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A group of ladies participate in soccer drills during the event.
Photo courtesy of Cydni Elledge
PONTIAC — With the 50th anniversary of Title IX occurring back in June, the importance of everything it brought — to not only sports- or education-based inclusion, but basic safety measures for women — was celebrated Aug. 12 at the UWM Sports Complex in Pontiac.
Project Play is a partnership of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, and the Aspen Institute of Sports and Society Program.
In memory of Title IX, Project Play hosted the “Find Your Next Move: Sports Sampling for Girls” event. Nearly 300 young women up to 13 years old participated in various sports, such as volleyball, cheer, basketball, soccer, tennis, yoga and flag football.
“The 50th anniversary of Title IX was definitely a motivating factor,” Project Play Director Alana Glass said. “I’m someone who benefited from Title IX, and when I knew the anniversary was coming up, I definitely wanted to be a part of it in celebrating opportunities for girls in sports.”
Glass, an Oakland County native, was a student manager her first three years for the women’s basketball team at the University of Minnesota and was a walk-on for the team her senior season.
For five hours, the girls took part in all different sports as they went from station to station doing drills, working as a team, and listening to the music that filled the gym.
Eight-year-old Alexandria, who cheers with the Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Michigan, didn’t let any of the other sports distract her from the cheer station.
“I like to jump around and do all the moves,” Alexandria said.
Coaches and volunteers cheered on the participants as the girls were all smiles, and Glass said there was a deep sense of appreciation for the community and volunteers for all their efforts to make the event happen.
“It means a lot because this is my community; all of the youth, adults and coaches are my community members,” Glass said. “They’re my neighbors; I feel a sense of pride of what we accomplished today and that we were able to make it happen.”
That pride is for not only introducing sports to young children, but also branching out the idea of participation and inclusion in sports for young women everywhere.
Glass said the hope is that events like this will not only continue to encourage women to participate in sports, but also grow the community for women’s professional sports as well.
“I’ve seen the evolution of sports from when I was a youth until now,” Glass said. “We have strong women’s leagues in the WNBA. We have a strong women’s national soccer team, and college athletics are just exploding; this is the next generation.”
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