Where it all began

In 2012, Chris and Megan Livatino realized their daughter was being left out of playing sports on the playground because she was a girl. As they evaluated the options for their daughter to participate in a wide variety of sports, there were limited options in the their community and their experience was that increasingly youth sports programs were encouraging kids to specialize at a younger age.

There was a sense in the community that girls were not as proud about being student athletes. Some analysis showed that there was a decrease in girls participating in both middle school and HS sports. To address this, they partnered with Liz Brieva, a concerned parent, coach and teacher in the community, and Girls Play Sports (GPS) was founded with the goal of fostering leadership skills and confidence in girls through their participation in a wide variety of sports.

With a focus on 3-8th grade girls, GPS has impacted the community. Today, there are 5 GPS programs that cater to different ages and level of interest in sports. We are also proud to report that as of 2015, there are more female student athletes at ETHS than male and the numbers have continued to be strong for female participation in sports!