Girls Play LA

The Girls Play Los Angeles (GPLA) program expands girls’ after-school sports programming throughout Los Angeles, particularly in under-served communities.  The program, which is now offered at 100 rec centers, has increased girls’ participation from 22% to 45% of all athletes. The program strives to get and keep girls involved in sports and healthy lifestyles, while they make friends, build self-esteem and have fun. It has been demonstrated that in many underserved communities, barriers to participation exist based on a belief that there are specific family gender roles or that income should be prioritized on male family members first. The GPLA program is subsidized so that all girls can participate, regardless of economic inequalities or cultural barriers.

The overall gender equity goals are to encourage the participation of youth in sports and recreation programs and to provide recreation opportunities for girls, address under-representation in sports programs, improve the representation of females assigned to the administration of sports and recreation programs, improve the representation of females in positions of leadership, increase the number of female coaches, referees, instructors, mentors, and other role models, and to ensure that the Department is equitable in its distribution of resources for all youth.

Learn more at https://www.laparks.org/sports/gpla