[ Publications | Department | Projects | CIIJ
Way New News | Internet | SF State | Server ]
by Robin Chang
Wallenberg High School, San Francisco
Levin, publisher and editor of Women's Sports Connection,
single-handedly created a quarterly newspaper which
covers women's sports exclusively. Levin said the newspaper's
mission is to, "Increase the visibility of women's
sports by creating an authentic, comprehensive, 'user-friendly'
source of information on opportunities to participate
in, learn about and support women's sports."
Levin goes far beyond simply making a women's sports newspaper. Women's Sports Connection aims to acknowledge female athletes and expose readers to stories not normally found in the mainstream press.
While growing up in Hartford, Conn., Levin's first love was sports -- unlike most of her female friends. As a fourth-grader, she remembers wanting to play soccer with a group of boys during recess.
"I remember them letting me play, but the thing was I never got to kick the ball and I was just put in the back," Levin said. That incident forever burned in her memory. She couldn't understand why those boys were treating her as if she wasn't good enough to play with them. She realized then that there was a lack of respect for female athletes.
Levin fondly remembers her first stand in the defense of women. Inspired by the women's movements of the 70s, she published an editorial in her high school newspaper criticizing the school's annually crowned "prom queens."
"It was funny that the women's movement was going on and there was all this stuff going on but at the same time the school still had a prom queen. It (prom queens) makes women seem like objects for show," Levin said.
Writing the editorial made her nervous, but at the same time she felt good in defending women's rights.
After graduating from high school, Levin attended Harvard -- the first year the formerly all-male university merged with all-female Radcliff. Since Harvard was becoming more liberal toward women, she thought it might also be open to a women's soccer team. With the help of a close friend, Levin assembled the resources, sponsors, and players to establish Harvard's first women's soccer team.
"It was really hard to get the things going, I mean we had to prove that there was an interest (for soccer), get volunteer coaches, raise money and get people who were interested," Levin said. Over the course of three years the soccer team proved itself as a valid sports team and finally was made permanent.
In 1993, after leaving her job as the executive director of an environmental research firm, Levin decided to use her resources to start the Women's Sports Connection, right out of her San Francisco apartment. Without a staff or any printing equipment, Levin asked freelance writers to work without pay until she could make enough of a profit to pay them. All the costs of printing and distribution came out of her own savings.
In October, 1993, Levin personally stood outside college sports arenas passing out her first issue. At the time the paper was a small four-page newsletter mostly filled with statistics and scores of women's sporting events.
The paper has since doubled in size and now has dozens of women's sports stories. She been approaching the break-even point lately because of increased ad sales. Next year Levin plans to hire a permanent staff and hopes to make a profit.
"As long as women's sports improve, newspapers like Women's Sports Connection will continue to improve also," Levin says.
For more information in the Women's Sports Connection, call (415) 241-8879 or e-mail at winnsports@aol.com. The Women's Sports Connection's web site is at HTTP://www.well.com/user/woports.