TSN is proud to support the SheIs campaign launching Tuesday, which acknowledges and elevates women in sports, celebrating those who are collective powerhouses and unwavering cheerleaders for their fellow athletes of all skills.

Eight North American professional female sports leagues, including the WNBA, Canada Basketball, the National Women’s Hockey League, and the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, among others, are all pledging to empower both professional and amateur female athletes and encourage growth in fan attendance through the SheIs movement.

Tessa Bonhomme – TSN reporter, SPORTSCENTRE anchor and 2010 Olympic gold medal winner – is one of the ambassadors for the SheIs campaign, along with several prominent female sports figures.

Also taking the SheIs pledge was WNBA commissioner Lisa Borders, Ontario Women’s Hockey Association CEO Fran Ryder and the first ever female NFL coach Dr. Jen Welter.  

“For decades, we have played and cheered for our individual sports, but we haven’t yet looked across the field and cheered for other women on teams who play other sports. As we launch SheIs today, we are now finding strength in numbers and we are taking collective action as women who play sports,” said Borders in a news release.

“The heroes who run, walk and play among us make up 51 per cent of the global population yet have little to no visibility in the sports world. SheIs will give the first true platform for these real world, real women heroes who have been living amongst us. With that comes the opportunity to be much more visible and for female athletes and their supporters to join forces in a really positive way,” said Welter.

On April 18, members of the founding committee, commissioners and prominent members from across the sports world gathered in New York City to sign the SheIs Pledge, promising to support female sports across all leagues. Today, that pledge is open to the public on the SheIs website for others interested in joining the movement.

The movement will kick off with the SheIs Challenge, which encourages people in and outside of the sports industry to post #SheIs on their social media channels and challenge others to watch or attend women’s sporting events in 2018. 

SheIs hopes to empower women in sports in three ways:

 -Create a movement to build awareness of overlooked talent across the women’s professional, national and collegiate leagues – leading to increased attendance and viewership of women’s sports and in turn, increased sponsorship opportunities.

- Capitalize on the democratization of sports viewership that has been created through digital media, especially streaming, by helping to establish partnerships and new avenues for distribution.

- Use the SheIs fund, in partnership with Fast and Female, to help develop youth athletes across North America, creating a budding pipeline of talent for future years of women’s professional leagues.