WIN encourages women's, girls' sports opportunities

by Maria Hoover

SBJ Inside Business Editor

mhoover@sbj.net

Contrary to what people might think, Women's Intersports Network doesn't limit its membership to females.

"We have a lot of fathers who have little girls who work the events," said Jodie Adams, who served as the first president of WIN, which was founded about four years ago and now has about 75 members.

Getting started

"The catalyst for starting WIN had to do (with) when we hosted the Women's Professional Softball League Finals here with ESPN. We needed a group of volunteers," said Adams, the assistant director of parks for the Springfield-Greene County Park Board.

"We had just really seen a need, and people had just asked us to find groups that would promote and volunteer and support women's and girls sporting activities," she said.

The goal

WIN's purpose is to recognize and support opportunities for girls and women in sports, according to Reba Sims, the organization's current president.

"We try to attract women's sporting events to Springfield (so they can be) examples and goals that young girls might shoot for, to see professional girls and women playing and they might try to hone their own skills to reach those goals," Sims said.

One event is the Aug. 2 Women's Senior Golf Tour Classic Golf Tournament. The tournament, in Springfield for the second year, is a two-person scramble with women's, men's and mixed divisions. The WSGT tournament proceeds support Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks.

Other events WIN has helped bring to the city include the Women's Pro Softball League Championships and the U.S.A. Olympic Softball Team, which played in Springfield in May.

The organization's members also pitch in at local women's sports events.

"We do volunteer things. We do try to get promotion for those events, to help the women's sporting events get some recognition," Sims said.

"We also try to encourage the media to recognize women's sporting events and give them more coverage."

Brad Eldridge, executive director of the Greater Springfield Area Sports Commis-sion, is one local man who is glad to work with WIN and its members.

WIN is an affiliate member of the commission, he said.

"(Affiliate membership) basically just means that we work together on different projects," Eldridge said, noting that his role sometimes includes publicity and finding volunteers.

Making progress

Sims, a former coach of the Southwest Missouri State University Lady Bears, said more girls are participating in sports now than in the past.

"When I started coaching at SMSU in 1969, there just weren't very many girls wanting to go out for the teams. You had to really entice them to come out and start playing, and we didn't have high school sports at that time, so they weren't getting that introduction in the high school," Sims said.

The situation has changed dramatically sence then.

"Now, we've got lots of opportunities for girls to participate in every sport, and they can participate at all levels by playing in the youth sport programs, to go and play (Amateur Athletic Union), different places around the state and the country, those types of tournaments and they've just got a lot more opportunities to learn skills, and refine those skills," Sims said.

But she thinks there's still work to be done in terms of attracting women into the coaching ranks and getting the media to cover women's sporting events with attention equal to that given to men's sports.

Eldridge said there are fewer women-themed sporting events than men's events, but he thinks Springfield has made "huge strides" because of the strength already in place behind women's sports.

"What I mean by that is that there are some communities that don't support their women's athletics very well, but Springfield is just the opposite," he said.

Women's sports programs at local universities have fostered much of that support, Eldridge said.

Membership

WIN membership is $35 for individuals, $50 for families, $150 for sponsorships, $10 for students and $20 for associates. An associate, Sims said, "would be someone that just wants to support the kinds of things that we do, but really is not involved with the activities that we're doing."

Members receive newsletters and, sometimes, the opportunity to attend sporting events, Sims said.

When funds are available, scholarships are awarded to provide girls with access to sports events and programs, such as former SMS Lady Bear Jackie Stiles' basketball camp.

In 2003, a young female golfer received scholarship funds that enabled her to participate in the WSGT event.

"All the money raised goes back into women and girls' sporting events," Adams said. "We try to give those opportunities as they present themselves."

The organization's Web site is www. springfieldwin.org.