By age 14, a lot of girls have already walked away from a sport they loved. Not because they stopped loving it. Because of what it costs, because nobody can drive them, and because they have never seen a woman doing the thing they want to do.
"By age 14 many girls are dropping out of sports at two times the rate of boys. The reasons they drop out? Lack of access, safety and transportation issues, social stigma, decreased quality of experience, cost, lack of positive role models."
Women's Sports Foundation
Sportswomen of Colorado has been working on this since 1974, when we became the first community based organization in the country to honor female athletes at the state level. Fifty two years later we do three things: we run free sports clinics inside Title I schools, we send girls to summer camps their families could not otherwise pay for, and each year we honor about 40 Colorado women in sport on one stage.
Your gift goes where it can make the greatest impact. Donations support Sportswomen of Colorado's work across the state, from free youth clinics and equipment to scholarships, recognition programs and the behind-the-scenes work that makes it all possible.
Free clinics in Title I schools. College and high school athletes run skill stations during the school day. We hold clinics on site, so no family has to arrange a ride, and every student goes home with a shirt. A SCHEELS grant let us leave about $400 of equipment behind at each school last year, so the playing keeps going after we drive away.
Camp scholarships. Since 2001, the Helen M. McLoraine Camp Scholarship has sent Colorado girls ages 8 to 13 to summer sports camps at places like CU, Regis and Colorado Mesa. Host camps match our scholarships with free spots of their own, so one gift often sends two girls.
The Annual Awards Celebration. Each year we honor about 40 athletes, coaches, officials and contributors. Since our first banquet in 1975, we have recognized over 2,200 girls, women, coaches and teams. Olympians, high school all stars, wheelchair athletes, and a few competitors in their eighties. The 53rd Annual Awards Celebration is February 28, 2027.
The Sportswomen of Colorado Annual Scholarship. New this year: a $2,000 academic scholarship for a Colorado senior who competed in a CHSAA-sanctioned sport. Applications close January 15, 2027, and the first award will be presented at the 53rd Annual Awards Celebration.
A PE teacher at Swanson Elementary told us about a girl who held up a photo of a college team and asked, "Wait, there are basketball teams like this for girls?!" When she found out college could be paid for, she said, "I didn't know that was possible."
That is the whole job.
More schools are asking us for a clinic than we can currently schedule. Closing that gap is what your gift pays for.
Give today and more Colorado girls get in the game, stay in the game, and grow up seeing women as athletes, coaches and leaders. The Donate button takes about a minute.
Watch: 50 years of firsts for Colorado's sportswomen
"Every station was filled with excitement, and it was clear how much they enjoyed learning and playing the game. One moment that really stood out to me was a third grader asking if she had to go back to class because she wanted to keep learning about flag."
Girls flag football head coach, Cherokee Trail High School, 2026
"It was such an important event for our students to get motivated to have an active life. Having the female soccer team was a very important influence for our female students."
PE teacher, University Hill Elementary, Boulder Valley, 2026
"Thank you for making this fabulous opportunity possible for our daughter! She's thrilled that this wish has become a reality!"
Colleen W., camp scholarship parent
"This camp has made me one step closer to achieving my dreams of playing volleyball at a D1 school and helped build my confidence."
Ivy, camp scholarship recipient
"It was so great meeting you along with so many amazing athletes and I find this organization so inspiring! I always love celebrating fellow female athletes!"
2026 Awards Celebration honoree
To promote, honor and empower Colorado girls and women in sport.
Sportswomen of Colorado runs three things: free sports clinics in Title I and high need schools, summer camp scholarships for girls who could not otherwise go, and an Annual Awards Celebration that has honored Colorado sportswomen since 1975.
The clinics are our fastest growing work. Collegiate and high school female athletes come into elementary and middle schools and run skill stations for a full class period. In the 2025-26 school year we ran 8 clinics in 5 sports for 1,032 students. Our partner schools were Red Hawk Ridge in Cherry Creek, Traylor Academy, Oakland and Eagleton in Denver Public Schools, Lasley in Jeffco, Fort Logan Northgate in Sheridan, University Hill in Boulder Valley, and Centennial in Greeley. Together they average 76.5% free or reduced lunch eligibility. Our largest clinic reached 308 students at Red Hawk Ridge, and it happened because Cherokee Trail High School's girls flag football team joined the program and their district said yes to more.
Clinics are free to the school and free to families, and we hold them on site so transportation never becomes the reason a girl misses out. When we can, we bring students back onto a college campus for a game, with the bus and the pizza on us. Teachers tell us that day changes what their students believe is possible.
Camp scholarships started in 2001, when Helen M. McLoraine gave $100,000 to create a permanent camp scholarship fund. Her gift still sends Colorado girls ages 8 to 13 to summer sports camps at places like CU, Regis and Colorado Mesa. Host camps match our scholarships with free spots of their own, so one gift often sends two girls.
The Annual Awards Celebration is where all of this started. Sportswomen of Colorado was founded in 1974 by the YWCA of Metropolitan Denver together with Gart Brothers Sporting Goods, and became independent in 1984. We were the first community based organization in the nation to honor female athletes at the state level. The first banquet in 1975 gave out 28 awards. Masters Sports awards followed in 1979, the SWOC Hall of Fame in 1982, and the first wheelchair sports award in 1983, back when almost nobody was honoring adaptive athletes. Since then we have recognized over 2,200 girls, women, coaches and teams. The 53rd Annual Awards Celebration is February 28, 2027, and it will include the first Sportswomen of Colorado Annual Scholarship.
Fifty two years in, the need has not gone away. Neither have we. Join us.
Organization name
Sportswomen of Colorado
other names
SWOC
1974
Tax id (EIN)
74-2370518
Category
Recreation & Sports
Organization Size
Medium Organization
Address
6300 E Hampden Ave Suite C Unit 361Mailing
6300 E Hampden Ave Suite C Unit 361Denver County, CO, US
Boulder, CO, US
Aurora, CO, US
Lakewood, CO, US
Greeley, CO, US