This project was eligible for matching funds through Neighborhood Connections COVID-19 Recovery Fund
Northeast Ohio Women's Sports Alliance
NOWSA is a nonprofit expanding awareness and access to sport and physical activity opportunities for
women of all abilities and backgrounds. www.nowsa-ohio.org
Leader
Barb Anthony
Location
PO Box 201572 Cleveland, OH 44120
About the project
The Northeast Ohio Women's Sports Alliance supports community-based sports, while offering services for individual athletes, teams, coaches and staff. Our hope is that every person, especially girls and women, who wants to integrate sport into their life has the information, access, and support to do so.
You can help by being one of very FIRST founding donors! As a Founding Donor, you will be acknowledged on our website as one of our cornerstone contributors. Any amount offered qualifies you to be a Founding Donor, but additional benefits are given for donations at various thresholds. Learn more at: https://www.nowsa-ohio.org/donate
Thank you for your support.
The Steps
With added funding, the Northeast Ohio Women's Sports Alliance will:
1. Increase in-person and digital output of information and resources for adults regarding community-based sports.
2. Explore additional athletic partnerships throughout the rural and urban areas of Northeast Ohio to promote their programs for women in sport.
3. Engage community members with expertise in our service areas (legal, mental health, finance, etc.) in order to build more diverse, impactful programming.
4. Establish a framework for interacting with academic institutions, both high school and higher education, to support their transitioning athletes or student body.
5. Finance 1-2 part time employees to make efforts towards a sustainable employee- and volunteer-run organization.
6. Provide access to mental health and community resource support.
Why we‘re doing it
In 2018, we began as an informal group of athletes and advocates, representing only five sports, to collaborate and empower local women's sports. We now serve 10 sports and 16 organizations and strive to bolster the experience for adult women who want to participate. In 2020, we decided to formalize as a nonprofit organization after seeing the impact of the societal pandemic shutdown on our community based adult athletes and teams. Many individuals experienced an increase in negative COVID-related mental health and physical outcomes due to quarantine. This includes significant reduction in opportunities and immediate loss of social supports due to the cancellation of events, practices and competitions. NOWSA wants to help enhance positive outcomes and provide increased access to the supports needed to recover from the pandemic year.
Women face unique barriers to participating in sports as an adult, such as time, finances, transitioning from an injury, and managing family needs. The lack of media attention also makes it difficult for people to even know of athletic opportunities.
NOWSA fills this gap by initiating in-person and digital campaigns to boost awareness, operating as a centralized resource for local sports inquiries, and serving individual athletes and teams with customized support. We know that Northeast Ohio will see improved health, stronger leaders, and overall systemic wellness if more adults are involved in community-based sports.
Any amount offered as a generous donation qualifies you to be a Founding Donor! Please consider giving today. Thank you.