I love watching women’s sports — basketball, hockey, soccer, and recently baseball and rugby. I grew up watching men’s sports (and still do!), but somewhere along the way I realized the sheer quality of the women’s game. If I am being completely honest, Hasan Minaj’s segment on the Daily Show breaking down the USWNT’s fight for equal pay made me really start to pay attention. For me it became part fandom, part advocacy given my day job at ONE.
Last weekend, I had the opportunity to attend Court of Change, an event ONE co-hosted with PeacePlayers International and Noah’s Arc Foundation during WNBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago. The event marked the inaugural class of Champions of the Court, honoring incredible women redefining leadership on and off the court.
The honorees were:
- Candace Parker, WNBA Hall of Fame, 3x WNBA Champion, ONE Diaspora Creative Council Member
- Chiney Ogwumike, ESPN Broadcaster, 2x WNBA All-Star
- Fatima Goss Graves, CEO, National Women’s Law Center
- Sandra Idehen, Commissioner, League One Volleyball (LOVB)
Here are my 3 biggest observations:
1. Sports are about more than just the result
The goal of every basketball game is to win. But the lessons and confidence built on a court don’t stay there. It creates a ripple effect that reaches far beyond the girls themselves, strengthening the entire community. The skills learned, resilience, teamwork, leadership, confidence, travel with her into every space she enters next.
Chiney Ogwumike is proof of that in real time. Hearing her speak about her own path from the hardwood to the broadcast booth shows how what she learned through years of basketball training translates to working with a group of people on TV. As Fatima Goss Graves put it: “Every girl who learns to lead on a court, a field, or a pitch develops the skills… that she will carry in every room that she enters afterward.”
2. Laying the foundation for a lifetime
It starts small: a girl, a coach, a court. But sitting there this weekend, I kept coming back to a thought: it’s not just about investing in girls. It’s about investing in the infrastructure around them — starting with coaches, and specifically, women coaches who become role models. People trained in child development and even trained to handle trauma too. That’s not separate from investing in girls, it’s the infrastructure that makes it possible.
WNBA Hall of Famer and 3x WNBA Champion Candace Parker noted: “Every kid, every woman, everyone should have the opportunity to succeed, and it should be your work ethic that determines whatever you are able to accomplish.”
3. Sitting on the sidelines is not an option
Too often, girls are shut out of sport entirely due to unequal investment and fewer chances to play – and every year that goes unaddressed is another generation of girls missing out on the confidence, leadership, and opportunity that access to sport creates. That’s exactly what makes Sandra Idehen’s work building LOVB (a brand-new pro volleyball league) into a growing professional league so important: it’s a living example that girls and women can get meaningful access to sport, when someone commits to building it.
Girls deserve better: safety, dignity, and joy in the game. Because when they get the chance to lead, they can change the world.
Taking it to the next level
That is also what made this event so special for me on a personal level. Being in the same room as changemakers, athletes and leaders who inspire me, driving the advancement of women’s sports around the world was inspiring in a way I’m still sitting with. And to see ONE lean into that conversation and recognize the real power that youth and women in sports hold to drive change, made me feel incredibly lucky to be part of it.
The same court, coach, and team that build confidence in Chicago build it in Lagos, Nairobi, and Kampala. Investing in girls through sport isn’t separate from ONE’s mission — it’s the same mission, played out on a different field.
