About the Nonprofit
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Goldie’s Youth Sports creates all girls’ sports leagues in which girls have a voice, where they are nurtured, supported, challenged, and treated respectfully. With diverse community driven programs, Goldie’s Youth Sports enrich and enhance each girl’s individual sports experiences, investing in adolescent girl’s athletics, and building a future, where girls can look back and say, “…when I was a young girl I played sports and I loved it…”
At a young age, girls are socialized to believe that they are athletically inferior to boys. Over 30 million children play sports in the United States,[1] but girls drop out at one and a half times the rate of their male counterparts by the time they reach the age of thirteen.[2] By the time they reach seventeen, half of American girls will drop out of sports altogether.[3] The Center for Disease Control states that “while participation by girls in sports has increased at all levels (Olympic, professional, college and high school, and youth) and society is more accepting than ever of female athleticism, the fact that girls continue to drop out of sports at six times the rate of boys is an indication that we still have a long way to go as a society in reaching the goal of gender equality in sports. Not only are they less likely to participate in sports once they reach adolescence but, worse, they are more likely to become sedentary, inactive adults.”[4]
Goldie’s Youth Sports (GYS) Girls Basketball League is designed to help combat these documented drop-out rates and make a difference in the lives of girls. By developing and operating basketball leagues and enrichment programs that are community-driven, GYS pursues its mission of empowering, encouraging, supporting, challenging, and nurturing young girls in the Los Angeles area. Through positive experiences with coaches, teammates, and competitors, GYS aims to provide its athletes with a voice that they can carry with them throughout their lives and help them build a strong foundation for their futures.
As an organization dedicating to promoting the welfare of all girls in its community, GYS is committed to serving girls of any race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or physical or financial ability. GYS does not hold try-outs – everyone is guaranteed a spot – and everyone gets equal playing time. We offer financial aid, free seasons, free uniforms, and free basketballs to players and families who experience financial hardship, and we host free clinics and visit local schools to promote girls’ participation in basketball throughout the community. As a result of our efforts, we have increased league participation over 100% since spring 2018 players per season. In the spring of 2020, we had 315 girls registered to play but our season was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.