Get in the Game! Play Like a Girl+ Piedmont invites girls across the Bay Area to try new sports and meet pro athletes

The Piedmont Recreation Department invites girls ages 2-18 from across the Bay Area to get pumped about new sports at the 2^nd annual Play Like a Girl+ Piedmont on Sunday, April 23^rd from 10am to 1pm at PHS Witter Field (800 Magnolia Avenue, Piedmont, CA). This fun, interactive day of demonstrations and hands-on activities is free to all and offers opportunities to practice pitching, rowing, hitting, shooting and much more, all with supportive guidance from skilled athletes and coaches.

The main stage will feature live demonstrations at half-hour intervals, while attendees can try their hand at sports ranging from baseball to boxing to ultimate frisbee at any of 20 staffed drop-in stations showcasing different sports throughout the event.

Play Like a Girl+ Piedmont will also feature Q&A, photo ops, and meet-and-greet opportunities with professional women athletes and female Olympians, including 7-time Olympic medalist Dana Vollmer, professional soccer player Miranda Nild, professional volleyball player Mandy Bible, and Olympic rower Liz Behrens.

Play Like a Girl+ Piedmont is an inclusive event open to all female-identifying youth, as well as non-binary, gender nonconforming, and gender queer individuals. Last year’s event attracted over 400 participants from throughout the region, and the Department hopes to see even more participation this year!

Visit piedmont.ca.gov/playlikeagirl to register or to sign up to volunteer.

Playing sports provides lifelong benefits to girls

Participation in sports builds skills that support girls throughout their lives, teaching leadership, discipline, and teamwork. Girls who participate in sports experience lower rates of depression and higher self-esteem than their non-athlete peers.

Research has shown a direct link between participation in sports and better educational opportunities, positive health outcomes, and improved career outcomes for girls:

• Girls who participate in sports are significantly more likely to graduate high school compared to non-athletes. The correlation is particularly strong for African American and Latinx girls.
• Overall, young girls who play sports have higher grades and score higher on standardized tests than non-athletes.
• Girls who participate in high school sports have higher rates of labor force participation and earn 7% higher wages than non-athlete peers.
• In a 2013 study of 821 senior managers and executives, 94% of female executives reported playing organized sports after primary school.

Play Like a Girl+ Piedmont part of larger Piedmont Recreation efforts to support girls’ sports

Play Like a Girl+ Piedmont is just one of the Piedmont Recreation Department’s initiatives to empower young women through athletics. The Department’s “Try (it) Out Tuesdays” event series gives girls of all skill levels the opportunities to try new sports, meet coaches, ask questions, and learn about opportunities within the community throughout the year.

Piedmont Recreation’s Title IX basketball jersey initiative was recently recognized by the California Park & Recreation Society as “Outstanding JEDI Program or Event” of the year. Each jersey for the 450 youth participants in the Department’s citywide elementary and middle school basketball league was numbered after a woman who pushed the boundaries of what is possible in basketball, from early pioneers to outstanding players and coaches of today. When they received their jerseys, the students also got a printed card explaining the significance of their number and the player who wore it.

For questions about Play Like a Girl+ Piedmont, contact Recreation Supervisor Eva Phalen at [email protected].