Seattle Storm and Seattle professional sports activities groups be part of forces for Pleasure

Storm, Sounders FC, Kraken, Mariners, Reign and Seahawks publicly support the new WIAA Gender Diverse Toolkit and promote local LGBTQ + local businesses

SEATTLE – The Seattle Storm today, in partnership with its other Seattle professional sports teams, announced public support for the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) and its newly released gender equitable toolkit for anyone working with or interacting with youth athletes across the state. The teams also work with Intentionalist for a month to advance support for local LGBTQ + -owned small businesses.

“The Storm is proud to partner with the collective professional sports community in Seattle to promote gender inclusion in youth sports and empower local LGBTQ + businesses,” said Alisha Valavanis, President and CEO of Seattle Storm. “The Storm has a long history of lobbying centered around Pride and efforts to support diversity and inclusion, not just in sport but in our community as a whole. We are committed to sharing the WIAA’s gender toolkit and believe it is a critical asset in building a welcoming, safe, and inclusive sports space across Washington state. “

As fans return to the stadiums and arenas, Pride-themed games and games for Seattle’s sports teams during the season will also return this June. The Storm will host its AT&T-presented Pride Night on Wednesday June 22nd, when the Sue Bird-led team takes on the Washington Mystics at the Angel Of The Winds Arena in Everett, WA. The four-time WNBA champion will start a line of Pride merchandise on SeattleStormTeamShop.com, the proceeds of which will be donated Lambda Legal—The largest national legal organization for the recognition of the civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and everyone living with HIV through litigation, education and political work.

Sounders FC and OL Reign will both celebrate Pride games on June 26th when the men’s and women’s soccer teams take on the Vancouver Whitecaps and Chicago Red Stars, respectively. In addition, every night from June 21st to June 27th, Lumen field and T-Mobile Park will light their distinctive rainbow-colored roof arches to celebrate Pride. The Mariners plan to host a Pride game in August.

For more information on each team’s initiatives for Pride Month, please visit their official websites: Seattle Sounders, Seattle Mariners, OL Reign, and Seattle Seahawks.

GENDER INCLUSIVE TOOLKIT

Designed by experts from WIAA and Gender Diversity – a national non-profit organization dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding of the wide range of gender diversity – the Gender Diverse Sport Inclusivity Toolkit was developed to encourage national dialogue on all aspects of transgender and non-transgender people – Reaching out to binary students by teaching best practices and providing resources to support the development of a supportive and non-discriminatory environment for young people.

All of Seattle’s professional sports teams – OL Reign, Seattle Kraken, Seattle Mariners, Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Sounders FC, and Seattle Storm – have come together to support the toolkit and promote its use in making the state of WA the most inclusive place for youth sports participation in the country. The Storm and his colleagues stand behind the purpose of the toolkit to promote inclusivity and build trust. The free, digital toolkit is available to all youth trainers and K-12 teachers, administrators and parents in Washington and can be accessed and downloaded at wiaa.com/dei.

“By providing an integrative toolkit, trainers and administrators can take confident, educated steps to create the safest and most welcoming environment for all young people interested in a sport at all levels,” said the WIAA managing director. Mick Hoffmann. “The support and expansion of this resource by the Seattle professional sports community is critical to its impact and ensures that Washington State as a whole continues to be an inclusive place for all.”

In a relationship with Aidan key, Director of Gender Diversity, WIAA was the first state activity association to issue guidelines on transgender sport and activity participation. Successful guidelines and practices to support the participation of all students, regardless of identity, were developed by the WIAA office in 2007 and incorporated into the manual for the 2007-2008 school year. WIAA evaluated and improved its Gender Identity Participation philosophy and conditions of participation in 2019 and continues to be one of 16 state sports associations with fully integrative guidelines that help ensure the full participation of trans, non-binary and gender nonconforming students in high level athletics in the school.

Part of the strategy to support the introduction of the toolkit is a public announcement, recorded by each team involved, shared on club platforms and used by the WIAA nationwide. The PPE can be downloaded for media use here and contains the following representatives: Cristian Roldan (Midfielder Seattle Sounders FC), Mick Hoffmann (WIAA managing director), Jewel Loyd (Seattle Storm Guard), Sue Bird (Seattle Storm Guard), Karen Wilkins-Mickey (Seattle Seahawks, VP of Diversity Equity and Inclusion), Quinn (OL Reign midfielder), Mitch Haniger (Seattle Mariners right fielder), Scott Servais (Seattle Mariners Manager) and Dave Hunter (Seattle Kraken Pro Scout).

SPENDING PROUDLY: SUPPORTING LGBTQ + OWNERS

To provide additional support to the LGBTQ + community, Seattle’s professional sports teams – in collaboration with Intentionalist – will continue to work together through June to jointly promote and encourage the community to sponsor local small businesses owned by LGBTQ + as part of a program called “Spend. to visit and shop with them with pride. “

“LGBTQ-owned businesses have long provided an important space where the community can feel safe, seen and connected,” said Laura Clise, Founder and CEO of Intentionalist. “We’re excited to be working with Seattle Sounders FC, Seattle Storm, Seattle Seahawks, OL Reign, Seattle Mariners, and Seattle Kraken to encourage the community to spend Pride and LGBTQ businesses during Pride Month and year round support. ”

Fans of all teams are encouraged to visit Intentionalist.com/Spend-With-Pride to access a list of local businesses participating in the promotion. Throughout the month, fans can upload receipts from these companies to win jerseys or team prize packages from each of the entrants. Each time a receipt is uploaded, fans can choose which team prize package to participate in.

The teams are promoting this activity throughout the month with the ultimate goal of reaching $ 25,000 in spending in these local LGBTQ + businesses. When the goal is achieved, all six teams will make a joint donation to support local non-profit gender diversity.

—— StormBasketball.com ——