Girls in the Game

Girls in the Game (GIG) provides and promotes sports & fitness opportunities, health education and leadership development to enhance the overall health and well being of girls in the city of Chicago. Their two-fold purpose is to: 1) ensure that adequate sports and fitness, leadership development, health education and life skills programming are made available to girls, and 2) reduce the barriers that young girls face in sports and activities that promote healthy lifestyle choices. GIG’s programs empower girls to make better decisions with regards to their overall health. GIG participants live in a cross section of neighborhoods on the north, south and west sides of Chicago as well as in the suburbs, 85% have family income below the poverty level, 47% are African-American, and 38% are Latina. GIG operates in the Union Park Field house on Chicago’s near west side which also houses the Chicago Park District Union Park drop-in after school program for girls and boys.

The program consists of a 7 week cooking curriculum that focuses on bringing nutrition recommendations to the table and empowering children with the tools to choose healthy lifestyles. This project was designed as a follow-up to an 8 week “Cooking the Pyramid” curriculum that was implemented in the fall 2004.