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Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative (BAWSI) is a non-profit 501c(3) organization founded by women’s sports legends Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy, and Marlene Bjornsrud in 2005. BAWSI is dedicated to using active play and wellness to transform the lives of the most vulnerable and marginalized children in our communities. To date we have served over 18,000 children with the help of 3,000 volunteers. BAWSI firmly believes that all children have the right to engage in high-energy physical activity and enjoy the accompanying physical, social and emotional benefits.
Our mission is to mobilize the women’s sports community to engage, inspire and empower the children who need us most.
BAWSI Girls, our flagship program since our beginning, this program focuses on healthy lifestyles, wellness, and leadership among second - through fifth-grade girls at Title 1 schools, where half or more student family incomes qualify for free or subsidized lunches. We choose to be in these schools because this is where the need is greatest and where the socio-economic barriers to girls discovering their full potential are most daunting. This is where we can have the greatest impact. In weekly sessions offered at school sites, BAWSI staff and volunteers:
· Engage girls in fun, active play
· Introduce techniques for mindfulness-based stress reduction
· Enable self-reflection and journaling
· Discuss topics on girls leadership and facilitate a capstone girl-led, girl-driven service, learning project
BAWSI Rollers, a weekly adaptive fitness and confidence-building program, offers fun and accessible physical activities to children with physical, hearing, and cognitive disabilities. Through active physical play, BAWSI Rollers helps participants develop strength, confidence and a sense of independence. Weekly sessions include activities focused on goal setting, teamwork, and healthy competition, as well as spirited conversations about self-respect, responsibility, and leadership.
In delivering our programs through the coaching and mentoring of female athlete role models, BAWSI does more than merely improve the lives and futures of those with whom we work directly. We make a contribution toward a more inclusive, and healthier society for everyone.
Why We Do the Work that We Do
Thanks to the research of the Women’s Sports Foundation, we know that girls who are physically active and/or play sports:
· Do better academically and are more likely to graduate from high school
· Are physically healthier and at lower risk of obesity and the diseases that come from obesity like Type 2 Diabetes and heart disease
· They have higher self-esteem, more positive body image, and they are less likely to suffer from depression
· They are far less likely to engage in risky sexual behavior, and less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol.
· They are more successful in their adult employment.
According to work from Action For Healthy Kids, we know that the benefits of physical activity for students with special needs are the same as those for other students, but activity for special needs children also helps:
· Manage chronic disease
· Manage functional decline – i.e., the decrement in physical and/or cognitive functioning that occurs when a person is unable to engage in activities of daily living
· Mediate the psychological and social impact of disability
· Increase independence
· Facilitate life skills competencies
· Provide greater inclusion in family/community life
· Enhance socialization
What Makes Us Unique
· We are the only local, sports- or activity-based non-profit specifically focused on the most vulnerable children - underserved girls and children with disabilities.
· We are powered by female athletes – most of the role models our participants see are strong, healthy women.
· Our programs are completely free to the school and the participants. This guarantees that we can be in the schools with the greatest percentages of low-income students and we can remove the two greatest barriers to participation: cost and transportation.
· We are not sport-specific, rather we offer the opportunity for children to experience a wide range of different sports and physical activity.
· Our participants become change makers – our BAWSI Girls are not just receivers of services, rather they are trained to be agents of change when they participate on a team in our year-end service learning project following the Upward Roots curriculum.
Inspiration from our BAWSI Girls
“I’ve learned that being active can be fun and there’s all sorts of games you can play. I am more active at recess. Before BAWSI, I sat on benches at recess but now I play fun games on the playground.”
“It made me not miss any school.”
“My brother goes to the gym, but my parents don’t have enough money to let me go to the gym, so BAWSI is what I get to do.”
“I learned to be respectful responsible, take turns and have fun with all the players.”
Inspiration from our BAWSI Rollers
“I became braver.”
“Because of the condition I was born with, everyone, my family and friends treated me like a fragile doll. Since BAWSI, me and my family and friends know that I am capable to do many sports. BAWSI gave me confidence to try and I did and it was so fun. I made lots of friends.”
Inspiration from our Athlete Leaders and Principals
“BAWSI girls is not just a way to build leadership skills and healthy bodies - it is a pathway from poverty.” Devorah Duncan, Dorsa Elementary School Principal
“As an athlete leader, you become an agent of possibility for the kids you interact with on the playground. The relationship you build with each BAWSI Roller and Girl is far more important and amazing that you can ever imagine.” Allie Galoob, Athlete Leadership Team member 2014
Our Team
Jennifer Smith, CEO
Courtney Good, Athlete Leadership Manager
Kathy Arena, Business Manager
Jen Fraisl, Board Chair
Contact Information
BAWSI
1922 The Alameda
Suite 420
San Jose, CA 95126
408.247.2544
www.bawsi.org
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