These are the stories of people and organizations who are pulling girls out of the stands and onto the fields, off the streets and onto the courts. Our grant recipients are enterprising folks who can put together a 40-team basketball league on a shoestring budget or get young girls who are afraid of the water jumping on into the deep end. If you know somebody who is building starting blocks in your community, tell 'em about Starting Block. We're always looking for new folks with our kind of commitment to getting more girls out on the courts and fields.
Game Rules for Grant application
Featured Recipients:
Jack London Aquatic Center - Learn to Row Program
Director: Jenny Hale
Grant Purpose: Purchase of vans for transporting aspiring rowers and swimmers
The Deal: Jenny Hale is a dyed-in-the-wool westerner, raised hunting and fishing in the Rocky Mountains. Since settling here in Berkeley, Jenny has developed into a national caliber rower and coach. We recognized from the get-go that Jenny was a can-do gal. Almost 2 years ago, she took on the challenge of teaching Oakland schoolgirls to row. What she didn't realize is that she'd have to teach 'em to swim first! Now she's got a full-blown rowing and swimming program here on Oakland's Estuary. The only thing holding her back is getting more kids to the pool and boathouse. With a Starting Block grant, Jenny can reach even more girls.
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CHULA - A Short Documentary Film
Director: Brendan Kiernan
Grant Purpose: To fund a film about a surfer girl from the "wrong side of the tracks."
The Deal: Not long ago, a friend of ours, Brendan Kiernan, came to tell us about Chula, a fifteen-year-old aspiring surfer. Chula comes from El Salvador, she comes from the barrio, and she comes with one strong will. Now Brendan, he is one good storyteller. By the time he'd finished telling us Chula's story, we were ready to promise our first-born child just to make sure that her story was told. With a Starting Block grant and in Brendan's able hands, Chula's story, an important one about sports, dreams, and transformation, will get told.
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Night Court- An Inner-City Girl's Basket Ball League
Director: Jill Vialet, Sports4Kids, sports4kids.org
Grant Purpose: To continue to give Oakland's 4th and 5th grade girls the opportunity to compete in a league of their own.
The Deal: Almost 8 years ago, Title Nine founder Missy Park and Jill Vialet, the founder of Sports 4 Kids, struck a bargain. Title Nine would fund and staff an all-girls basketball league right here in Oakland if Sports 4 Kids would agree to help us recruit the kids. Well now 8 years later, we're happy to say that Sports 4 Kids has done a better job than we have. They've grown the league to over 40 teams, far more than we could ever staff. We consider that a happy failure, and the Night Court league continues to be a thriving success.
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