全球视野 | 美国女子体育的崛起：捐赠人如何助力体育领域的性别平等？

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文章《New Era in Women’s Sports Fueled by Decades of Women Donors/数十年来女性捐赠人的支持推动了女子体育的新时代》发布在慈善纪事报上，作者是Sara Herschander。文章讲述了美国女性体育运动的发展及女性捐赠人的关键作用。以残疾运动员斯科特·巴塞特为例，展示了捐赠如何帮助她克服障碍，成为全美国冠军。自1972年美国《教育法修正案第九条》通过以来，女性运动员和捐赠人通过资金支持和倡导推动了性别平等的发展，增加了女性参与体育的机会和大众关注度。

Scout Bassett was 14 years old when she ran for the first time. Having lost her right leg as an infant, she spent her childhood largely sidelined from school sports until a specialized running prosthetic gifted from the Challenged Athletes Foundation changed everything. 

斯考特·巴塞特第一次跑步是在她14岁的时候。她在婴儿时期失去了右腿，童年时期几乎没有参与学校的体育活动，直到挑战运动员基金会（Challenged Athletes Foundation）赠送给了她一副专门的跑步假肢，这一切才得以改变。 

A decade later, Bassett was sleeping on friends’ couches in San Diego — having quit her job to train full-time in track and field — when she received another life-changing gift: a $3,500 training grant from the Women’s Sports Foundation. A drop in the ocean of sports funding, but a lifeline for Bassett that propelled her to the top of her sport within a year, eventually leading to seven national titles in the 100m and a spot on the 2016 Paralympic team in Rio. 

十年后，巴塞特辞去了工作，开始全职训练田径，那时她睡在圣地亚哥朋友家的沙发上。这时她收到了另一份改变人生的礼物：美国女子体育基金会(Women's Sports Foundation)提供的3500美元训练资助。虽然这笔资助在体育资助中只是沧海一粟，但却成为巴塞特的救命稻草，帮助她在一年内登上了运动生涯的巅峰。最终巴塞特获得了七个全美国100米赛跑冠军，并入选了2016年里约残奥会代表队。 

“I saw how a single grant took me from nowhere — totally unheard of, not on the map — to winning a national championship within a year,” said Bassett, who now leads her own fund for women athletes with disabilities. “It took me on a path I could never have dreamed of.” 

巴塞特说道：“我看到，短短一年时间里，一笔小小的资助是如何将我从无名小卒带到全国冠军的领奖台上。它让我走上了一条我从未曾梦想过的道路。”如今，巴塞特成立了自己的基金，专门支持有残疾的女子运动员。 

The modest grant that jump-started Bassett’s career is part of a wave of support that has transformed women’s sports over the past five decades. Since Title IX’s enactment in 1972, female athletes, activists, and donors have fueled a slow-burning revolution in women’s sports, culminating in today’s record-breaking viewership and participation. Now, even as the field celebrates its historic milestones, a new generation of athletes and their supporters are stepping up to tackle the remaining obstacles to equality. 

在过去的五十年里，支持的浪潮改变了女子体育运动，而这笔启动了巴塞特职业生涯的小小资助也是其中的一部分。自1972年的美国《教育法修正案第九条》颁布以来，女子运动员、活动家和捐赠人一直在推动女子体育领域的渐进式革命，并最终成就了如今破纪录的收视率和参与度。现在，在体育界庆祝其历史性里程碑的同时，新一代运动员及其支持者正挺身而出，继续解决性别平等道路上剩余的障碍。

When girls play, they lead, and leadership is critical for our women to be able to succeed on and off the court — on the field and in the boardroom,” said Danette Leighton, CEO of the Women’s Sports Foundation, founded by tennis legend Billie Jean King in 1974. “The more we develop that for both men and women, the better we all are.” 

美国女子体育基金会由网球传奇人物比莉·简·金于1974年创立，该基金会的CEO丹内特·莱顿说道：“当女孩参与体育运动时，她们就成为了领导者，而领导力对于女性在场上和场下取得成功——无论是在球场上，还是在会议室里，都至关重要。我们越是为男女双方培养这种能力，我们越是会从中受益。” 

Research shows that 94 percent of women executives in C-suite positions played sports, many having benefited from the passage of Title IX, the 1972 law mandating gender equality in federally funded education programs, including athletics. 

研究表明，94%的女性高管曾参加过体育运动，许多人都受益于1972年通过的《教育法修正案第九条》，该法律规定，接受联邦政府资助的教育项目（包括体育运动）必须实现性别平等。 

With each decade, more girls and women have been able to participate more fully in sports, from youth leagues to elite competitions, becoming invested in progressing gender equity in athletics. By many measures, the fruits of this decades-long labor are visible today. Since Title IX’s enactment, girls’ participation in high school sports has increased by a staggering 1,057 percent, from about 300,000 in 1971-1972 to over 3.4 million in 2018-2019. At the collegiate level, women athletes comprised just 15 percent of NCAA athletes in 1972, rising to 44 percent by 2020-21. 

每十年，越来越多的女孩和妇女能够更加全面地参与体育运动，从青年联赛到精英赛事，并投身于推动体育领域的性别平等。多项指标表明，这场持续数十年的努力如今已结出硕果。自《教育法修正案第九条》颁布以来，高中女生的体育参与率增长了惊人的1057%，从1971-1972学年的约30万人，增加到了2018-2019学年的340多万人。在大学层面，1972年女子运动员仅占美国全国大学体育协会（NCAA）运动员的15%，而到2020-2021学年，这一比例已上升至44%。 

“Fifty years is not that long — it takes time” to realize equity, said Leighton, but “for every generation, you’re seeing more and more interest in this space.” 

丹内特·莱顿说：“50年的时间并不算长，实现平等需要时间。但在每一代人中，你都能看到越来越多的人对这一领域产生兴趣。

In recent years, a steady stream of former athletes, sports buffs, and corporate philanthropies have poured unprecedented levels of donations and investment into women’s sports. In July, investor and philanthropist Michele Kang pledged $50 million to launch a new nonprofit focused on training methods for women athletes, plus another $4 million to support the 2024 Olympic medal-winning USA Women’s Rugby Sevens team. 

近年来，退役运动员、体育爱好者和企业慈善家不断向女子体育运动注入前所未有的捐款和投资。今年7月，投资家兼慈善家米歇尔·姜承诺捐赠5000万美元，用于成立一家新的非营利组织，专注于女子运动员的训练方法。另外她还承诺捐赠400万美元，用于支持2024年赢得奥运奖牌的美国女子七人制橄榄球队。 

At the Olympic games in Paris last month, track star Allyson Felix — who received $20 million to distribute as she sees fit from Melinda French Gates in May — launched the games’ first-ever on-site nursery for parent athletes, after having previously helped create a $200,000 child-care fund for women athletes. 

田径明星艾莉森·菲利克斯在今年5月，从梅琳达·盖茨处获得了2000万美元的资金，供其自行分配。在巴黎奥运会上，菲利克斯启动了奥运历史上首个给为人父母的运动员设立的现场托儿所。此前，她还帮助创建了一个20万美元的儿童护理基金，专门为女子运动员提供支持。

Indeed, annual philanthropy directed toward women’s and girls’ sports and recreation surged by 85 percent between 2012 and 2019, reaching $439 million before temporarily dipping due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the latest year for which the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University has data. In comparison, donations to Division 1 football programs at U.S. colleges alone — just a slice of all funding for men’s sports — totaled over $2.3 billion in 2023. 

事实上，根据印第安纳大学女性慈善研究所（Women’s Philanthropy Institute）数据显示，2012年至2019年间，针对妇女和女孩体育及娱乐项目的慈善捐赠激增85%，在2019年达到了4.39亿美元，虽然2020年因新冠疫情暂时有所下降。但相比之下，2023年美国大学一级联赛橄榄球项目（仅占男子体育所有资金的一小部分）的捐赠总额，就超过了23亿美元。

The 2019 bump in women’s sports philanthropy coincided with a U.S. win in the FIFA Women’s World Cup, a tournament that captivated global audiences and propelled interest in women’s athletics at all levels, said Jacqueline Ackerman, interim director of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute, who noted that such high-profile events often inspire support for local programs as well. 

女性慈善研究所临时主管杰奎琳·阿克曼表示，2019年女子体育慈善捐款的激增，恰逢美国队赢得FIFA女足世界杯冠军，这项赛事吸引了全球观众，并激发了民众对各级女子体育的兴趣。她指出，此类高知名度的赛事，往往也会激发人们对地方体育项目的支持。 

At the collegiate level, many women who came of age able to play because of Title IX have directed donations toward their alma maters, like Lisa Palmer, who attended the University of Virginia on a softball scholarship in the ‘80s and later endowed a scholarship and led funding of a $10 million softball stadium at the school. Several funders, like the Women’s Sports Foundation, and Women Win, the corporate philanthropy arms of companies like Nike and espnW, and an array of smaller-scale donors, have contributed to K-12 girls’ access to sports through nonprofits like Girls on the Run. 

在大学层面，许多因为《教育法修正案第九条》得以参与体育运动的成年女性，都给自己的母校捐了款。比如丽莎·帕尔默，她在80年代通过垒球奖学金而就读于弗吉尼亚大学。后来她捐赠了一项奖学金，并带头资助了一个耗资1000万美元的垒球场馆。此外，一些资助机构，如美国女子体育基金会和Women Win等机构，以及耐克和espnW等公司的企业慈善部门，联合众多中小规模的捐赠人，通过“奔跑女孩（Girls on the Run）”等非营利组织，为K-12女孩的体育活动提供了支持。 

“Girls’ sports intersects with a lot of other issues that people care about, and if they can open their wallets a little bit more, or get out on the field and volunteer, get their time and energy to these causes, that’s the way to grow it,” Ackerman said. 

杰奎琳·阿克曼说：“女孩的体育运动与许多其他人们关心的问题都息息相关，如果人们能多捐一点钱，或者走出去当志愿者，把时间和精力投入到这些事业中，这就是推动它发展的途径。”

Experts say the women’s sports movement would not be where it is today without those investments and the decades of tireless advocacy that preceded them. 

专家表示，如果没有这些投资和此前数十年的不懈倡导，女子体育运动就不会有如今的成就。 

“There are generations of women and some men that have long fought for equity in sports — and it was a fight,” said Robin Harris, executive director of the Ivy League, the elite collegiate athletic conference, and board chair of the Women’s Sports Foundation. Those investments of time and resources have been crucial because “to provide opportunities, you need funding and research that helps support why participation in sports is so beneficial to everyone, and particularly girls and women,” she said. 

常春藤联盟（美国精英大学体育联盟）执行董事兼美国女子体育基金会董事会主席罗宾·哈里斯说：“几代女性以及一些男性一直在为体育中的平等而奋斗，这是一场艰苦的斗争。”她指出，这些时间和资源的投入至关重要，因为“要想提供机会，就需要资金和研究来证明参与体育活动为何对所有人，尤其是对女孩和妇女有益。”

The Women’s Sports Foundation, founded by Billie Jean King with a $5,000 prize check in 1974, has been at the forefront of the fight for gender equity in sports for five decades. Since its inception, the organization has distributed over $100 million to support girls’ access to sports, fund research and advocacy, and provide grants to individual athletes like Bassett. 

美国女子体育基金会由比莉·简·金于1974年用一张5000美元的奖金支票创立，五十年来一直走在争取体育性别平等的前沿。自成立以来，该组织已发放了超过1亿美元的资金，用于支持女孩参加体育运动、资助研究和宣传活动，并为像巴塞特这样的运动员个人提供资助。 

Founded two years after Title IX’s passage, the organization was instrumental in ensuring the law’s enforcement amid legal challenges and pushback from the National Collegiate Athletics Association, said Harris: “The Women’s Sports Foundation really led the charge at the time to fight for equity.” 

罗宾·哈里斯指出，该基金会成立于《教育法修正案第九条》通过的两年后，在面临法律挑战和美国全国大学体育协会的反对的情况下，该组织在确保该法案的执行方面发挥了关键作用：“美国女子体育基金会在当时确实在争取公平方面，发挥了主导作用。” 

Since its inception, the organization has funded over 200 nonprofits serving girls in sports, awarded millions in small grants for athletes, offered support for women coaches, and continued its advocacy to make Title IX live up to its promises. The group, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, had assets nearing $10 million in 2022 and regularly partners with big brands like Delta Air Lines, espnW, Athleta, and Gatorade to underwrite its funding ventures. 

自成立以来，该组织已经为200多个支持女孩参与体育的非营利组织提供了资金，向运动员发放了数百万美元的小额资助，为女性教练提供支持，并继续倡导践行《教育法修正案第九条》的承诺。该组织今年将迎来成立50周年，到2022年，该组织资产已接近1000万美元，并经常与达美航空、espnW、Athleta和佳得乐等大品牌合作，为其资助项目提供支持。 

In addition to growth in women’s athletic participation, media coverage of women’s sports has nearly tripled in five years, from 5.4 percent of all sports coverage in 2019 to 15 percent in 2023, according to a study by Wasserman Group, though men’s sports still get 85 percent of the air time. The for-profit sports industry has taken notice, too, with women’s sports projected to generate revenue that surpasses $1 billion globally for the first time in 2024 — a 300 percent increase from the industry’s evaluation in 2021, though still a puny fraction of the hundreds of billions generated by men’s sports annually. 

根据沃瑟曼传媒集团的一项研究，除了女性对体育活动参与率的增长之外，媒体对女子运动的报道在五年内也增加了近三倍，从2019年占所有体育报道的5.4%，增加到了2023年的15%，尽管男性运动仍然占据了85%的播出时间。营利性体育产业也注意到了这一点，预计到2024年，女子体育的全球收入将首次超过10亿美元，与2021年的产业估值相比增长了300%。不过，相比男子体育每年创造的数千亿美元收入，这仍然是微不足道的一小部分。 

“We’re having increased investment, increased sponsorship, increased viewership, and attendance, so all the metrics around interest in and respect for women’s sport are on the rise,” said Nicole Lavoi, director of the University of Minnesota’s Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport. In 1993, Dorothy Tucker, a banker’s daughter and clinical psychologist, donated $1 million to create the center, one of few research institutes focused on women’s athletics — at least for now. 

明尼苏达大学塔克中心研究女孩和妇女体育的主任妮可·拉沃伊表示：“我们看到的投资、赞助、观众人数以及出席率都在增加，因此对于女子体育运动的兴趣和尊重的所有指标都在上升。”1993年，银行家的女儿、临床心理学家多萝西·塔克捐赠了100万美元，用于创建该中心。这是少数几个专注于女子体育运动的研究机构之一，至少目前是这样。 

In recent years, Lavoi has noted an uptick in donations from a new generation of supporters inspired by the growing profile of women’s sports. 

近年来，随着女子体育影响力的不断扩大，妮可·拉沃伊注意到，新一代支持者的捐款数量有所增加。 

“You’re seeing a wider variety of people giving now. Those of us who’ve always given to women’s sports felt a strong connection for doing so because the sport had impacted our own lives, maybe as athletes or coaches,” she said. “Now you see more people giving to women’s sport because of the visibility and media attention it’s getting.” 

拉沃伊说：“现在，你会看到各种各样的人都在捐款。我们中那些一直为女子体育运动捐款的人之所以这样做，是因为这项运动曾对我们的生活产生了深远的影响，无论是作为运动员或教练员，都让我们与之产生了深厚的联系。现在，越来越多的人开始捐赠给女子体育事业，是因为它获得了更多的可见度和媒体关注。”

Despite improvements in recent years, only about 1.8 percent of all charitable giving overall goes to women’s and girls’ causes, with sports and recreation receiving an even smaller slice of that pie. 

尽管近年来情况有所改善，但在所有慈善捐赠中，只有约1.8%用于支持妇女和女孩的事业，而其中体育和娱乐事业所获得的比例则更小。

“We are thrilled with the movement that we have,” said Leighton. “But if you look at all of the stats, you can tell we have a long way to go across the entire ecosystem.” 

丹内特·莱顿说：“我们对目前的进展感到非常兴奋，但从所有的数据来看，就会发现我们在整个生态系统中还有很长的路要走。” 

A 2021 study by the National Women’s Law Center found that girls have 1.13 million fewer opportunities to play high school sports than boys. This underinvestment is particularly acute for women athletes with disabilities, who face compound barriers in access to equipment, training facilities, and competitive opportunities, said Bassett. 

美国全国妇女法律中心2021年的一项研究发现，女孩在高中体育运动的参加机会，比男孩少113万次。斯考特·巴塞特说，这种投资不足的情况，对于残疾女运动员尤为严重，她们在获得设备、训练设施和竞争机会方面面临着重重障碍。 

“We’re experiencing this tremendous momentum for women athletes, and rightfully so,” she said, but women and girls with disabilities still face particularly daunting odds when it comes to athletic grant and scholarship options and opportunities to play. 

巴塞特说：“我们正经历着女性运动员的巨大发展势头，这是理所当然的。”然而，残疾女性和女孩在获取体育资助、奖学金以及参赛机会方面，仍面临特别严峻的挑战。

As Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Paralympics, Bassett, who won’t be competing in the Paralympics now underway in Paris, sees an opportunity to advance the cause. Serving on the athlete commission for LA28, she’s pushing for full accessibility not just for athletes, but for fans and attendees as well. It will be the first summer Paralympic Games hosted by the U.S. as we know the event today, marking a potential turning point for disability sports in America. 

随着洛杉矶准备主办2028年残奥会之际，巴塞特认为这是推动这一事业的契机。她本人不参加巴黎残奥会，但作为洛杉矶2028年残奥会运动员委员会的一员，她正在推动实现全面无障碍化，这不只是为了运动员，也是为了惠及观众和参与者。这将是美国首次以这样的形式主办夏季残奥会，标志着美国残疾人体育的一个潜在转折点。 

“If you can persevere and push yourself to show up in places where people think you don’t belong,” she said, “that, in itself, is a form of advocacy or resistance.” 

巴塞特说：“如果你能坚持不懈，努力让自己出现在那些人们认为你不属于的地方。这本身就是一种倡导或抵抗的形式。”