To address young female athletes most in need by removing barriers to participation; including but not limited to, availability of club programs, scholarships, transportation to events etc

The founders of the initiative have a shared commitment to the value of athletics to teenage girls and a passion for making this commitment a reality.

NYLA SHEPHERD
Graduated from Louisiana State University with a B.S. in Accounting. She was a 4 year starter in Volleyball and a member of the women’s basketball team while at LSU. She was an All SEC and All American volleyball player and member of the first SEC team to ever participate in the Final Four for Women’s Volleyball. While in college she was also invited to participate in the Youth Education through Sports (YES) clinics. Nyla also coached for Houston Juniors Club volleyball for 8 years while working as an Accountant. She is currently a volunteer with the I Have a Dream mentorship program

HILARY WARE
Graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a BA in Industrial Psychology. Throughout her high school and college years she was an avid sports enthusiast participating in a variety of sports ranging from competitive equestrian activities to tennis, lacrosse and field hockey. She is passionately committed to youth sports and currently plays the role of team volunteer for a number of her children’s athletic pursuits. Hilary is a Vice President of Human Resources for a large global organization and also participates in extensive community volunteer efforts.

STACEY MARSHALL
Graduated from the University of Houston with a BS in Political Science.  In high school in California, she was named the Northern California Player of the Year.  She was also named to 1st Team All-CIF basketball, and was honorable mention All-USA and McDonald's basketball player.  Stacy played basketball at Arizona State, where she made the All-Pac 10 Freshman team.  Transferring to the University of Houston, she was named All-Southwest Conference Newcomer of the Year, and 1st Team All-Southwest Conference.  During the ‘95 season Stacy led the Southwest Conference in scoring and steals, and was in the Top 5 in the nation in steals.  Stacy was also named as a member of the All-Decade team for the Southwest Conference.  At the University of Houston, Stacy was a member of the WNBA Champions Houston Comets coaching staff.  She also worked as the Head Coach at Houston Christian High school, and has been the basketball coach at Kinkaid for the last six years.