$205,000 continues focus on women’s sports after Final Four

When the NCAA Women’s Final Four took place in April in Nashville, a centralized group of local leaders focused on the event’s legacy. They viewed it not as just an athletic competition with a limited engagement in the city, but instead as a way to foster future initiatives focused on women and athletics.

In keeping with that vision, the Nashville Local Organizing Committee — the organization launched by the Nashville Sports Council and the Ohio Valley Conference to host the 2014 NCAA Women’s Final Four — announced it has awarded $205,000 in funding to continue initiatives of the 2014 Women’s Final Four.

This funding is meant to directly address issues of disparity between men’s and women’s sports coverage, participation and support, as well as to empower young females and enable them to become leaders within their communities.

“Our local organizing committee pledged to support the legacy of women’s basketball and women’s sports before, during and long after the 2014 Women’s Final Four in Nashville,” Vice Mayor Diane Neighbors, who is chair of the Women’s Final Four Legacy Committee, said in a release. “It has been a pleasure to watch the results of our legacy efforts in Middle Tennessee, and we are proud to continue to support these programs that will greatly affect young people in our community.”

Here are the programs that began as part of the Women’s Final Four initiative and will continue with this funding:

• Lipscomb University’s Nelson and Sue Andrews Institute for Civic Leadership’s “Music City Girls Lead!” mentorship program will continue for the next five years. This initiative is designed specifically for high school girls in grades 9 through 11. Dee Anna Smith, CEO of Sarah Cannon, is providing matching funds for this program.

• Metropolitan Arts Commission for future programs that empower young girls.

• Champions 4 Women events in conjunction with the Ohio Valley Conference for the next five years celebrating women’s athletics.

• Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame for the updating and upkeep of the Pat Summitt exhibit and possibly the creation of other exhibits that promote women’s athletics.

• Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee for support of their training programs through the purchase of sports equipment.

• Enhanced media coverage for women’s athletics.

More than 35,000 fans attended the Women’s Final Four’s three championship games in Nashville in April, and a record-breaking 4,271,000 viewers watched the National Championship game on ESPN.

Last month, the NCAA announced the local economic impact of the Women’s Final Four exceeded $20 million.