Getting Girls Going

Niara had never swum before she entered the Sporty Girls program. Now, the 13-year-old is on a competitive traveling team — the kind of team Olympic swimmers hail from.

“She’s probably our perfect picture of success,” said Jennifer Price, East Atlanta resident and executive director of the five-year-old program.

But Niara isn’t the only Sporty Girl who has achieved such success and may be on her way to an athletic college scholarship.

The nonprofit was founded in 2006 by V-103 radio personality Rashan Ali with the mission of providing minority girls the opportunity to participate in sports that traditionally aren’t offered in metro Atlanta public schools.

A life-long competitive swimmer and recipient of a four-year swimming scholarship at Florida A & M University, Ali wanted to help girls achieve similar goals. In addition to swimming, she added soccer, golf and tennis to the répertoire and Sporty Girls was born.

Price, who has been best friends with Ali since eigth grade and played soccer growing up, was the obvious choice to be the program's executive director.

The goals of the organization are two-fold: to introduce girls to sports they may not typically have access to or be inclined to play (swimming, soccer, golf and tennis) and to help teen girls get athletic college scholarships.

The 25 girls, ages 10-18, who are enrolled in the program each year, go through Camp Elite. A two-week camp held at Clayton State University, the girls focus on their sport of choice.

While the camp is free for the girls, it can cost Sporty Girls up to $800 a girl. Most of the group's funding comes from grants and individual donors.

After camp, the girls will transition into the Sporty Saturdays program — monthly meetings from October through April - where they engage in recreational activities and workshop-style discussions that seek to foster and develop lifestyle skills. Progress achieved in each girl’s chosen sport is also measured on a monthly basis, and each girl will be paired with a mentor that she’ll speak with weekly.   

The newest Sporty Girls program, Get a Girl Going, is designed for females ages 8-18 that are interested in sports, but are not competitively playing.  It’s a fun, “field day” type event where girls will be introduced to the four sports, and they can also sign up for Sporty Girls clinics, which are held from October to April as well. 

“Sports teach girls so much,” Price said. “Teamwork, leadership, self-confidence; playing a sport makes such a difference. We get notes from parents all the time about how we’ve helped their daughters.  We’re just happy to be part of their journeys.”

 Sporty Girls is currently recruiting volunteers for Camp Elite 2011 (June) and for upcoming fundraisers.  Contact the organization for more info.