The Chicago Sky is excited to celebrate Iyana Granger and Danielle Davis from Chicago, IL as the pair of eight-graders selected to attend the inaugural Game Growers Leadership Training Camp at Nike World headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. Click here to see how the Sky surprised Granger and Davis back in December with the news that they were selected to represent the Sky.
Launched by Nike, the WNBA, and NBA, Game Growers was launched in response to findings which showed that by the age 14, girls are dropping out of sports at twice the rate of boys. According to a 2018 study from the Women’s Sports Foundation, nearly 40 percent of girls don’t participate in sport, versus 25 percent of boys. To be considered to be chosen for the program, pairs of girls were asked to work together to submit their own ideas on ways to grow sport participation for girls.
Held from January 24 to January 26, Granger and Davis were chosen to attend the Game Growers Leadership Training Camp by the Chicago Sky based on their idea entitled, Project Confidence. Project Confidence would be an event that brings girls in their community together to try a lot of different sports so they can see what they enjoy without the competition that is associated with tryouts. This would be a safe, fun environment focused on teaching them about the different sports and building their confidence so they know that can do anything they put their minds toward.
When asked about their overall experience Granger said, “I was able to make new friends and talk in front of tons of people. It also helped me to work more on my confidence.” Davis added, “It was a good experience and it was very inspiring. The experience made me want to do more with things that I love and things for my community.”
As you can see from the photos below Granger and Davis not only learned about teamwork, but they were also able to develop their leadership skills during their time at camp.