Founded in 1974 by tennis legend, Billie Jean King, the Women's Sports Foundation is dedicated to advancing the lives of girls and women through sports and physical activity.
Learn about the Women's Sports Foundation here and Check out Go Girl Go!
{The press release below was posted at the WSF website in August, 2011--Note world-class golf champion, Yani Tseng on the list!!! Congratulations, Yani! GGG salutes you!}
Vote For Your Favorite Sportswoman of the Year
Ando, Moore, Vonn and Wambach Among 2011 Finalists For Women's Sports Foundation Honor this October
(Photo by: Erich Spiess)East Meadow, N.Y., August 30, 2011– The Women's Sports Foundation’s 32nd Annual Salute to Women in Sports will celebrate the accomplishments of the top female athletes on Wednesday, October 19, 2011. The annual fundraising gala will take place at Cipriani Wall Street and will be hosted by journalist and sportscaster Bonnie Bernstein.
This year’s remarkable group of elite athlete finalists, representing 19 sports, is vying for the evening’s top honors – Sportswoman of the Year – in Individual and Team categories.
Each year, the top 10 candidates from various disciplines are chosen for the ballot, based on their record-breaking, historic, and simply amazing athletic performances. The Women's Sports Foundation recognizes these women for incredible achievements in individual and team performances, and the 2011 ballot is nothing short of extraordinary.
Athletes were considered for the 2011 ballot based on their athletic accomplishments between August 1, 2010, and July 31, 2011. Nominations for the Sportswoman of the Year - Individual and Team awards are made by sport governing bodies and the public. Sportswoman of the Year finalists will be voted on by the Foundation Awards Committee and the public beginning on August 25, through midnight E.S.T. on September 5, 2011. For the first time, voting will take place on Facebook. To vote, visitFacebook.com/WomensSportsFoundation and browse the photo albums for Individual Sport Athlete and Team Sport Athlete finalists. To cast your vote, simply “like” the photo of an athlete in each album - Team and Individual. Fans are permitted one vote in each album.
Sportswoman of the Year honorees will be announced during the Annual Salute to Women in Sports awards gala, as well as this year’s recipients of the Billie Jean King Contribution Award, Wilma Rudolph Courage Award andANNIKA Inspiration Award. The Pac 12 Conference will also receive a special tribute during the evening’s festivities. The event is supported and attended annually by star athletes, celebrities from film and television, journalists, corporate and industry leaders, sports organizations and philanthropists.
The 2011 Sportswoman of the Year finalists in the Individual sport and Team sport categories are:
This year’s remarkable group of elite athlete finalists, representing 19 sports, is vying for the evening’s top honors – Sportswoman of the Year – in Individual and Team categories.
Each year, the top 10 candidates from various disciplines are chosen for the ballot, based on their record-breaking, historic, and simply amazing athletic performances. The Women's Sports Foundation recognizes these women for incredible achievements in individual and team performances, and the 2011 ballot is nothing short of extraordinary.
Athletes were considered for the 2011 ballot based on their athletic accomplishments between August 1, 2010, and July 31, 2011. Nominations for the Sportswoman of the Year - Individual and Team awards are made by sport governing bodies and the public. Sportswoman of the Year finalists will be voted on by the Foundation Awards Committee and the public beginning on August 25, through midnight E.S.T. on September 5, 2011. For the first time, voting will take place on Facebook. To vote, visitFacebook.com/WomensSportsFoundation and browse the photo albums for Individual Sport Athlete and Team Sport Athlete finalists. To cast your vote, simply “like” the photo of an athlete in each album - Team and Individual. Fans are permitted one vote in each album.
Sportswoman of the Year honorees will be announced during the Annual Salute to Women in Sports awards gala, as well as this year’s recipients of the Billie Jean King Contribution Award, Wilma Rudolph Courage Award andANNIKA Inspiration Award. The Pac 12 Conference will also receive a special tribute during the evening’s festivities. The event is supported and attended annually by star athletes, celebrities from film and television, journalists, corporate and industry leaders, sports organizations and philanthropists.
The 2011 Sportswoman of the Year finalists in the Individual sport and Team sport categories are:
2011 FINALISTS
Individual Sport
- Miki Ando, Figure Skating
- Kelly Clark, Snowboarding Halfpipe
- Missy Franklin, Swimming
- Carmelita Jeter, Track & Field
- Aliya Mustafina, Gymnastics
- Christine Nesbitt, Speed Skating
- Yani Tseng, Golf
- Lindsey Vonn, Alpine Skiing
- Mallory Weggemann, Paralympic Swimming
- Caroline Wozniacki, Tennis
Team Sport
- Luciana Aymar, Field Hockey
- Annika Dries, Water Polo
- Meghan Duggan, Ice Hockey
- Juliana Felisberta and Larissa França, Beach Volleyball
- Sandra Kiriasis, Bobsled
- Maya Moore, Basketball
- Anette Norberg, Curling
- Shannon Smith, Lacrosse
- Stacy Sykora, Volleyball
- Abby Wambach, Soccer
Past Sportswoman of the Year recipients include…
Individual: Nastia Liukin, Gymnastics; Lorena Ochoa, Golf; Erin Popovich, Paralympic Swimming; Michelle Kwan, Figure Skating; and Gail Devers, Track & Field
Team: Jessica Mendoza, Softball; Misty May-Treanor & Kerri Walsh, Beach Volleyball; Lisa Leslie, Basketball; Serena and Venus Williams, Tennis; and Mia Hamm, Soccer
For more information or to purchase a table or tickets for this star-studded event, please contact Kerry Milhaven or visitwww.WomensSportsFoundation.org/AnnualSalute.
About the Women’s Sports Foundation The Women’s Sports Foundation, founded in 1974, is the leader in promoting sports, health and education for girls and women. With Billie Jean King as its founder and ongoing visionary, The Women’s Sports Foundation continues to have a profound impact on female athletics, from its vigorous advocacy of Title IX legislation to providing grants and scholarships, grassroots programs for underserved girls, and groundbreaking research. An agent for change, the Women’s Sports Foundation has relationships with more than 1,000 of the world’s elite female athletes and is recognized globally for its leadership, vision, strength, expertise and influence. For more information, please call the Women’s Sports Foundation at 800.227.3988 or visit www.WomensSportsFoundation.org.
Individual: Nastia Liukin, Gymnastics; Lorena Ochoa, Golf; Erin Popovich, Paralympic Swimming; Michelle Kwan, Figure Skating; and Gail Devers, Track & Field
Team: Jessica Mendoza, Softball; Misty May-Treanor & Kerri Walsh, Beach Volleyball; Lisa Leslie, Basketball; Serena and Venus Williams, Tennis; and Mia Hamm, Soccer
For more information or to purchase a table or tickets for this star-studded event, please contact Kerry Milhaven or visitwww.WomensSportsFoundation.org/AnnualSalute.
About the Women’s Sports Foundation The Women’s Sports Foundation, founded in 1974, is the leader in promoting sports, health and education for girls and women. With Billie Jean King as its founder and ongoing visionary, The Women’s Sports Foundation continues to have a profound impact on female athletics, from its vigorous advocacy of Title IX legislation to providing grants and scholarships, grassroots programs for underserved girls, and groundbreaking research. An agent for change, the Women’s Sports Foundation has relationships with more than 1,000 of the world’s elite female athletes and is recognized globally for its leadership, vision, strength, expertise and influence. For more information, please call the Women’s Sports Foundation at 800.227.3988 or visit www.WomensSportsFoundation.org.
