We met with a Former D1 Soccer player named Carly Wetzel. She went to University Of North Carolina and was a midfielder on the soccer team. She talked to us about a foundation she is in called Voice in Sport Foundation, they work on strengthening title 9 for young girls. We learned about experience with her and how they hand me down uniforms that are way too big for them. We learned about how lots of girls quit the sport they love because they were abused by their coach. Carly stressed to us how important it is that the sport you play gives you confidence and does not knock you down. She also played oversees and explaing that playing oversees also impacter her mentel health are her teamates as well, she also noticed that she was treadted much better overseas and in urope then in the U.S. This interview was very informative and helpful.

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On Janruary 31st, 2024, we met with LREI alumni Naomi Picayo. Naomi shared many experiences and struggles through her journey playing high school volleyball and basketball and college basketball. While she shared many significant struggles, one really stood out to me. From a young age, Naomi played basketball on a co-ed youth club team, but she was the only girl; and when she was around 8 years old, she experienced her first exposure to direct discrimination. Her and her guy friends were playing basketball in the park one day, and there were two people left to get picked for teams. Naomi happened to get picked last and was told: “sorry, we picked him because your a girl, and girls aren’t as good as boys at basketball.” This came as a shock to both me and her at that age. From then on, Naomi continued to push herself and work hard to be better than all the boys at basketball; and now, she has an award sitting in the Thomson Gym trophy case for most points scored in basketball in LREI history.

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On January 12, our LREI 8th grade had the amazing opportunity to visit the United Nations building. During our time spent there, we got to see art exhibitions, conference rooms, and much more. Something I found really interesting is that all the countries that are a part of the UN contribute to the design of the conference rooms or offices, and more or less give a gift to contribute to the decorations and design. Another thing that I found intriguing was the exhibit on nuclear weapons and the destroyed statue found after the nuclear bomb Hiroshima hit. The statue looked somewhat intact on the front, but the back looked melted and destroyed from the nuclear power. I really enjoyed our time here and hope to visit again so I can experience even more!

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Our first interview was so informative and really exciting.We met with a current senior at University of Pennsylvania. This student plays college soccer there, and had a lot to share with us. One really significant thing she shared is that the locker rooms between the men and women are drastically different. According to her, the women’s locker room is half the size of the men’s, has one old couch, and even had a mice problem last year. The men’s locker room on the other hand, has multiple new couches, tv’s, gaming switches, and is double the size of the women’s. Another struggle that they face is the constant feeling that they won’t be listened to. The student we interviewed shared experiences of being ignored by the administration when she shared complaints. The Penn newspaper is also much harsher on the women’s teams. They write things such as “how can the women’s team recover from this tragedy?”, and much more. She is also part of WAA (women’s activist association), and is trying her best to fight for equal rights. In conclusion, we really enjoyed this interview and are excited for our next one!

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Our first interview was everything we expected and more. We met with a soccer player at the University of Pennsylvania. She is currently a senior. We learned about her struggles, experiences, and success. We learned about how the male soccer team has a much nicer locker room with more than one couch, TVs, and a ping pong table and it is much bigger than the girls’ locker room as the girl’s locker room is half the size of the boy’s room. They have about the same amount of players on both the male and female soccer teams. The girl’s locker room also has a mice problem. The male and female teams get funding from the same place but the men’s team gets more of the money. All of the female sports teams right now are coached by women but not one male team has a head female coach. More effort goes into the male team, especially with the publicity. For example, the Penn newspaper is much harsher on the female team. Although the media coverage is pretty much the same, the way it is advertised and talked about is very different. One of the hardest things for her to face at school is having the confidence to speak up against injustice and be listened to. One thing she would change is making sure that there is a culture that makes female athletes more comfortable.

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We had a virtual interview with the CEO of Champion Women, Nancy Hogshead, and COO Alistair Casey. We learned a lot about what they do in their organization what they are doing to make a change and spread awareness about gender inequality in sports, and about their Title IX program and how it connects to Title 6. We talked about how many things in schools’ sports programs and facilities demonstrate sexism and inequality, and what we can do to draw more attention to it.

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Today We went to the UN, We went to almost all of the meeting offices and we saw many different artifacts. For example, we saw artifacts that were rescued from somewhere that had been bombed like A statue of a woman. One Of my Favorite things to see was the meeting rooms or the bricks that were made out of 100% plastic. I didn’t really learn anything about my topic while I was visiting the UN.

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