When we mention the celebration of International Girls’ Day, we must highlight the incredible work of the WNBA and Junior NBA’s national initiative, “Her Time to Play: Belonging In Basketball.”
Entitled “Her Time To Play” (HTTP), the initiative has been dedicated for the past five years to championing change to young girls and women ages 7 to 17, inspiring them to connect and collaborate through their passions. and provided resources to build life skills. basketball. Through a cooperative partnership of Belongs to the basketball clubHTTP has announced a new curriculum of core resources centered around mental health, with a primary focus on developing strong and successful women who are ready to take on the challenges of today’s world.
Simone Marian, Co-Founder and Co-CEO Belongs to the basketball club, For the past two years, she has made it her mission to advance the conversation about the challenges girls face growing up in today’s society.
“Our girls are in the midst of trauma and a national health crisis caused by COVID-19,” Marian said. “So are the systemic barriers they face when taking up sports and basketball.”
Marian’s main priority is to have a place to belong.
Statistically, girls are twice as likely as boys to quit sports by the age of 14. As a result, 40 percent of teenage girls are currently not actively participating in sports.
To propel these people into leadership positions, HTTP has set new requirements for coaches. To gain access to our digital hub of self-service, on-demand training for leadership and coaching roles within your community, you will need to complete one hour of self-directed training. These new rules are in place to help leaders learn how to build connections and community across the inevitable biases they may encounter by taking a culturally sensitive approach.
HTTP’s curriculum and training is highly effective because it is co-designed by young girls who are actively participating in the program. The training created by HTTP builds foundational skills that will resonate for the rest of these young women’s lives.
Another important part of HTTP’s mission is to highlight the importance of mental health.
Taking the time to perform mental health checks before practices, drills, and games builds trust between players and coaches on and off the court.
Ariel Chambers, host of the WNBA’s “Her Time To Play,” is one of many women who have used their platform and creativity to help advance women in sports. Chambers detailed how her representation in women’s sports has shaped her career development today.
Growing up in North Raleigh, North Carolina, Chambers’ main inspiration was North Carolina women’s head coach Sandra Kay Yow. Kay Yow shaped Chambers’ passion for working in women’s sports and continues her passion to this day.
Chambers strongly believes that if you work hard and have a true passion for what you want in life, you can achieve anything. Her success climbing the ladder in women’s sports hasn’t been easy, but Chambers is determined to achieve her goals. The aim is to continue to further empower women, whether culturally or in the sporting world.
Of all the foundations Chambers has been involved with, Her Time To Play has the highest value. “Creating an outlet for young girls to feel heard, seen and shown that they matter in athletics is important, especially in today’s society,” Chambers said. It is important.”
Considering the impact Chambers had on her early life, both personally and in athletics, it’s safe to say that participating in ‘Her Time To Play’ was a full-circle moment for her. . Being able to have the right resources and platform to impact the lives of girls on and off the court is what makes Ariel’s work so valuable.
Her playing time extends beyond the four lines on the basketball court where girls and women make a difference. The foundation on which it is built is giving all girls a voice that lets them know they are seen and matter.
For more information on completing your registration, please visit Jr.NBA.com/HerTimeToPlay.
For any additional questions regarding her playing time, please email JrNBA@nba.com. The person in charge will respond.