All
featured
Arts and Design
Entertainment
Inclusion
Lifestyle
Business
Advocacy
Government
Careers
Activists
Sports
Education
Technology
Stories
woman-owned
Health
In Memoriam
Uncategorized
Authors
Women in STEM
Disability
music
Science
#stopasianhate
Mentoring
LGBTQ
Finance
Events

Washington Football Team Makes Jennifer King NFL’s First Black Female Coach

Sports

By Chris Bumbaca for USA Today

As the NFL endures arguably its most disappointing hiring cycle in terms of diversity, a sliver of good news emerged Thursday night.

Multiple reports said the Washington Football Team will promote Jennifer King to the full-time staff, making her the first Black female assistant in the league.

King had served as a full-year intern this past season who worked with running backs coach Randy Jordan.

(Image Credit - USA Today)

Washington head coach Ron Rivera first hired her as an intern with the Carolina Panthers in 2018, allowing her to spend time at the Panthers’ training camp for two seasons before Rivera hired her again, this time with Washington in 2020. She was also an assistant wide receivers coach with the Arizona Hotshots in the Alliance of American Football.

King’s new role, per the reports, will be offensive assistant.

The number of female coaches has increased over the last several seasons, and King will be the fourth full-time female staff member in league history.

King has already helped make her share of history on the sidelines. In September, she was part of the first NFL game with females on both sidelines (the Cleveland Browns’ Callie Brownson) and a female official (Sarah Thomas, who will be a part of the Super Bowl crew). The NFC Wild Card matchup between Washington and Tampa Bay, with King and Buccaneers coaches Lori Locust (assistant defensive line coach) and Maral Javadifar (assistant strength and conditioning coach), marked the first postseason game with female coaches on both sidelines.

Read the full article at USA Today.

U.S. Soccer and women soccer stars settle equal pay lawsuit for $24 million

ActivistsAdvocacyBusinessCareersSports

The $24 million agreement will see tens of millions of dollars in back pay owned to players.

By Marlene Lenthang, NBC News

U.S. women soccer stars, including Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan, have reached a $24 million settlement with the U.S. Soccer Federation following a lawsuit over unequal pay with men’s team players.

The landmark settlement was announced Tuesday, years after a group of five U.S. Women’s National Team players filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint over inequality in pay and treatment.

According to the terms of the settlement, U.S. Soccer will pay men and women at an equal rate in the future in all friendlies and tournaments, including the World Cup.

“For us, this is just a huge win in ensuring that we not only right the wrongs of the past, but set the next generation up for something we only dreamed of,” Rapinoe said Tuesday on NBC’s “TODAY” show.

“We are really in the midst of an incredible turning point in women’s sport,” she said, adding, “If you’re not paying attention to this right now and what’s happening in women’s sport, you’re sleeping on the whole thing.”

The EEOC complaint was filed in 2016 by Morgan, Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn, Hope Solo and Carli Lloyd (Solo and Lloyd are retired).

Then in March 2019, 28 members of the USWNT filed a lawsuit, citing years of ongoing institutionalized gender discrimination against the players in their compensation and working conditions.

The lawsuit garnered national attention and led to stadium chants of “Equal Pay!” when the U.S. women’s team won the 2019 World Cup in Paris.

The disparity in pay between men and women is stark. FIFA awarded $400 million in prize money for the 32 teams at the 2018 men’s World Cup, and $38 million to the champion, France. By comparison, FIFA awarded $30 million for the 24 teams at the 2019 women’s World Cup, including $4 million to the U.S. after winning their second straight title.

A global sensation and powerhouse in the sport, the U.S. team has won four FIFA Women’s World Cup titles since the competition’s founding in 1991.

That stands in stark contrast to the men’s national team, which took third in the first World Cup played in 1930 — and hasn’t come close since.

U.S. Soccer will pay $22 million to the players in the case and an additional $2 million into an account to benefit USWNT players in their post-career goals and charitable efforts related to women’s and girls’ soccer, according to the settlement terms. Players will be able to apply for up to $50,000 from this fund.

The legal back and forth in the case saw former U.S. Soccer Federation President Carlos Cordeiro resign in March 2020 in the wake of bitter backlash stemming from a legal filing that included sexist language comparing female and male players.

His resignation led former American midfielder Cindy Parlow Cone to become the first female president in the federation’s history.

The settlement is contingent on the ratification of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement for USWNT and U.S. Soccer, which will resolve all the claims in the 2019 suit.

Morgan said on “TODAY” their work in leveling the playing field is not over.

“U.S. Soccer has agreed to equalize the prize money moving forward, obviously we call on FIFA to truly equalize that for men’s and women’s tournaments,” she said. “That’s really what we set out to do. Equalize on all fronts.”

“It’s a proud moment for all of us,” she added.

Click here to read the full article on NBC News.

Jasmine Jordan on Creating Her Own Lane at Jordan Brand and WNBA Stars Finding Out She’s Michael Jordan’s Daughter

CareersEntertainmentSports

Jasmine Jordan and peer holding up a basketball

By Peter Verry, Yahoo! News

Jasmine Jordan has a famous father, but she also works for Jordan Brand as a field rep in its sports marketing division, highlighting future athlete icons — especially female ones.

What’s more, not only is Jordan Brand signing WNBA stars, but the company is committed to providing equal treatment.

“Once we started to expand the roster, [we were] having the conversations of, ‘We say we’re Jordan Family, we’re offering white-glove service to tier 1 athletes. Let’s make sure that is felt when we bring these ladies on board too,’” Jasmine Jordan, the daughter of NBA icon Michael Jordan, told FN.

Although she has a job working for the namesake label of her father, Jasmine Jordan would much rather play the background and make a difference for the better than have a role in the forefront. Below, the basketball field rep for women’s sport marketing shares her thoughts on preserving her father’s legacy and ensuring Jordan Brand is always at the forefront of sneaker culture.

ON BEING A JORDAN WORKING AT THE BRAND:
“It’s powerful, it’s special. To have the name and work for the brand, it doesn’t feel real. People say all the time, ‘That’s your brand.’ I say, ‘No, it’s not,’ [but] yes, it is. I’m aware of it, but I don’t think about it as much as people around me do. I’m blessed with the name and an opportunity, but I don’t take it for granted.”

ESTABLISHING HERSELF AS A PROFESSIONAL:
“Those who have interacted with me even for 5 seconds, they see I don’t own the room. I have no desire to own the room. I am happy to be standing in the back, grabbing water for my athletes, checking on everybody because that’s who I am. I didn’t come in with my last name printed out in an office and taking executive roles. I’m going to work my way to that point. I want to make sure that if a role or an opportunity presents itself down the line, I can say that I did the entry job, worked my way to manager, director, executive. I took my learnings to find my way to the top.”

ROLE IN SIGNING FEMALE ATHLETES:
“I did a lot of research during COVID, had a lot of conversations. I got the green light in mid-2020, saying, ‘Hey, we’re about to expand our roster’ — that’s all I needed. I had a list of ladies we could consider signing, and Anthony [DiCosmo] said, ‘Create the roster how you want it to look.’ I made sure no two players were alike, every player had their own story and they were killing it in their own way on their team.”

WHEN ATHLETES FIND OUT HER DAD IS MJ:
“Some of our ladies know from the jump like, ‘That’s Mike’s daughter.’ But I had an adorable moment with Te’a Cooper. She had no idea. It wasn’t until I posted ‘Happy Father’s Day’ on my Instagram and she texted me right after, ‘You did not tell me he is your dad.’ And I was like, ‘Te’a, I assumed you knew.’”

Click here to read the full article on Yahoo! News.

Dennis Rodman’s Daughter, Trinity Rodman, To Be NWSL’s Highest-Paid Player

BusinessCareersEntertainmentSports

By BET Staff, BET

Trinity Rodman is blazing her own trail. “She has a truly special career ahead of her.”

Trinity Rodman, the National Women’s Soccer League’s 2021 Rookie of the Year and the daughter of NBA legend Dennis Rodman, has made history as the highest paid player in U.S. women’s professional soccer.

After inking a contract extension with the Washington Spirit, reportedly worth $1.1 million, Rodman, who’s just 19, is the highest paid player in the NWSL.

“We’re incredibly excited to have Trin as a part of the Spirit family for at least the next three seasons,” Kris Ward, coach of the Spirit, said. “She has a truly special career ahead of her and makes us a better club on all fronts.”

According to ESPN, Rodman “joined the league last year on a three-year deal that averaged $42,000 in base salary, plus housing and bonuses.” They were able to pay her above the base salary by tapping into allocation money, which allows teams to offer players an amount above the salary cap. After ratifying the league’s collective bargaining agreement — which ups the maximum salary for most players to $75,000 (a 43 percent increase), while increasing the minimum salary to $35,000 — Rodman will reportedly make a $281,000 base annual salary, placing her at a higher salary than NWSL vet and World Cup star, Megan Rapinoe.

After accepting her first call up to the NWSL in January, Rodman led the Spirit to the NWSL 2022 title, cementing her spot as one of the most promising players in the sport today.

“She was one of the most exciting players in the league this past season,” USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski said, “and she proved that she can be impactful at the professional level in NWSL.”

Click here to read the full article on BET.

Exclusive: ESPN to debut its first all-women baseball broadcast

EntertainmentSports

The two sports announcers will be ESPN's first all-woman broadcast team for a nationally televised Major League Baseball game on September 29.

By Frank Pallotta, Eirie News Today

Melanie Newman and Jessica Mendoza aren’t done making history.

The two sports announcers will be ESPN’s first all-woman broadcast team for a nationally televised Major League Baseball game on September 29. The game will mark the first time ESPN has had an all-woman broadcast team for a MLB, NBA, NFL regular season or playoff game. The teams that will be playing are not yet determined.

Newman and Mendoza have put their names in the history books before. Newman was a part of MLB’s first-ever all-female broadcast in July while Mendoza became the first female analyst to call a nationally televised MLB playoff game in 2015. Mendoza, ESPN’s first regular female MLB analyst, has been with the network since 2007.

Mendoza is a two-time Olympic medal winner and was a four-time All-American on Stanford University’s softball team.

“Honestly, each earmark is just another page,” Newman told CNN Business. “I feel fortunate to be the one handed this chance, it’s our responsibility until there are no more firsts and its just an even playing field of all-qualified professionals who happen to look different.”

Mendoza echoed Newman’s sentiments, saying “it is important to have more people represent the game of baseball.”

“For young girls, women and Latinas, to hear a voice that represents them is so impactful for not only the sport to grow its audience, but to continue to broaden the opportunities for more young girls, women and Latinas to do the same,” she told CNN Business.

Newman, who also made history as the first woman in Orioles history to call a regular-season game in 2020, will provide play-by-play commentary for two ESPN baseball telecasts as the network puts together its “pennant race” stretch of 11 games in 11 days. Her first will be Wednesday, when the San Francisco Giants take on the San Diego Padres.

She also believes that representation is important in growing America’s first professional sport.

“Representation absolutely matters,” Newman said. “The number of younger girls who have felt they couldn’t be a fan of sports in general solely out of not seeing women in front still amazes me.”

Click here to read the full article on Eirie News Today.

U.S. women successfully defend sitting volleyball Paralympic gold over rival China

Sports

Paralympics Team USA's Alexis Shifflett serves the ball during the Tokyo Paralympic Games women's sitting volleyball pool match against Rwanda in Chiba, Japan, on Aug. 28. Photo: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images

By OlympicTalk, NBC Sports

The United States started a Paralympic gold-medal streak in women’s sitting volleyball on the final day of the Tokyo Games, successfully defending its gold medal from Rio five years ago.

The Americans solidified themselves as the sport’s new powerhouse, taking down China in four sets at one of the last competitions in Tokyo.

Including wins from the indoor volleyball team and beach volleyball duo of April Ross and Alix Klineman, the U.S. has now achieved a Tokyo triple of all Olympic and Paralympic women’s volleyball gold medals, which has never before been done.

“Women can do anything they put their mind to, and USA Volleyball has the strongest women in the world,” Katie Holloway said on the NBCSN broadcast. “It is incredible to be in that place. We are so grateful to be among the most powerful women in the world in volleyball.”

Women’s sitting volleyball was added to the Paralympic Games in 2004. China had won the first three gold medals awarded – plus the 2010 and 2014 World titles – until the U.S. ended that streak in 2016, topping the three-time defending champion after settling for silver in both 2008 and 2012.

The U.S. faced its rival for the gold on Sunday morning and was led in scoring by three of its veterans – four-time Paralympians Heather Erickson (21 points) and Holloway (20) and three-time Paralympian Monique Matthews (19). The team included eight veterans who now have a combined 27 Paralympic Games between them, plus four newcomers.

Lora Webster – who has competed at all five Paralympics – contributed six points, playing while pregnant. Her fourth child is due in early 2022.

The U.S. was off to a stellar start in the final, closing the first set in just 18 minutes at 25-12.

China showed up in the second, which the U.S. still took 25-20, then really came back with a vengeance in the third to win 25-22. Xu Yixiao was China’s top scorer of the game with 20 points, including five in that set.

Xu added another seven in the fourth set, but the Americans were relentless and wrapped it 25-19 to secure the gold.

The U.S. went undefeated in 2019, winning 25 matches, and entered Tokyo as the favorite, but was upset early on, dropping its second game to China, 3-0.

Click here to read the full article on NBC Sports.

Nike Declares USA Women’s Basketball Team the Greatest Sports Dynasty of All Time

Sports

By Nikara Johns, Yahoo! Life.

It’s confirmed: USA Basketball Women’s National Team is one of the greatest sports dynasties of all time.

The team sealed the deal on Sunday when they claimed their seventh consecutive gold medal in a 90-75 win against host country Japan at the Tokyo Olympics. It was their 55th consecutive Olympic victory since the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

Today, Nike is celebrating their success in a new film titled “Dynasties,” which stars current players and Nike athletes A’ja Wilson, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Sylvia Fowles, Brittany Griner, Jewell Loyd, and Napheesa Collier, as well as former USAB players Dawn Staley, Lisa Leslie, Seimone Augustus, Maya Moore, Elena Delle Donne, Tamika Catchings and Sheryl Swoopes.

With this campaign, Nike is making a declarative statement that the USA Women’s Basketball team is the greatest sports team of all time. Plus, such spotlight is part of the brand’s commitment helping foster the growth of women’s sports and establishing the WNBA.

In the film, a young student is giving a presentation on dynasties, however, it’s not about ancient history. Instead, it is one she actually looks up to: “An all-women dynasty. Women of color. Gay women. Women who fight for social justice. A dynasty that makes your favorite men’s basketball, football and baseball teams look like amateurs,” she says in the clip.

For over 25 years, these female basketball stars have made their mark on and off the court. Swoopes, for instance, was the first woman to have a Nike basketball signature shoe, dubbed the Air Swoopes, which arrived in 1996. Then there is Wilson, who was not only the WNBA 2020 league MVP, but also a key player in the WNBA’s push for social justice through the Black Lives Matter movement.

The USA Women’s Basketball team has not lost at the Olympic Games since 1992 in Barcelona where they won the silver medal.

Click here to read the full article on Yahoo! Life.

How misogynoir is oppressing Black women athletes

HealthLifestyleSports

By Hannah Ryan, CNN

Naomi Osaka discovered what it’s like to be at the sharp end of a sporting governing body’s regulations this summer.

The four-time grand slam singles champion declined to attend press conferences as she began her French Open campaign in June — citing the importance of protecting her mental health and addressing the toll that media interviews had previously taken on her.

The French Open organizers responded by fining the world No. 2 an amount of $15,000 and threatening to expel her from future grand slams, after they deemed her withdrawal from press conferences as a failure on her part to meet “contractual media obligations.”

Osaka made the decision to withdraw from Roland Garros altogether, then skipped Wimbledon, before returning to play at the Tokyo Olympics.

What’s happened to Osaka over the last few months has left many critical of her sport’s handling of the situation, and wishing those who govern her sport had adopted a more empathetic and sensitive approach given she was dealing with mental health issues.

In fact, just after Osaka said she would be opting out of speaking to the press at the tournament, the French Open official Twitter account posted a since-deleted tweet that included photos of four other players engaging in media duties — Coco Gauff, Kei Nishikori, Aryna Sablenka and Rafael Nadal — which carried the caption: “They understood the assignment.”

The tweet appeared to be directed at Osaka and her decision to withdraw from media obligations. It was considered by several former tennis players and pundits as insensitive, and former doubles champion Rennae Stubbs said that the post could make Osaka “feel guilty” and described it as “humiliating” for her.

And while the rule itself — in which players are required to engage in press conferences throughout the tournament — may not be a racist or misogynistic one, the context in which Osaka found herself punished and seemingly mocked by officials is part of a pattern in which Black women in elite sports are subject to harsh scrutiny.

The rigidity with which Roland Garros responded to Osaka’s decision is reminiscent of the scrutiny that tennis governing bodies have previously bestowed upon other prominent players, including Serena Williams.

Osaka is a young, Black and Japanese athlete whose decision at the French Open is considered outside of the box by many. Her refusal to play by the traditional rules has seen her face backlash across the board in a particular right-wing media landscape that doesn’t look too fondly on Black women that diverge from the expected path.
And tennis has a history in the way it has dealt with Black women who do things differently.

Click here to read the full article on CNN.

Pink is offering to pay the Norwegian women’s beach handball team’s fine for wearing shorts

musicSports

pink on stage singing with both arms up in the air

By Toyin Owoseje, CNN

Singer-songwriter Pink has offered to pay fines handed out to the Norwegian women’s beach handball team after they refused to wear bikini bottoms while competing.

Last week, the European Handball Federation (EHF) fined the team a total of €1,500 (around $1,765), asserting that the women competed in “improper clothing” by wearing shorts like their male counterparts during the 2021 European Beach Handball Championships.

On Sunday, Pink took to Twitter to lend her support to the team, saying the EHF should be fined “for sexism.”

The Grammy Award-winner told her 31.6 million followers: “I’m very proud of the Norwegian female beach handball team for protesting sexist rules about their ‘uniform’.”

She continued: “The European handball federation SHOULD BE FINED FOR SEXISM. Good on ya, ladies. I’ll be happy to pay your fines for you. Keep it up.”

CNN has reached out to Pink’s representatives and the European Handball Federation for further comment.

The Norwegian women’s beach handball team showed their gratitude to the 41-year-old singer-songwriter, reposting her tweet on their Instagram story.

“Wow! Thank you so much for the support,” they wrote. Other posts on their official page show them posing together in their shorts.

According to International Handball Federation regulations, female players are required to wear bikini bottoms with a side width of a maximum of 10 centimeters (3.9 inches), with a “close fit” and “cut on an upward angle toward the top of the leg.”

Their male counterparts must wear shorts that are “not too baggy” and 10 centimeters above the knee.

Eskil Berg Andreassen, the team’s coach, told CNN last week that the team was fighting for the freedom “to choose” its own kit, adding that IHF’s uniform regulations could discourage women from playing the sport.

Click here to read the full article on CNN.

Two-time WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne wants to help keep young girls in sports

Sports

By Emily Leiker, USA TODAY

Elena Delle Donne knows the impact sports can have on a girl’s life. Taller than most of her peers and struggling with her sexuality at a young age, Delle Donne wasn’t comfortable in her own skin. She was embarrassed by the things that made her different and didn’t have role models to show her that what she was experiencing was normal.

Playing sports helped Delle Donne realize the power she had as a teenage girl, and she’s doing everything she can to help today’s youth realize that as well.

“I can’t even imagine where I would be if I didn’t have sports to help me come into my power and come into my confidence and learn just so many life skills that have taken me into adulthood,” Delle Donne told USA Today. “It doesn’t even matter that I’m a professional athlete because sports did far more for me in the life aspect of things.”

The former WNBA Rookie of the Year and two-time MVP recently partnered with Always and Dick’s Sporting Goods to work on campaigns focused on keeping young girls involved in sports. Delle Donne also serves on Gatorade’s Women’s Advisory Board, aimed at addressing barriers contributing to the decline of female participation in sports.

In 2017, Gatorade’s “Girls in Sports” study revealed that girls drop out of sports at 1.5 times the rate boys do by the time they’re 14. More than half of all teenage girls stop playing sports by 17.

There are four main reasons girls drop out of sports, according to a 2015 report from The Women’s Sports Foundation. The leading cause? Girls don’t see a future for themselves in athletics.

“Oh my goodness, the visibility is crucial,” Delle Donne said. “It’s something that we’re always talking about. I think a big reason for girls dropping out of sport is that they often probably feel that society doesn’t see long-term value of her continuing to play.”

Women’s sports account for less than 6% of televised sports coverage, according to a study by the University of Southern California. Though the number has been on the rise in recent years, it’s still startlingly low considering the success and popularity of the WNBA and the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team.

Combating drop-out rates of girls in sports starts with increasing visibility both on television and social media so girls can see what the future holds. It’s also important to show what girls are achieving in sports at a young age. Delle Donne said the recent coverage 14-year-old basketball prodigy Zaila Avant-Garde received following her win at the Scripps National Spelling Bee made her “so happy.”

“It’s so important, especially for young girls who can look and be like, ‘Hey, that can be me. That’s literally my peer,'” she said. “So, to be seeing the change in just my lifetime has been humongous. It’s been massive to see the young women come in and use their voices and their platforms in a way that can inspire so many others.”

A former Olympic gold medalist herself, Delle Donne sees the Tokyo 2020 as a prime opportunity for young girls to witness female athletes in action. She said inspiration can come from athletes in any sport regardless of which ones young girls play themselves.

Click here to read the full article on USA TODAY.

TOKYO 2020 TRANSGENDER WEIGHTLIFTER TO COMPETE IN GAMES … On New Zealand Women’s Team

LifestyleSports

Laurel Hubbard lifting weights in a competition

By TMZ

For the very first time, a transgender athlete will compete in the summer Olympics … and shocker, there’s already controversy. 43-year-old Laurel Hubbard — who transitioned from male to female in 2013 — has been selected to the New Zealand women’s weightlifting team to compete in the women’s 87-kilogram division. The issue?? Hubbard competed in men’s weightlifting competitions before she transitioned — and some critics are already blasting the situation as unfair to other athletes.

But, the International Olympic Committee has specific guidelines for transgender athletes to compete — testosterone levels must be below a certain level — and Hubbard has met the criteria since 2015. In other words, she’s good to go!! The CEO of the New Zealand Olympic Committee, Kereyn Smith, issued a statement Monday supporting Hubbard.

“We acknowledge that gender identity in sport is a highly sensitive and complex issue requiring a balance between human rights and fairness on the field of play,” Smith said. “As the New Zealand Team, we have a strong culture of manaaki and inclusion and respect for all. We are committed to supporting all eligible New Zealand athletes and ensuring their mental and physical wellbeing, along with their high-performance needs, while preparing for and competing at the Olympic Games are met.”

Not everyone feels that way … back in May, Belgian weightlifter Anna Vanbellinghen reportedly called Hubbard’s qualifying situation “unfair” and a “bad joke.”

Hubbard, though, wasn’t letting the disapproval get in the way of her feat Monday … saying, “I am grateful and humbled by the kindness and support that has been given to me by so many New Zealanders.”

“The last 18 months has shown us all that there is strength in kinship, in community, and in working together towards a common purpose. The mana of the silver fern comes from all of you and I will wear it with pride.”

Click here to read the full article on TMZ.