海角大神

In an opinion piece published in Porter Magazine鈥檚 "Incredible Women of 2016" issue, international tennis star Serena Williams addressed what it means to be a woman in the sports world, calling for equity between men and women in the game.

Being a professional female athlete, Ms. Williams wrote, often means that your first identity is as a woman, rather than as an athlete, something that can be frustrating for the many talented young women who compete around the world. And when the world sees you as a woman first, she says, oftentimes the athlete is neglected.

Yet it is women like Williams who observers say are helping to break down barriers for girls in sports, opening the door for generations of new young athletes to rise up the ranks into a more equal world. Nonprofits and professional organizations alike are taking on the challenges of unequal pay and resources, providing young female athletes with the confidence to shine.

"We don鈥檛 just show up with soccer balls," says Mary Banker, the associate director of Expansion and Development at Chicago based non-profit Girls in the Game. "We鈥檙e changing the conversation and the culture. This is so much bigger than Girls in the Game. We鈥檙e contributing to something bigger, and if we all make these steps, we will certainly get there someday."

is just one of dozens of nonprofits that seek to serve the whole woman, not only teaching girls how to play the game, but also how to live well. The nonprofit has currently introduced approximately 40,000 young women between the ages of seven and 18 to new sports and fitness techniques, as well as leadership skills and nutrition.

"We use sports as a catalyst for youth development," Ms. Banker tells 海角大神 in a phone interview.

Girls have made major strides in youth sport participation since Title IX, a federal law that outlaws sex-based discrimination in any educational program or activity that receives federal funding, was passed in 1972. Today, under the age of 18 play sports, as do 16 percent of adult women.

Nevertheless, despite rising participation, fewer girls and women play sports than boys and men, with 76 percent of boys and 35 percent of men participating in sports nationwide, according to a report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Harvard鈥檚 T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Purdue University associate professor of American Studies Cheryl Cooky tells the Monitor that lower female participation rates are the result of several factors, among them cultural assumptions about sports as a "man鈥檚 game," and stigmas surrounding female involvement in sports.

Women鈥檚 sports programs often do not have the same resources as men鈥檚 programs, Dr. Cooky says.

"While Title IX is often cited as a catalyst for getting women involved in sports, it is not equipped to provide women with the right resources to really support programs."

And even professional female athletes suffer, with declining screen time and media coverage for women鈥檚 athletics. Sometimes, professional female athletes, such as those in the , must have another full time job in order to support themselves. Salaries for female professional hockey players range from $10,000 to $25,000.

This year, the US Soccer Women鈥檚 National Team made headlines for their efforts to achieve pay parity with the Men's National Team, most recently appearing on a segment of CBS's "." Because of pay structuring, the women's team players earn significantly less than their male counterparts, despite better win-lose records.

Yet despite dispiriting pay statistics, Cooky says women鈥檚 advocacy efforts by high-profile athletes such as Williams and members of the women's national soccer team make a big difference. So do efforts by nonprofits and other organizations that seek to achieve greater female involvement in sports.

Girls in the Game is one prominent Chicago based organization, but there are many others like it.

The provides community grants to better the quality of youth female sports and advocates for female athletes at all levels, conducting research and running conferences on the state of female participation.

Other organizations, such as and Girls, Inc., also seek to give girls greater exposure to athletic pursuits.

The programs are having a tangible effect. While Girls in the Game says that one third of girls nationwide fail to get a recommended 60 minutes of exercise per day, the girls who do participate in sports make gains in their self-confidence and their leadership abilities.

Banker tells the Monitor that ESPNW statistics show that 84 percent of women in corporate executive positions are former athletes.

That progress is incremental, she says, should not be discouraging.

"We鈥檙e going to have to climb some mountains, and some we鈥檙e going to have to walk right through," Banker says. "But it is important for us to take those steps, one day at a time, because it is important to respect equal talent, and respect girls鈥� abilities, and one day, we will get there."