Emma Leland and Julia Rood are two UO students with a strong passion for women’s sports who had a vision of a way to give female student-athletes the recognition that they deserve. Their new organization, Flight Crew is already taking off so fasten your seatbelts and get ready to fly.
From personal experience, Emma and Julia know first-hand how sports can transform lives, but they also have seen the inequalities that occur. The disparity in men’s and women’s athletics has been an obvious issue throughout history, especially on college campuses. “Female athletes cannot achieve equal pay and treatment without attaining more sponsorships and ad dollars. Those cannot be achieved without an audience,” said Co-founder Emma Leland “Hopefully, we can create lifelong fans and help bridge the gap that exists between men’s and women’s viewership to help elevate all female athletes across the globe.”
The ultimate goal driving Flight Crew is to show people how fun women’s sporting events are and create an awesome environment so that people will continue to support female athletes after they’ve graduated. Flight Crew is aiming to open people's eyes and encourage them to always support and show up for the women in their lives. Some personal goals set by Emma and Julia are to be rowdy and gain recognition through the uplifting and fun-spirited presence that they bring to the games. “We want people to show up and show out and cheer their hearts out so that the teams can feel the love and support of our efforts,” said Leland.
With great events like tailgates with raffles, games, and music, these Ducks are sure to fly to new heights and garner proper recognition for the extremely talented women athletes on campus.
Personally, Emma enjoys watching track and field, but after attending acrobatics and tumbling for the Flight Crew’s first event last week, it has become a new favorite. Julia’s favorites to watch are soccer and softball, and she especially loves heading to Papè on Sunday afternoon to cheer on the ducks.
“I want to work in the world of women’s sports. Growing up, sport was a place of comfort. It gave me the skills necessary to grow into who I am now, and it also gave me role models to model myself after,” said Julia, Co-founder of Flight Crew. “Seeing the ferocity of the 2015 USWNT was inspiring and lit a fire in me to seek out opportunities in women’s sport. Giving these female athletes the recognition they deserve has been a long time coming and that’s why we wanted to start Flight Crew.”
To keep up with Flight Crew, follow them on Instagram and be sure to check their schedule and join them for their next event!