Founder: Mary Miele
I founded Women’s Athletics and You (W.A.Y.) because it is crucial to evolve how we support women in athletics. By gathering ideas and amplifying them, we can spark a paradigm shift in what makes women’s sports compelling, ultimately generating advertising dollars and ticket sales in ways that have not yet been realized.
The main question we are exploring at W.A.Y. is, “How Can We (YOU) Support Women’s Athletics?” — Let’s work on that question and amplify the ideas we come up with!
Here is the story of how this project began.
My family loves sports. There’s always a game on or a sports talk show playing, and my boys and my husband are constantly browsing social media for the latest news. My three kids (two boys and a girl) play many sports – baseball, soccer, swimming, American football, martial arts, basketball, track and field, and horseback riding; they have a lot of interest in all things sports. During the pandemic, we became fans of Formula 1 racing. We just recently went to Barcelona to see the races. There, I started to follow Formula 1 Academy – a women’s division of the F1 Enterprise.
As a woman who loves athletics, I’ve participated in various sports since I was young. My D3 swimming experience gave me a community and skills I still rely on. My best friend in college was a super athlete. She swam and ran and later did triathlons. Sports gave her an important outlet and support system, especially as she battled and lost that fight to cancer in her early 30s. As one of four girls, I grew up playing sports and now have daughters who do the same. We all benefit immensely from these experiences.
My daughter, an enthusiastic 10-year-old athlete, wants to try every sport—soccer, swimming, basketball, track—you name it. She’s passionate, and she’s not alone. Many girls her age are eager to participate in sports.
In my hometown of N.Y.C. – I work in the field of education, and many of the parents I work with have their girls participate in sports. I see their wide grins and proud moments as they receive awards from schools and private sports programs. Parents sign their girls up for soccer, swimming, basketball, track and field, gymnastics, dance, and anything that promotes healthy activity and physical development.
What girls and women get from playing sports goes beyond the physical benefits. They gain social skills, life skills, and a sense of community.
So, I’ve established that I love sports, have played sports, and feel it is essential to have women and girls involved in athletics.
How does that translate to founding W.A.Y.?
Simply put, as much as I love sports:
• I don’t support women’s athletics enough.
• I don’t know enough about women’s athletics.
• I believe strongly that we have the potential to imagine a new paradigm in the way we support women’s athletics and I wanted to create a space for that work to actualize.
I don’t think we have completely defined a market for supporting women’s athletics that is as massively successful as the market for men’s sports. And – I BELIEVE there is a market here that is unique and I want to W.A.Y. to be a part of creating what that is for women’s athletics.
The work at W.A.Y. is not to say that what we are already doing to support women’s athletics is invalid:
• Men’s sports financing women’s sports
• Men’s sport talk shows talking about women’s sports
• TV deals for women’s sports
• Title 9
• Serena Williams hosting the ESPY Awards
• Leadership at the Olympics that prioritized creating medal opportunities for women’s events in about the same number as medals for men’s events
• Increased interest in the WNBA
• Investment in Formula 1 Academy for developing women’s racing, brands sponsoring women athletes
All of this is valid and helpful, and W.A.Y. will amplify these actions – at the same time exploring what else is possible – and this is where the YOU comes in.
Hopefully by now you are asking some excellent questions; here’s one of my own:
• What if we’re missing key opportunities for the market of women’s athletics by modeling the market for women’s athletics after men’s?
Women’s athletics has the potential to be unique and independently valuable. Just as our fashion, healthcare, and business realms are distinct, so are our athletic pursuits. Our bodies are female, and our sports market and the stories we read about should reflect that.
W.A.Y. encourages us to imagine what women’s athletics could be on its terms. We might discover a uniquely profitable paradigm by exploring and amplifying innovative ideas that YOU have.
Imagination is powerful. It allows us to create amazing new things. W.A.Y. invites you to dream, desire, imagine, and create. Let’s explore existing support for women’s athletics and develop even more ways to follow, support, and evolve the landscape.
W.A.Y. offers three free ways to participate.
• Through our members club program, you can access weekly ideas on supporting women’s athletics from our research and community contributions. Expect manageable emails or texts with actionable steps.
• Everyone is invited to listen to our weekly podcast and read our weekly blog posts.
Members of this community can also propose to be guests on both platforms (writing for the blog or being a guest on the podcast), providing more opportunities to share and amplify ideas!
This network can potentially create and amplify something beyond what we have yet imagined. I can’t wait to see what we come up with!
Thank you for your support and for participating in W.A.Y.
Warm regards,
Mary Miele, Founder of W.A.Y.
Contact me: hello@womensathleticsandyou.com; 1-917-284-8063