2020 April

Stay tuned to the GPS blog for information about upcoming events, programs and much more!

April 27, 2020by Viviana Valentino

We hope that you and your loved ones are doing well during this time of uncertainty.

At this moment, as the country continues to deal with a global health and economic crisis, Girls Play Sports is working hard to adapt to our new realities. We have pivoted our programming and resources to be able to continue to provide impactful and for now quarantine appropriate programming to girls and their families, take a moment to check out our Quarantine Gym page, which was created to provide GPS participants and families with important information and fun activities that can be useful to everyone and anyone during this time of diminished social contact and physical activity while also facing so much uncertainty.  Additionally, we have engaged our community by publishing our “Quaranteam Skills and Drills” instructional videos on the Girls Play Sports YouTube channel, as well as on our Quarantine Gym page.

Because of program cancellations and the postponement of our first annual Pep Rally fundraiser (fall date still TBD), we are looking at significant gaps in our revenue sources and we need your support! While we have applied for grants and government relief funds, nothing has been confirmed and Girls Play Sports needs to reach out to individual donors at this time for your support to keep GPS going.

We sincerely hope that you can support us so we can continue to bring programming to girls and their families in Evanston and Niles communities.

Donate Today!



The Women’s Initiative is a collective of women owned and run businesses that are joining together to support our mission to instill confidence and leadership skills in young girls through participation in multiple sports.

Mary Jane Alagheband, E.J. Coyne & Company, Inc.

1) What do sports mean to you? Sports means confidence to me. The ability to fail and get up and do it again.  This is important for life.

2) What is it about GPS that made you want to get involved? First off I love the Livatinos’ I think the message is important. I love that it is positive. Not just competitive (which is important) but also compassion for each other (which is super important) I also like it if someone cannot pay they are not excluded that is huge for me. The last reason is my main.  I know that Chris and Meaghan will make sure nobody is left behind.

3) What does it mean to you to be a part of the Evanston community?  This is where I live.  I want people to feel confidence in what they do this helps them succeed in life.  Sports helps with that.

4) As a successful woman business owner, what advice would you give young girls to succeed in the workplace? Keep getting up.  Failure happens to us all just like success.  Everyday be grateful that you have the opportunity to not just change your life but someone else’s life.  How lucky are we?

5) How did you get where you are today, and who/what helped you along the way? There are too many people that helped me along the way.  Two are my parents I was super lucky with them.  One piece of advice is be open to suggestions you may not take the suggestion but being open makes that person want to help you more.

6) What does it mean to you to be a woman business owner?  I love being a woman business owner.  Not knocking men ( I am married to one and I have two boys). Women bring a different part to business.  I think I have a little bit more empathy with my clients.

7) Tell us a little bit about your business. I am in insurance.  I do both personal and commercial.  My business is about customer service and helping people understand what they have any why.  My specialty is the hard to place insurance. My motto is “Big or Small I insure it all”.

To learn more about Mary Jane and E.J. Coyne & Company, Inc. visit insurancebymj.com.