The Women's Sports Foundation (WSF) is celebrating National Girls & Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) this week in Washington, DC

Founded by Billie Jean King in 1974, the organization held the first NGWSD 39 years ago. To "amplify the monumental moments being seen across women's sports," the WSF arranged local programming honoring the February 5th event.

This year's edition kicked off yesterday with a youth sports clinic led by the WNBA's Washington Mystics and AU student-athletes. Other activations included a panel discussion and workshops.

"For 50 years and counting, the Women's Sports Foundation's vast research has continued to prove that a powerful way to positively impact society's future is by investing in girls' and women's sports," said WSF CEO Danette Leighton.

"This National Girls & Women in Sports Day, we are back in the nation's capital to both celebrate the momentum throughout the women's sports ecosystem and to ensure progress continues, so that all girls and women have a chance to play and reap the lifelong benefits of sport."

Billie Jean King, right, founder of the Women's Sports Foundation, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., attend a portrait unveiling ceremony at the Capitol in Washington, DC.
WSF, founded by tennis icon Billie Jean King, set their sights on Capitol Hill. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

WSF spends National Girls & Women in Sports Day on Capitol Hill

Today, WSF leadership, athletes, coaches, and industry pros met with members of Congress on Capitol Hill. They discussed the issues impacting women's sports athletes, proposed legislation to level the playing field, and the economic benefits of sports equity.

Participants across the week's events include: WSF president and Paralympian Scout Bassett; WNBA legend and Mystics Hall of Famer Alana Beard; Women's College World Series champion Rachel Garcia; Hall of Fame NCAA women's basketball head coach  Muffet McGraw; and two-time NWSL champion Mana Shim, among others. 

"As a Paralympian, I know more must be done to get additional girls and women in the game and advocate for policies that bolster inclusion and eliminate barriers, especially for those with disabilities," said Bassett. "It is my hope that National Girls & Women in Sports Day encourages positive conversations that will lead to lasting change so all girls and women can play, compete and lead — in sports and beyond." 

Attendees take a "selfie" with Sports Broadcaster Isis Young after a WSF workshop at the 2024 Women's Sports Foundation Athlete Leadership Connection.
WSF has long promoted inclusive practices in women's sports. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images for Women's Sports Foundation)

Promoting inclusion for all women's sports athletes

WSF sets itself apart from recent political initiatives focused on prohibiting trans athletes from participating in sports in accordance with their gender identity. Instead, the foundation outspokenly advocates for the inclusion of trans and intersex women's sports athletes.

Accordingly, in a 2016 position statement, the foundation said that it "supports the right of all athletes, including transgender athletes, to participate in athletic competition that is fair, equitable, and respectful to all." 

The WSF doubled down in 2022. They subsequently penned a letter to the NCAA imploring them to revise their exclusionary Transgender Athlete Participation Policy. 

25 additional organizations endorsed the pro-inclusion letter. Together, they echoed the WSF motto "All girls. All women. All sports."

Ahead of the OL Reign’s Pride match against the Kansas City Current on Saturday, Reign midfielder Quinn spoke out about the NWSL’s current policy on transgender athletes.

“Although I’m happy to see more teams in the NWSL lean into Pride, the lack of conversation surrounding the problematic transgender inclusion policy shocks me,” Quinn wrote as part of a series of tweets Friday.

The NWSL’s policy on transgender athletes, which was published two years ago, was criticized from day one for relying on testosterone levels and for failing to include policies regarding nonbinary athletes. The NWSL also took heat for releasing the restrictive policy on Transgender Day of Visibility in 2021, something Quinn called out Friday as “disrespectful.”

Quinn, who in 2021 became the first openly trans and nonbinary athlete to win an Olympic medal, said they hope the league “can find space during their celebrations this month to understand and educate themselves on the limitations of their policy.”

Quinn’s comments come amid a continued onslaught of legislation targeting transgender individuals. Since the start of 2021, more than 20 U.S. states have passed legislation restricting or banning transgender athletes from playing sports at the K-12 or collegiate level. In recent months, gender-affirming health care has become the new target, with 20 states enacting bans or imposing significant restrictions on this type of medical care.

Of the 12 NWSL teams, four — the Houston Dash, Kansas City Current, Orlando Pride, and Racing Louisville — are located in states where lawmakers have banned trans girls and women from playing school sports.

At the same time, Washington state — where Quinn has played professionally for the OL Reign since 2019 — has enacted legal protections for trans youth. In May, OL Reign hosted a clinic for gender diverse youth and their families. In a tweet, the club said it was working “to make Washington the most inclusive place for youth to play soccer in the United States.”

Many individual NWSL players have used their platforms to advocate for trans rights. In April, 12 current NWSL players were among a group of athletes who wrote a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives urging lawmakers to oppose H.R. 734 — also known as the “Protection of Girls and Women in Sports Act” — and asking them to instead champion “causes women athletes have been fighting for decades, including equal pay, an end to abuse and mistreatment, uneven implementation of Title IX, and a lack of access and equity for girls of color and girls with disabilities, to name only a few.”

Yet while individual players and teams have spoken out about trans rights, the league as a whole has not addressed the topic head on. The NWSL’s 2023 Pride Campaign, unveiled Thursday, features “refreshed Pride imagery” that includes the five-striped white, pink and blue trans flag, but doesn’t directly address trans rights or its own policy on transgender athletes.