The National Football League is hosting its first women’s summit during the week leading up to Super Bowl 50. The historic event is titled “In the Huddle to Advance Women in Sport” and will be held on February 4th and 5th and will be live streamed via Makers a leadership platform designed to bring attention to the accomplishments of women who are leading the world and creating future leaders.
Among those scheduled to appear are Sports Illustrated Sports Person of the Year Serena Williams, Robin Roberts, Condoleeza Rice, and Billie Jean King. For more information you can visit the official website at http://www.nflwomenssummit.com. From the official press release:
At the culmination of a year in which the league has celebrated the history and future of NFL football in the lead-up to Super Bowl 50, the NFL is honoring the critical role sports have played in the lives of female leaders past and present and raising awareness of how sports can help in developing the next generation of leaders.
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There is increasing recognition that sports participation helps develop leadership, teamwork, and other skills that promote success throughout one’s life and career. The NFL Women’s Summit will highlight that playing sports in the teenage years develops the character and values that last a lifetime. EY’s Women Athletes Business Network, with which the NFL has collaborated to bring this event to life, has been tracking the role that sports has played for female leaders across industries.
Executive women are more likely to have played sports and to hire other women who have played sports, according to EY global research. The 2014 EY report, Making the Connection: Women, Sport and Leadership, shows that the majority of female executives surveyed believe a sports background helps fast-track a woman’s career and has a positive influence on hiring decisions. Additionally, according to research from a variety of sources compiled in EY’s 2015 report, Where will you find your next leader?, girls who participate in organized sports have greater social and economic mobility, are less likely to use drugs, have greater personal safety, and perform better in school.
In conjunction with the NFL Women’s Summit, the NFL is partnering with the Women’s Sports Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization that is dedicated to cultivating leaders by ensuring girls access to sports, particularly in underserved and diverse communities where opportunities are fewer. According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, 2 in 5 girls participate in high school sports in the U.S., totaling 3.3 million participation opportunities for girls. By contrast, there are 4.5 million opportunities for boys to play high school sports. While great strides have been made to increase participation levels among young women since Title IX’s passage in 1972, the NFL Women’s Summit seeks to advance the conversation and inspire forward progress in this area.
The NFL Women’s Summit builds upon the goals of NFL PLAY 60, which brings together the NFL’s long-standing commitment to health and wellness with partner organizations to tackle childhood obesity by encouraging youth to be active 60 minutes a day. The Summit will evolve the conversation by focusing on the benefits of organized sports participation and the positive character and values learned on the field of play.
For more information about the NFL Women’s Summit, visit www.NFLWomensSummit.com.
You can find the full press release here. Follow Pro Player Insiders on @twitter and @instagram at @PlayerInsiders. Follow Sharona Sports at @SportsBySharona
