The Erin District High School girls basketball team is one of 13 girls’ high school Sports teams to receive funding from the Playtex PlayON Canada grant program.
Playtex created the grant program to help address what it calls “the inequality between girls’ and boys’ athletic teams in high school.”
Nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) of Canadian girls say they are unable to participate to their full potential in high school athletics, and one-third (34%) say that boys are offered better athletic opportunities, officials state.
Among the reasons girls cited for inequality in high school Sports are less support from school administration, non-existent girls’ teams, less team funding, lower-quality coaching, equipment and facilities, and old uniforms.
“The Playtex PlayON Canada Grant Program is about celebrating Canadian girls who play high school Sports and giving their teams the resources they need to play to their full potential,” says Jill MacKinnon, brand manager at Edgewell Personal Care.
“After reviewing more than 215 deserving grant submissions from high schools across Canada, it’s clear that there is a real need for increased funding for girls’ high school Sports teams, and we are proud that the PlayON grant program can help address this issue head on.”
The grant requests submitted by students and coaches spanned the need for uniforms and equipment to team travel costs and facility rentals, from a range of high school Sports, including field hockey, curling, weight lifting and volleyball.
The grant-reveal video can be viewed at playtexplayon.ca/grant-program-recipients.
Each time the video is shared before July 15, Playtex Sport will add $1 to the grant fund to a maximum of $25,000.
The grant is open to all high school girls’ Sports teams in Canada in need of funding.
The call for submissions for the second grant will begin this summer.
