Hi there, Jen here.
How is it already September? Practice soon (if not already) ends in the dark, everyone is back in the school-year grind, and the back-to-school germs found my house about two weeks in. If your kitchen counter also has three water bottles, an unsigned permission slip and something someone was supposed to bring to school three days ago, we are having the same September.
I also just spent a week without my computer, and without a lick of service. Yes, really.
From the Field: What a wolf pack reminded me about teams. Last week, I chaperoned 26 sixth graders on a backpacking trip through Yellowstone, where we camped under the stars, hiked, and observed wolves. (Possibly the most Colorado sixth-grade field trip ever.)
No cell service, no email and no notifications. Lots of layers, very early mornings and 26 eleven-year-olds who somehow had no problem getting up before sunrise (3:30 a.m. to be exact) when wolves were involved.
Not only did we see bison, grizzly and black bears, we actually got to watch a pack work together.
Not one impressive wolf doing everything while everyone else stood around. Every wolf had a role and those roles changed. The younger wolves learned by being brought along and the pack worked because they worked together.
Sitting on a very cold hillside at 6:00 in the morning, I kept thinking about teams and how many I have been a part of.
The best teams I played on and coached worked that way, and honestly, so does Sportswomen of Colorado.
I may be the Executive Director, but this organization is FAR from a team of one. SWOC exists because a whole lot of people have decided that girls and women in sport matter and are worth investing in.
Our donors, sponsors, board members, volunteers, coaches, college athletes and supporters are the reason we can walk into a Title I school and put on a free clinic. They are the reason we can provide scholarships to a camp and they are the reason roughly 40 incredible Colorado women and girls get called up on our stage every March and hear, sometimes for the first time, that what they have accomplished MATTERS.
Twenty-six sixth graders and a pack of wolves gave me a pretty good reminder of that.
So, thank you for being part of our pack. ❤️
In Case You Missed It: Youth Sports Giving Day closes September 15. We have been posting about this all month, so if you have already seen it on Instagram or Facebook, thank you for putting up with me. If you haven’t, here is the short version.
Youth Sports Giving Day is a statewide giving day through the Daniels Fund and Project Play Colorado, and it is happening right now on ColoradoGives.org.
You have through Tuesday, September 15 at 11:59 p.m. MT to give.
The dollar-for-dollar matching pools went FAST and have already been claimed, but the Incentive Fund is still available, which means gifts made before September 15 can still go further.
And here is our promise on this one:
100% of what you give goes directly to our Camps & Clinics Program and the equipment we leave behind at the schools.
Not overhead or my salary, but balls, LAX sticks, equipment, clinic days and opportunities for kids at Title I schools to try something new alongside college athletes. And when we leave, the equipment stays.
Here is what that looks like:
- $25: A shirt and clinic gear for two Colorado girls
- $60: Five girls through a free clinic at their school
- $150: 12 girls through a free clinic experience
- $400: A set of equipment that stays at the school
And if you want to make it easy on yourself: $25 a month puts 25 girls through a clinic every year. ColoradoGives lets you set that up right in checkout.
Give before September 15. More about the day: coloradogives.org/community/Youthsportsgivingday
One question a month. Thirty seconds on your phone. Over the past 52+ years, Sportswomen of Colorado has honored thousands of women and girls.
And then, if I’m being completely truthful, we haven’t always done a great job of staying connected with them.
That has bothered me for a while, so we created something REALLY simple to help change it.
SWOC Check-In.
One question a month and that’s it.
Answer it in a quick vertical video on your phone. Please do not edit it or make it fancy. Send it to us and WE will do the rest.
September’s question: What are you looking forward to this season?
- Upload it at sportswomenofcolorado.org/check-in
- Text it to 720-839-8704
- Or DM it to @sportswomenofcolorado on Instagram
If you have ever stood on our stage, this is your standing invitation. And if you know a former honoree, please forward this to her!
Nominations are OPEN! Nominations for our 53rd Annual Awards Celebration are officially open and close December 31.
You can nominate athletes from high school through the professional level, along with coaches, teams and contributors. And yes, men who have made a meaningful impact on girls and women in sport can be nominated too.
You do NOT need to know the person personally, and you do not need her permission to nominate her.
Every woman we have ever honored started with someone taking a few minutes to tell us why she deserved to be recognized.
There is a girl or woman somewhere in Colorado having the season of her life right now, and we may not know about her yet.
Tell us. Nominate someone.
Abbey is booking our fall clinics! Abbey Glynn is busy filling our fall Camps & Clinics calendar, and we still have room!
Our clinics are completely FREE for students, happen during the school day and connect kids with female college athletes and coaches who can show them what is possible.
Last school year was our biggest yet, and we want to keep growing.
Want to get involved?
- Host a clinic at your school
- Fund a clinic
- Volunteer if you are a college athlete or coach
- Sponsor equipment that stays with the school after the clinic
Become a partner. Or reach Abbey directly at campsandclinics@sportswomenofcolorado.org.
Thank you to our Platinum Sponsors. We simply could not do this work without the organizations and families who choose to invest in it. Free clinics, scholarships and 52+ years of honoring Colorado women and girls in sport happen because these partners continue to show up for us.
- Stapp Interstate Toyota: A longtime Colorado family-owned business and a wonderful supporter of Sportswomen of Colorado.
- The Be Like Ellie Foundation: A Boulder family honoring Ellie by spreading kindness and creating opportunities throughout the community. We are incredibly grateful to know them and have their support.
- CAHA: Colorado Amateur Hockey Association: Growing hockey across Colorado and helping create opportunities for the next generation of girls who lace up their skates.
- Colorado Sports Hall of Fame: Celebrating Colorado’s incredible sports history and the athletes who continue to shape it.
- Finn’s Army: A Colorado organization doing incredibly meaningful work supporting families during some of the hardest moments imaginable.
- The Harris Law Firm: A longtime Colorado firm that supports families throughout our community and continues to show up for Sportswomen of Colorado.
Interested in joining them? Tell us you’re interested and we’ll reach out when sponsorship opportunities open.
Stay in our huddle. Follow along for clinic photos, honoree updates, athlete stories and probably a few videos from gyms filled with VERY loud elementary school kids: Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
And if you know someone who cares about girls and women in sport as much as we do, send this along!
One last thought for September… September always feels like a month of adjustment to me.
New school year. New sports seasons. New schedules. New routines. And usually at least one moment where I wonder how exactly we are going to fit everything in.
Here is something I have been thinking about lately:
Do you ever doubt your capabilities?
I do.
And I think most of the people I really admire probably do too.
But maybe the better question is: Can you adapt?
Because you probably have more experience than you give yourself credit for. Use it. Adjust when you need to. Keep moving forward, inch by inch and day by day.
Academically. On a new team where you don’t know anyone yet. On a jump serve you’re rebuilding from scratch. In a new job. Or trying a sport you’ve never played and being willing to be REALLY bad at it in public.
Being new at something isn’t moving backward.
It’s just the part before you get better at it.
Your teammate for all things girls and women in sport,
Jen
Jennifer Anderson-Ehrlich, Executive Director, Sportswomen of Colorado
