Dick’s Sporting Goods announced its 2020 Women’s Initiative highlighted by The Dick’s Foundation’s $5 million grant to U.S. Soccer Foundation’s ‘United for Girls’ Initiative.
The donation was announced at Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundations ‘Here for Her’ Summit held Tuesday in New York City.
The three-year, $5 million Sports Matter grant to the U.S. Soccer Foundation’s United for Girls initiative is aimed at increasing opportunities for girls and young women who benefit from soccer. As the presenting partner of United for Girls, the Dick’s Foundation’s grant will be used to create safe places to play, fund coaching and training opportunities and support soccer programs in underserved communities across the country with the goal of engaging 100,000 girls by 2023.
The retailer also announced that they are the Official Sporting Goods Retailer of USA Softball. In addition to the multi-year partnership, Dick’s is the official merchandise vendor for the Stand Beside Her tour, which serves as the exhibition and training tour for the 2020 U.S. Women’s National Team ahead of competition this summer in Tokyo.
Finally, in its stores across the U.S., Dick’s also made a commitment to work with its own private brands as well as its merchandising partners to deliver expanded assortments for women across several key sports including basketball, soccer, softball, and dance, among others.
At the summit, a group of women spanning the sports industry, including professional soccer player Sydney Leroux, legendary softball pitcher Jennie Finch, track and field Olympic Gold Medalist and CEO of Laureus USA, Benita Fitzgerald Mosley, and Associate Vice President of Programs for the U.S. Soccer Foundation Sarah Pickens, were joined by Katie Holmes, Cathy Engelbert, Christine Brennan, and Elaine Welteroth to share how sports and fitness have impacted their lives.
“At Dick’s, we believe at our core that sports matter. There are so many incredible benefits to playing sports, from building character to learning how to win and lose, to increasing self-confidence,” said Lauren Hobart, president of Dick’s and The Dick’s Foundation. “It was very special to have so many empowering women at our ‘Here for Her’ Summit this morning. Today is a proud moment for our Company and the Foundation as we announced expanded offerings in-store and increase our support for young girls to play sports.”
Photo courtesy Dick’s Sporting Goods
