February 7, 2024
Boston Scores proudly celebrates National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) with a new video that spotlights some of the incredible women involved in Boston Scores. Participants shared about how they got involved in sports, some of the key mentors who supported them along the way, what sport has taught them and how they work to advance gender equity in sport. The video features:
- Julia Hill, a teacher at East Boston’s McKay K-8 school and Boston Scores coach
- Gilda Doria, a former Division I soccer player at Duke University, co-founder of the soccer community networking app SoccerHead and Boston Scores board member
- Sarah Harkes, a former professional soccer player and Boston Scores staff member
- Aniya McLean, a senior at Boston Latin Academy and Boston Scores program participant
Boston Scores served nearly 500 girls in our programs during the most recent school year. Our program model creates separate soccer teams for boys and girls at each school and strives to ensure equal participation with 15 spots for boys and 15 spots for girls. Any individuals who identify as non-binary are able to choose which team they would like to participate on. Within our enrichment programs, we also create separate spaces for girls and boys as we work to create safe spaces to share about sensitive topics.
Organizationally, we have always prioritized recruiting and training female coaches for our girls teams, recognizing the importance of representation. Across the board for all coaches, we provide specialized training that focuses on gender inclusivity. Within our staff and board, we have also worked to increase the number of women, especially in leadership positions and in program-facing positions.
Boston Scores continues the important work to create programs and an organization that prioritizes gender equity. We are excited about the opportunities for this as we build new partnerships and programs around our new soccer and education center in East Boston. By working with focus and intentionality, we know that we can continue to expand opportunities for girls and women, in sport and beyond.
Women’s Sports Foundation created NGWSD to both celebrate the achievements of girls and women in sports and to continue the important work towards greater gender equity in sport.
