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City launches 'She Plays Aurora' campaign to boost girls' participation in youth sports
Summary
The Parks department launched 'She Plays Aurora,' a marketing-and-programming campaign to increase girls' youth sports participation after Winter 2025 data showed low girls enrollment; a free trial day drew about 160 registrants and staff reported strong parent interest to enroll.
The Parks, Recreation and Quality of Life Policy Committee heard March 26 about She Plays Aurora, a new city campaign aimed at increasing girls’ participation in municipal youth sports.
Ted Bryant, manager of marketing and communications for Parks, Recreation and Open Space, said national studies and local enrollment data showed a participation gap: nationally municipal programs enroll about a third girls, Bryant said, while the department’s winter 2025 season had only about 13% girls and produced no all‑girls teams. Bryant said those figures prompted a city effort focused on introduction, representation and accessibility.
What the campaign did: The department launched mid‑February with new photo and video assets, paid outreach targeted to parents of children ages 5–13, earned media pickup (including a local CBS feature) and a landing page on the City of Aurora site. The campaign’s tentpole event — a free trial day on March 15 at Southeast Recreation Center — drew rapid registration: “By that Wednesday we had 160 kids signed up,” Bryant said, and staff capped registration to keep the event manageable.
Partnerships and results: The event included cross‑division staff support, volunteer coaches and a partnership with Denver Summit FC, which provided table presence and ticket giveaways. Staff said roughly 80% of registrants appeared to be new to the department and a post‑event survey found 85% of responding parents were “very likely” to enroll their child in future city sports programming.
Next steps and barriers: Bryant told the committee the campaign will push to convert trial‑day participants into summer registrations, expand free trial days and spotlight female coaches and volunteers to increase representation. He also emphasized scholarships, adaptive recreation supports and other accessibility measures to remove cost and accommodation barriers.
The committee voiced broad support; staff will return with follow‑up plans to sustain enrollment and track outcomes for summer registration.
