WSF Sport Report Finds Progress Stalled at College Level

NEW YORK, Sept. 30, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- The Women's Sports Foundation (WSF) has released its inaugural WSF Sport ReportTM 2026, a comprehensive annual assessment of girls' and women's sports across the full pipeline, from the earliest opportunities to play through collegiate, professional, and elite competition. The report, which is the first of its kind, reveals striking disparities and challenges that span the entire sports ecosystem.

The WSF Sport ReportTM 2026 highlights a significant disconnect between the progress at the professional level and the reality across the full pipeline. More than half of girls who have never played organized sports want to, with 54% of girls ages 8-18 expressing the same desire, essentially the same as boys (52%). However, only 45% of girls currently participate in organized sports compared to 52% of boys. This disparity is even more pronounced for girls from lower-income households, who are more than twice as likely to cite cost as a reason they have never played.

The report also reveals a belonging gap among teens. At ages 8-10, both girls and boys feel sports are "for someone like me." By 14-18 years old, this sense of belonging drops to 66% for girls compared to 73% for boys, leaving roughly one in three teen girls who do not feel sports are "for someone like her." Furthermore, a majority of girls and parents are unfamiliar with Title IX, the landmark law that guarantees equal rights for women in sports. Only 79% of girls ages 8-18 and 55% of parents have never heard of Title IX, highlighting a critical gap in awareness.

The WSF Sport ReportTM 2026 finds that the professional level of women's sports is experiencing significant progress. Experts overwhelmingly report that progress toward gender equality has improved over the past year, with 93% of experts noting this improvement. In contrast, the college level is the only level where more experts report a decline in progress for women, with 37% citing a decline compared to 35% who say progress has improved. Experts also identify the lack of equal resource allocation and disparities in name, image, and likeness (NIL) opportunities as the greatest barriers facing women college athletes.

The report also shows a disparity in how girls and boys connect with professional athletes. Only 45% of girls can name a favorite professional athlete, with 29% of boys naming a woman as their favorite professional athlete. This difference underscores the need for greater visibility and representation of women in professional sports.

The Women's Sports Foundation (WSF) has been at the forefront of advocating for equal rights in sports for over 50 years. The WSF Sport ReportTM 2026 serves as a critical tool for understanding the state of girls' and women's sports across the pipeline and identifying where progress is needed and where it is stalling. The report's findings emphasize the need for continued investment, innovation, and action to ensure that girls and women have equal opportunities to play, compete, and lead in sports.

For more than 50 years, the Women's Sports Foundation has used research to identify barriers and inform action. The WSF Sport Report creates a new annual benchmark to track progress, surface emerging challenges, and help identify where the field must focus next. The full WSF Sport Report, including complete findings and methodology, is available at www.WomensSportsFoundation.org/WSFSportReport.