Our Story

Girls who play become women who lead.

BAWSI 5th grade coaches and girls posing in group

BAWSI Founders

When the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA), the professional league created in the afterglow of the 1999 Women’s World Cup, folded in 2003, Marlene Bjornsrud, former general manager of WUSA’s champion San Jose Cyber Rays, along with U.S. women’s soccer team stars Brandi Chastain and Julie Foudy, longed to maintain the deep community connections that were the league’s hallmark. In 2005, Marlene, Brandi, and Julie, along with a group of community and sports leaders founded BAWSI (pronounced “bossy”).

Brandi Chastain, Marlene Bjornsrud, and Julie Foudy

Why BAWSI?

Girls have less opportunity to play sports than boys; and this disparity is much greater for girls of color.
Adolescent girls cease playing sports at twice the rate of the boys.
Girls have one million fewer opportunities than boys to participate in high school sports.
Girls who play sports have better physical and mental health outcomes; and graduate high school and college at higher rates.
94% of C-suite women played sports through high school.

BAWSI’s founders wanted to harness the power of women athletes to impact society and give them an opportunity to connect through authentic, intentional service.
With its first initiative, BAWSI aimed to do this by providing opportunities to serve young girls who weren’t being exposed to organized sports, or physical education classes, and to reach girls in communities where obesity and diabetes were prevalent.
Disappointment drove BAWSI’s founding, but a defining sense of purpose and service made it flourish into an international example of service and sport.

BAWSI History

Women athletes can change the world.

BAWSI 5th grade girl coaches on playground

Core Values

While the work we do is incredibly important, we believe how we work is equally important. These values shape our culture, our teams, and our environment, and remind us of our BAWSI-est behaviors.

Servant Leadership • Paying it Forward • Authenticity • Mindfulness • Integrity • Collaboration • Enthusiasm • Playfulness • Gratitude for every Opportunity

Diversity • Equity • Inclusion • Belonging

BAWSI Rollers boys playing hockey on playground

With our Volunteers:

We create opportunities for high school and collegiate athletes to serve in local neighborhoods.
We encourage our volunteers to use their platform as athletes to promote equity.
We promote understanding and respect for differences.

BAWSI elementary school girls playing frisbee with coach

On our Playgrounds:

We respect teammates.
We listen to and learn from each other.
We empower each other with our words of the week.

BAWSI girl running on playground with football

As a Board:

We deliberately build our Board with diverse perspectives, talents, and life experiences.
We dedicate 3 Board seats to community members.
We learn together on relevant topics for the children we serve.