and women should have equal opportunities as athletes and leaders and be equally represented in media coverage.

2007

• Boston becomes the 4th GoGirlGo! community project
• The Foundation publishes Who’s Playing College Sports: Trends in Participation. It provided the most accurate and comprehensive examination of participation trends to date. Data from almost every higher education institution in the country was analyzed utilizing data and methods that are free of the shortcomings present in previous research on this subject.

2008

The Billie Jean King International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame opens on May 7th. Annuallly, more than one million people are expected to visit. The Center hosts the first induction ceremony for the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame in its new home.

The Foundation has a $4 million operating budget and offices in Nassau County, N.Y., and New York City.