The Right Program Changes Everything
GirlGrade Athletics℠ is dedicated to growing the ecosystem of girl-friendly youth sports.
We know that the right program can fuel confidence, work ethic, build real friendships, and set your daughter up for a lifetime of strength. The wrong one? She'll quit before middle school ends.
That's why we do the research for you. We help families find right-fit sports programs, and we advise youth sports organizations and parents on how to keep girls engaged for the long run.
GirlGrade Athletics℠ endorses the Aspen Institute's Project Play and the Children's Bill of Rights in Sports.
Learn about Project Play →Growing Together With You
GirlGrade Athletics is an early-stage community effort. Here's exactly where we are and where we're headed — no spin, no marketing fluff.
Build Community
- Add parent reviews and expand GirlGrade's database of 100+ private & community youth sports programs for girls in the Triangle
- FitFinder is entirely human; every report teaches us something
Improve
- Understand what families truly need before automating anything
- Build faster, more digital ways to surface community knowledge
- Use community knowledge to help local programs improve how they serve girls
Expand
- Grow the community, refine recommendations
- Expand to more cities and regions
- Any parent, anywhere, can find a program where their daughter thrives
Our Values
We say what we see and stand behind it. Every FitFinder report is honest and independent — never influenced by programs or partners.
Shared knowledge makes the ecosystem stronger. Parents helping parents, coaches supporting kids, programs that give back.
“So much of who I became started on the field. I wanted to give that to more girls.”
Kathy Laing
Former D1 Athlete. Former Executive. Forever Committed to Girls in Sports.
I played Division 1 field hockey at Colgate University, earned my MBA at Duke's Fuqua School of Business, and built a career in management consulting and the financial services industry, including over 20 years at Citibank.
When I retired in 2024, I looked back on my career and realized: so much of who I became started on the field. The confidence. The resilience. The ability to work with a team toward something bigger than myself.
I want to give that to more girls.
Today, I stay close to youth sports — as a USA Field Hockey member, NASO (National Association of Sports Officials) member, and certified official. I referee high school and middle school games in the Triangle area of North Carolina and complete SafeSport background checks annually.
But the reality is stark: girls quit sports at alarming rates by their teenage years. In North Carolina, only 38% of high school athletes are girls — making us the fifth worst state in the nation for gender disparity in youth sports.
I spent the last two years researching why girls quit and what keeps them playing. I created GirlGrade Athletics to stop the dropout by growing awareness and availability of youth sports programs where girls actually want to stay — and thrive.
Because every girl deserves a team that sees her.