Directly adjacent to P.S. 51 Bronx STEM & Arts Academy, a school in the Bronx’s Belmont neighborhood, sits a modestly-sized gymnasium with a domed, brick exterior. The outside displays various hues of crimson red, the inside colored in shades of blue and yellow. Across the middle of the floor a net stands regulation height, as girls pull on their knee pads and lace up their court shoes in the corner.
The girls play for Legacy Volleyball Club — a 501c(3) in the Bronx that aims to promote the sport to young athletes with year-round programming, and one of 12 NYC recipients of a new Nike program that awards grants to clubs that encourage young girls, especially young girls of color, to participate in sports.
Nike launched the Made to Play program in conjunction with the NYC branch of Laureus Sport for Good — an international athletic organization that aims to use sport as a tool to help children overcome violence, discrimination and disadvantage in their lives. The grant offers clubs a three-year, $1 million commitment.
Matt Geschke, the senior director for North America social and community impact at Nike, told the Bronx Times in a December interview that the Made to Play grant campaign’s purpose is to move the world forward through the power of sport. But more specifically, by catering to young girls in historically underserved areas.
“We know that only one in five kids get the physical activity they need to thrive, and that girls and kids from these undervalued communities are moving the least,” Geschke said.
Data from the University of Minnesota’s Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport shows a clear gender gap in athletics. In the 2009-2010 school year, there were 53 athletic opportunities offered for every 100 high school boys — compared to 41 for every 100 girls. During that same academic year, high schools offered an average of 15.9 teams for boys and only 14.3 for girls.
Research suggests that there could be a…
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