1st Annual GLSEN Oregon Youth Sports Summit in partnership with NIKE
BEAVERTON, OR. – The Oregon chapter of GLSEN, hosted the inaugural Youth Sports Summit on Wednesday, October 8, 2014, in partnership with Nike. This was the 11th consecutive year that the two organizations partner to create networking opportunities for LGBTQ-identified youth and their allies.
Heather Hargreaves (UC Berkley Rowing), Connor Mertens (Willamette University Football) and Chandler Whitney (Walla Walla Community College Baseball) joined GLSEN Oregon to teach local LGBTQ-identified high school athletes, GSA members, allies, coaches and athletic staff about coalition building between student groups and the importance of creating inclusive sports spaces in k-12 education.
“The students and educators attending the Youth Sports Summit took the first of a series of steps in creating and fostering an athletic and physical education climate that is based on the core principles of respect, safety and equal access for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression” said GLSEN Oregon Chair Danni/y Rosen.
“Feeling a sense of belonging to a school is critical to educational achievement. Sports create ways for both athletes and fans to connect to the school.”
After the event, students will begin a year-long initiative to have local high school sports teams take GLSEN’s Team Respect Challenge: a strong public team commitment to live the values of respect and inclusion for all team members, across differences such as race, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression or religion.
Through a miriad of projects, attendees will work with their school's sports teams, GSAs and athletic instructors to create safer sports spaces. GLSEN Oregon Board Members will provide additional support to ensure attendees of the summit have the tools they need to be successful.
ABOUT GLSEN Oregon
GLSEN Oregon works to create and sustain dynamic programming that supports Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) within the state of Oregon. They do this through GSA networking events like the GLSEN Oregon GSA Summit and Nike Youth Sports Summit. The chapter also develops opportunities for school educators and administrators to obtain Professional Development that helps them support LGBTQ-identified students in schools. www.glsen.org/oregon