Gatorade commits $10 million to breaking down the barriers keeping young women and minorities out of sports

• Gatorade is ready to break down the barriers that keep young women and minorities out of sports.
• The brand is donating $10 million to five sports equity organizations to bolster grassroots efforts.

Gatorade is "putting their money where their mouth is," US Women's National Team legend and longtime brand ambassador Abby Wambach says.

Through its new "Fuel Tomorrow" initiative, the preeminent energy and sports drink company is giving $10 million to several social-impact organizations — Athlete Ally, Good Sports, Honest Game Foundation, Laureus USA, and the Women's Sports Foundation — to help promote equity in sports and keep more kids in the game.

"Throughout this partnership, I have known one thing to be true about Gatorade — Gatorade is always trying to make money, of course, but they're trying to do it in a way that feels good and true all the way through," Wambach told Insider. "And so that to me is what this 'Fuel Tomorrow' campaign is about."

Studies show that youth sports participation helps promote self-esteem, improve educational and social success, and increase one's ability to collaborate with a team, in addition to the numerous physical and mental health benefits that come with exercise.

As Wambach puts it, "sports help a person in every faction of their life."

"Overall, the message of 'Fuel Tomorrow' isn't necessarily about just sports," Wambach said. "It's about building the community and building yourself in a way that you can go out and impact the community no matter what you do. And that is why sports is so important."

But not everyone has an equal opportunity or access to sports.

Black, brown, and LGBTQ+ kids, girls, young women, and children from low-income households are disproportionately likely to drop out of athletic programs earlier than their peers and thus are disproportionately deprived of all the advantages tied to playing sports.

—Laureus USA (@Laureus_USA) February 16, 2022

Gatorade's eight-figure contribution to the aforementioned organizations aims to bolster community youth sport program offerings, provide kids access to resources such as equipment and facilities, and train coaches on best practices to promote inclusion. Gatorade's efforts are meant to break down those barriers that keep kids off the playing field, because "they believe that affecting the community around them is good business."

"They're finding organizations that are already doing the work and they're just supporting them," Wambach said. "And I think that shows humility in a corporation and that also shows a desire for Gatorade to make their community better."

"That's probably the reason why I've stayed with them for so long, because it's not just about selling Gatorade," she added. "It's about more than that. It's about the communities that we're always trying to serve."

Gatorade is pairing the initiative with an ad campaign that showcases the brand's "vision for a world where everyone has access to sport." Wambach — a member of the Gatorade Women's Advisory Board — told Insider that a "commercial [that] has a little girl as the star" wouldn't come to fruition at a company that isn't committed to progress in the space.

"That doesn't happen if Gatorade doesn't create a women's advisory board, right?" she added. "That doesn't happen if Gatorade doesn't listen to that board, so this commercial has more symbolism inside of it than anybody will ever know about. And I think to me that just proves that all of those years spent as a Gatorade athlete were well spent."

Check out Gatorade's "The Moment Possibilities are Born" commercial launching its "Fuel Tomorrow" campaign below: