Tuesdays Taste I Branding in Women's Sports I 4 Min Read

In a recent study conducted by the Sports Journal it was theorized that women's sports only receive 4% of media coverage because there is a lack of branding by the leagues. According to Nielsen, 84% of sports fans are interested in women's sports but there is a lack of exposure.

The study goes onto further discuss brand equity and how it can really be broken up into three different buckets. In the first bucket, is personal branding. As previously mentioned, many of the female athletes cannot make enough money playing the sport they love alone so they are forced to promote brands. For example, Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris stars of the U.S Women's Soccer Team recently announced a partnership with TAG Heuer to increase their incomes. It is sad that the top athletes in their sport have to create partnerships in order to make a decent living. It is unfair that the expectation for them to succeed is the same as men, the commitment and sacrifice the same, but the pay is less.

The next bucket discussed by the article was team branding. A lot of the responsibility for exposure should fall under each individual teams level of responsibility. What are they doing for grass roots efforts to promote themselves? What are they doing for youth activations to get them involved and excited about their team? It is important for women's sports to have a strong brand recognition and for people to be excited about the teams being in their city otherwise the teams will fold. For example, the Boston Breakers were a soccer team a part of the NWSL but was forced to fold due to a lack of interest. Team branding is extremely important to the success and stability of all women's leagues.

The last bucket discussed by the article is media coverage. They determine that part of the teams lack of branding is a lack of media coverage. If coverage of a sport isn't on TV, or on social media the brand isn't as recognizable to people so it doesn't resonate.

Something has got to change to increase the success of women's sports. We strongly believe that branding is part of what needs to change. As fans of the sport we must continue to be active on social media and make sure media outlets know that their is an audience.

If you would like to check out the study Click Here

Hot Cakes & Hot Takes I Key Articles from the Week | 5 min read

Megan Rapinoe Wins Ballon d’Or as World’s Best Player

source: Daily Mail

Megan Rapinoe won the Ballon d’Or as soccer’s women’s player of the year. Rapinoe won the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball as a top player of the tournament that led the US team to the World Cup title this summer.

Lucy Bronze of England scored second, and Alex Morgan was third. Lionel Messi reclaimed the men's trophy he last won in 2015 for the sixth time, a record.

Ballon d'Or has been awarded since 1956, but last year was the first to celebrate female players. Ada Hegerberg of Norway was the first ever female to receive the award in 2018.

THE NHL’S STANCE HASN’T CHANGED AND THE NWHL ISN’T FOLDING. WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE THE PWHPA?

Marie-Philip Poulin|Anne-Marie Pellerin source: The Hockey News

The PWHPA is set to hit the road again in January with its biggest Dream Gap Tour stop yet, but the NHL's unchanging stance and the NWHL's growth have left some wondering what the future holds.

Marie-Philip Poulin, Hilary Knight, Brianna Decker will all be taking part in January leg of the tour. This will be the most star-studded event of the league yet. However, the league has been running into problems with booking the ice, mainly because of the sponsoring issues. “I don’t think any of us thought this was going to be a real easy thing to do,” says former CWHL commissioner Jayna Hefford, “Anytime you do something that is purposeful and impactful and really going to be a part of history, it’s not easy. Having an advisor like Billie Jean King, she’s really quick to remind us of this all the time. What she did was not easy, it wasn’t fast and it did take a lot of courage on behalf of the athletes to stand up for what they believe in.”

Hefford also said the PWHPA has “a great relationship with the NHL” adding that while the NHL’s message hasn’t changed, the PWHPA’s goals haven’t, either. And it’s no secret that the PWHPA’s desire is a partnership with the NHL. The NWHL doesn’t look as though it’s going anywhere anytime soon, either. 

The question the author tries to answer is if the NHL’s position doesn’t change and the NWHL continues to succeed, what comes next for the PWHPA?

THE BOSTON PRIDE ARE THE MOST DOMINANT TEAM IN HOCKEY RIGHT NOW – BUT THEY’RE NOT SATISFIED YET

source: The Hockey News

Although the Pride are proud of their result during the beginning of the NWHL season having had nine consecutive wins, the Boston team still wants to improve. The players as well as the coach agree that the team still has to produce a full 60-minute effort. “We definitely have spurts where it feels dominant and it’s great and we’re getting that offensive-zone pressure and opportunities. We’re really hemming them in there,” Dempsey said. “But then we have spurts where we let off the gas a little bit and we give opportunities (for the opposition) to maybe get a chance to get back into the game. We cannot be giving those kinds of opportunities.”

Because of the way the season is structured, just one game can ruin a promising season. “It’s not like the Stanley Cup playoffs where you get to play seven games. It’s one game and done, and that can go either way in the playoffs,” Brand said.

We hope that kind of mindset and hard work is going to bring the desired results to the Boston team.

Nick D'Innocenzo on sports, success, and equality | 10 min read

Nick D'Innocenzo on sports, success, and equality

Nick D'Innocenzo. source: The Daily Texan

Nick D'Innocenzo, three-times Olympic trials qualifier, is a Massachusetts native who is passionate about helping young swimmers develop and achieve new levels. Admired by girls and boys on the team he coaches, Nick has an impressive record of personal achievements: he first qualified for Olympic Trials at the age of 17, brought two golds for team USA at Junior Pan Pacific Games in Guam, broke the National Age Group record - among other things. We caught up with Nick to ask for his perspective on success and equality.

Not her hobby: Do you think sport casts your character or, rather, you should have the right set of qualities to become a successful athlete?

Nick D'Innocenzo: I think there are a number of qualities that come through in all successful athletes. The willpower for hard work, the determination and drive to improve and succeed is the first that comes to mind. There are no successful athletes that are not self-motivated. They decide at some point in their life that they want to be successful, and they work hard at what they do because it is what they WANT to do. There are other traits, but I think it's important to remember that athletes are also human. We come in all shapes and sizes and our attitudes and personalities are still diverse. I've met all sorts of athletes in my career, both swimmers and otherwise, and while there are many that are alike, there are just as many who are unique in their own way. 

Not her hobby: What made your greatest race?

Nick D'Innocenzo: My greatest race was at my first Olympic trials in 2008. It was easily the biggest stage I'd ever have the privilege to be on. The CHI Health Center in Omaha, NE seats 17,000 people, the largest crowd I've ever seen at a swim meet. At 17 I was extremely nervous. I'd only just made the cut in the 200 individual medley, my only event for the trials that year. I knew I had just one shot to get the race right and to make matters worse, the 200IM was right at the end of a very long week of events. I'd been waiting 8 days to finally get my chance to compete. At trials you must be in the ready room 30 minutes before you're preliminary heat is scheduled to go off. You sit in the "ready room" waiting for your turn to walk up the steps and out onto the deck in front of the massive crowd. I really can't remember much from those few moments on deck behind the block before my race. I'm sure I was extremely nervous, but looking back, all of my best races were in situations of extreme pressure. I think I just fed off the energy of the atmosphere because I ended up dropping a ridiculous 4 seconds from my previous best time that got me qualified for the event. Keep in mind these were the times where for me as a swimmer, I was fighting to drop half or 3/4 of a second. I'd gone from a time of 2:06 to 2:02, and it was even enough to qualify me for semi-finals. My first Olympic trials appearance and I'd made top-16 in preliminaries, I was dumbfounded. It's actually quite funny looking back because I went back that night to swim in the semi-finals and I swam much worse than I did in the morning. It didn't matter to me at that point, though. I'd far exceeded my expectations for myself, and I was very proud. There really are a number of races that I could talk about here. Some that were on a larger, international competitive level where I placed higher overall. There are others where I can remember great races between myself and other highly skilled swimmers. Or relays where I got to share victory with my teammates. I could go on, but I won't.

Not her hobby: Your sister, Maggie, has been to Olympic Trials with you. For her as a female athlete, would you say the journey to the top was similar to yours?

Maggie D'Innocenzo. source: SwimSwam

Nick D'Innocenzo: Maggie's journey was similar to mine in that we both had a very fast, meteoric rise through the top tiers of the sport. The difference, however, is that my rise happened right at the end of my high school career, and hers was some years earlier. For me I didn't really break into the top of the national level until the end of my junior year in high school. Maggie was more competitive much younger. This I think was both good and bad. It meant that she had more experience than me at being nationally competitive from a younger age. It also meant that after getting so fast so quickly, she plateaued a bit in the latter years of her high school career. For me, getting very fast very quick late in my high school career meant gaining a lot of positive attention from college recruiters. For Maggie it made college recruiting very stressful, I think. She did not have the same sense of security and confidence that I did in searching for colleges. In the end she ended up picking a school that she would ultimately transfer out of by the end of her sophomore year in college. Where I rode momentum out of high school and into college, Maggie I think fought more hardship in overcoming high expectations. 

Not her hobby: With International Swimming League on the scene, do you think swimming is ahead of other sports in terms of equal opportunities for men and women?

Nick D'Innocenzo: I think the sport of swimming lends itself quite well to both men's and women's competition over many other sports. I think this has been the case long before the arrival of the International Swimming League. If anything the International Swimming League has taken what has existed in the sport for a long time and brought it to a bigger stage. There are many sports where women's leagues hardly exist at all, let alone receive much attention. American Football is one that comes to mind. I think Basketball and Baseball are examples of this as well. While the WNBA and Softball do exist, they're far lower profile on the national and international stage than their male league counterparts. I think with the exception of high school leagues and NCAA, Swimming competitions have always held both men's and women's competitions at the same event. In this respect I think it is ahead of the other sports I mentioned. There are other sports, however, like track & field and soccer (or European/International Football) that also do a good job of promoting women's competition as well as men's.

Not her hobby: High school years have the highest rates of dropouts from sports, especially for girls. What advice would you give someone who is in doubt?

Nick D'Innocenzo: For a high school athlete, I think it's an important time to take a hard look at what you've done so far in your sport. If you've been successful, why? What has made you successful? Can you continue to improve that recipe for success to further yourself in your sport? If you can come up with answers with relative ease, I think you're probably someone who is keen on their sport and will continue to pursue it. If you've lacked success, I think it's important to be honest with yourself in understanding why you've been unsuccessful. I think a lot of times high school athletes do a sport because they have always done it, they've never critically examined why they do it. For these kids, I think sometimes without this examination, they lack self-motivation. If a high school kid is having doubt about their sport, I think that means they're overdue for a hard look in the mirror. They must ask themselves why they do it, and be honest with their answer. I think it's also important to mention here that sometimes people end up doing a sport for so long without thinking about it that they don't realize they really don't like it at all. I think at a young age it's hard to make the decision to give up on something that has always been a part of your identity, but I think it's better to decide to do something you like doing rather than continue doing something you've always done without thinking about it. People change jobs and career paths all the time, there is nothing wrong with deciding to pursue other things, especially if you'll be more passionate about pursuing something else.

***

We thank Nick for his time and honest answers to our questions!

Hot Cakes & Hot Takes I Key Articles from the Week I 6 Min Read

And we are back with another steaming hot cup of tea featuring the key articles from the past week!

Yankees Hire Female Hitting Coach, First Female Coach in MLB

The New York Yankees have hired Rachel Balkovec as a full time hitting coach for the club. She is believed to be the first female in the position. The Yankees said they hired her because is a good coach period. 

While we applaud the Yankees for hiring her, we do find it a bit concerning that more women don't have a role at MLB Clubs. What can be done to make more opportunity for women at these clubs? There needs to be a change in culture so that its not groundbreaking that a women was hired by a professional mens team. We hope that as Rachel finds success at one of the most reputable clubs in baseball then other teams will follow suit and hire more women. 

Women In Football and Barclays Partner

Barclays and Women in Football announced this week a 3 year partnership where Barclays will become a leading partner of Women in Football. The commitment of Barclays continues the recent string of brands that have stepped up to support the equal opportunity and treatment of women's professional sports. As we have mentioned Budweiser Canada, Secret,  and so many more have shown an unprecedented support to women. 

It is interesting that brands have continued to show their support to the women athletes and yet their is a serious lack of exposure to women's games. The television rarely shows a women's game on. One would think we the brand support that television exposure would follow. We hope that the brand support is phase 1 in a change of narrative to women's sports finally being viewed as equal.

Women Wrestling Program Setting the Standard

The wrestling program at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point is the first women's wrestling program in the mid west. In 1994 there were 804 women's wrestling programs nation wide, in 2018 there was 16,562 nation wide. There are official scholastic championships in 18 states, but Wisconsin isn't one of them which makes the story of the wrestling team at Stevens Point extremely inspiring. 

The coaches and athletes had to fight to be recognized by their university. Through the use of convincing data they continued to push their athletic director to recognize them. It is inspiring that they were able to continuously advocate for themselves and get what they deserve. As the sport of wrestling continues to grow it will be interesting to see how many more women will have to fight for equal treatment. 

UCONN vs TENNESSEE Basketball Rivalry Lives !

The rivalry lives!! This article takes us through a timeline of why tensions are at an all time high between UConn and the Lady Vols of Tennessee. In order to continue growing interest in women's sports we need rivalries like this one to heat things up! While Pat Summit may be gone now, the hatred between UConn and Tennessee is very much a live. They face off for the first time in thirteen years on January 23rd 2020. We can't wait to see how things develop on the court!