by Katy Popovitch

SSI created a new community on Slack, a messaging service for teams, called “Ohio State Women in Sports” to connect female student groups and individuals.

The community posts about internships, jobs, events and club meetings.

Nicole Kraft, director of the Sports and Society Initiative and associate professor of journalism practice at Ohio State, said she was approached by a new student group called Voice in Sport about wanting to advance women in sports.

When another group, Girls Club, reached out to her as well, Kraft realized many sports-focused female groups on campus wanted to connect with each other.

“We created this community so that every student group that has a population of women that may want to talk with each other, talk between groups, get acquainted with other like-minded people, and would have a space that would connect them all,” Kraft said.

Olympic gold medalist Emma Maltais, founder and former president of Ohio State’s chapter of Voice in Sport and former Ohio State ice hockey player, said the new Women in Sports Slack community has helped the Voice in Sport student organization communicate with a larger audience interested in learning more about the group.

“It’s a really cool way to get a bigger audience,” Maltais said. “We have such a big campus, and we don’t know half of the people on our campus.”

Maltais said the Women in Sports Slack channel is a way to meet more athletes and women interested in sports doing incredible things in the industry.

“We have all of our social media for sports, but people like that who go to our school should be celebrated,” Maltais said. “I think the women in sports Slack is a great way to get people connected.”

Kraft said that although the number of women in the sports industry is growing, it remains a male-dominated field in which women face challenges.

“We need to support each other and be able to help each other navigate the challenges we might face, or spaces that we are not as comfortable in, or just really helping people develop in meaningful ways in a space they feel is nurturing to them,” Kraft said.

Kraft said any woman can join by emailing sportsandsociety@osu.edu. Any sports-focused female student group is welcome to join the community and have a space created for their group.