Author: Ileana Berkeley, Director of Marketing

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Today is the 37th annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD). While it’s widely seen and celebrated as a day to highlight the accomplishments of female athletes, it’s become so much more than that. Yes, we celebrate. But we also acknowledge the ongoing fight for gender equity in sports, where although giant strides have recently been made, we still have a lot of work ahead.

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I grew up an athlete, as did many of my female colleagues. Unlike them, I took a step back after high school despite being offered a spot in the Honduran U-20 National Soccer Team. While I was good (not great), in my mind it was a no brainer that there was no future for me in sports, and I’m not alone. By age 14, girls drop out of sports at twice the rate of boys for reasons like lack of access, social stigma, decreased quality of experience (hello 2021 March Madness), and the big one for me: lack of positive role models (WSF). What’s more, a recent study found that 80% of female executives at Fortune 500 companies played competitive sports, indicating both that they felt there was no longer a place for them in the sports world and that ‘girls’ who play sports learn skills like teamwork and leadership that set them up for success later in life.

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Coincidentally, this year on NGWSD, I'm on my third day as the new Marketing Director at MOGL. MOGL's mission is to support ALL athletes, no matter their gender, sport, school, or division. As someone who is passionate about sports, and particularly women's sports, I couldn't be more grateful for the timing. Not only are professional leagues like the NWSL and WNBA making barrier-breaking progress, but we’re seeing more companies join in on the commitment to uplift girls and women in sports - SeeHer, Togethxr, the GIST, Just Women’s Sports, On Her Turf, and even brands like Buick - to name a few. In NIL specifically, women’s sports continue to outpace most men’s sports in terms of NIL activity as brands continue to recognize women student-athletes' marketing appeal.

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Within MOGL specifically and with 50%+ of the student-athletes in our network identifying as female, we're continuously energized by our partnership with SeeHer.

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SeeHer is an organization committed to changing and improving the representation of females in advertising. The group represents an unprecedented coalition of marketers, agencies, and media companies committed to being a part of the change.

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I can’t wait to witness and be a part of what’s to come for girls and women in sports everywhere, and to see more and more incredible athletes rise as role models for generations to come. To steal from SeeHer’s motto; “If you can see her, you can be her”, and I personally cannot wait to see what the future holds for her.