Last spring, the Society for Women in Sports was founded with the goal of providing an inclusive community for students interested in sports. This all-university club was founded by an all-female executive board that advocates for gender equality across all athletic pursuits. SWIS works to create a supportive environment for women in athletics across NYU, and Women’s History Month offers a chance to reflect on the achievements women have made to create space and represent themselves in athletic spaces. 

SWIS, comprised mainly of women pursuing careers in the sports industry, prioritizes members’ interests in building community and engagement through networking events with female industry professionals, collaboration with other clubs and opportunities to attend live sporting events. Within the past month, SWIS has collaborated with the Sports Business Society’s Women’s Sport Collective, a club within the School of Professional Studies, to celebrate Women’s History Month and honor women trailblazers within the sports industry. SWIS advocates for their improved treatment in terms of eliminating the pay gap and providing equal job opportunities in and out of competition. The club also hosts frequent trips to professional women’s sporting events, with the most recent trip being to the WNBA Championship where the New York Liberty won. 

A survey, published by the Sport Integrity Global Alliance in 2023 reported that women make up 26.9% of executive positions in international sports and are drastically underrepresented across the sports industry worldwide. Out of the top 31 largest international federations, only three of them are led by women. As these percentages slowly increase and the demand for more female representation within professional sports grows, SWIS hopes to emulate the same growth of representation within the NYU community by increasing participation in the club. 

 “I do see a lot more women in my classes from freshman year to junior year,” said Stuti Daga, co-founder of SWIS and junior in the Sports Management program at SPS. 

Another founding member and current media chair, Salem Hernandez, a sophomore in the Sports Management program, wishes to see stronger interest in the group and higher member attendance at meetings. As media chair, Hernandez is responsible for SWIS’s social media presence. To promote community building, Hernandez and other members are working towards creating a mentorship program that pairs undergraduates in the Sports Management program with graduate students in the same program.   

“This club has positively impacted my experience as a Sports Management student because it has connected me with other women who are equally as driven,” said Hernandez.  

Women’s sports are on the rise, but SWIS stands to remind women that they belong in all areas of athletics, including sports management, agencies and other executive positions. Gender disparities run deep in the history of sports, and it is important to continue to make a concerted effort to promote and support women working in the sports industry in all capacities.

“There’s a lot of people to credit, whether that’s giving women the chance to play, giving us the chance to enter the industry, being at the C-suite level or just being able to study,” said Daga. “I think a lot of the credit goes to the women who have paved the way for us.”

Contact Chloe Sundstrom at [email protected].