Pacers, Fever, and Nike Partner to Grow Game with Young Women.

The Indiana Pacers continue to be on the right side of history. Last season the Pacers made headlines when they hired Kelly Krauskopf as their Assistant General Manager. She is the first female to be hired as an Assistant General Manager in the history of the NBA. Yesterday, the Pacers continued their movement for women's empowerment and gender equality. The Indiana Pacers and the Indiana Fever are partnering with Nike to create the Game Growers Program.

Indiana Fever player Candice Dupree. Photo Courtesy of the Indystar.

What is Game Growers? In a press release on the Pacers website it is explained as “a new program that invites girls across the country to create the inclusive, meaningful experiences in sport that they deserve, starting in Indiana. The Game Growers program gives eighth grade girls the opportunity to work in pairs to develop ideas and collaborate with participating WNBA and NBA teams to inspire more girls in their community to play and love sports.” The Pacers website also cited a research study from the Women’s Sport Foundation that stated 40 percent of girls do not participate in sports compared to the 25 percent of boys.

They are specifically doing this to get young women more active in sports. In my opinion, this is pretty awesome. The Pacers, Fever, and Nike are all wanting to equalize the game among the genders and grow the game beyond the NBA. Today is another day that I am proud to call myself a Pacers fan.

So how can you get involved? Game Growers starts today, October 18, 2019, at 7:00 p.m. EST. The @Nike YouTube and the @WNBA Facebook will be streaming a conversation between multiple women from or associated with the WNBA. Click here to sign up to be able to tune in to that conversation. If you know of anybody that would like to apply to be a part of the Game Growers team, teams of two eighth grade girls can apply until November 15, 2019. You can check out the Pacers press release here.

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”- Mahatma Gandhi