Chicago Tribune: "Time to follow #LikeAGirl movement with real action" by Heidi Stevens

The #LikeAGirl movement is a good start.

Launched last June and taken mainstream during Sunday's Super Bowl, the Always ad campaign aims to turn throwing/running/hitting "like a girl" into a compliment.

"I teared up a little bit watching it," Megan Bartlett told me Tuesday. "The fact that it was played during the Super Bowl really speaks to the work that a lot of women have been doing to help people understand how often the role of women in sports is dismissed, and what kind of impact that can have on girls and their ability to see themselves as strong athletes and women."

Bartlett is the chief program officer for Up2Us, a national nonprofit that advocates for more access to youth sports, particularly among girls and kids in underserved communities. This week, Bartlett's group is helping spread the word about National Girls and Women in Sports Day, which is Wednesday.

It's a 29-year-old event that honors the accomplishments of female athletes and works to make room for more of them. A handful of Olympic athletes -- figure skating gold medalist Sarah Hughes, track and field record holder Lillian Greene-Chamberlain, soccer gold medalist Angela Hucles -- will gather for a briefing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday morning to push for the expansion of athletic opportunities in schools.

Bartlett hopes that parents, schools and coaches will use the day to urge more girls onto the playing field.

"We know that physical activity and being active are really great for kids' bodies and brains and socialization," Bartlett says. "But when you look at sports, specifically, and the opportunity to practice being competitive in a positive way, they can be a really powerful tool.

"How do you compete in a way that doesn't overstimulate the stress response in your body, that isn't a win-at-all-costs mentality, that teaches, 'Together with my team I'm better at solving a problem,'" she says. "Sports has a unique power to teach those skills, particularly for young women."

Coach and Up2Us graphic design and brand manager Alex Bondy wrote a recent blog post about leading a team of 10- and 11-year-old girl volleyball players in New York City.

"I use the sport my players and I both love as a tool to build and instill the characteristics and traits that create great 11-year-old girls," she writes, revealing some of her tips for reaching her charges at such a pivotal -- and socially complicated -- age.

"Instead of individual goals, I set team goals," she writes. "Instead of having each girl get five serves over the net, I say, 'Let's get 50 serves over as a team.' This teaches players to set goals and to work together to achieve them."

And she keeps it fun.

"My players are at the age where most females begin to lose interest in sports because it just isn't fun anymore," Bondy writes. "Instead of starting practices with lectures or drills, I begin my practices with Taylor Swift blaring and an intense game of tag. I make every drill or activity into a game, and use music when I can to keep the environment fun and relaxed."

The #LikeAGirl campaign is not without its detractors, several of whom say parent company Procter & Gamble is hijacking girl power to manipulate our emotions and sell feminine products.

Maybe. But if the ads launch a conversation about giving girls equal access to sports -- and groups like Up2Us keep that conversation going -- then I'm a fan.