The Women’s Sports Museum (WSM) will reveal its permanent preview center this Spring of 2020, at the University Town Center (UTC), with hopes to build adequate fundraising support for a final build east of the UTC on Benderson Development grounds. The idea for WSM sparked from a former All-American Girls professional baseball player, who initially wanted to build a museum for professional women baseball players. Once WSM’s founding board members learned there wasn’t a single museum in the entire world devoted uniquely to women in sports, well, the concept evolved across the board. The group of accomplished Sarasota-based women athletes, and their supporters, decided to celebrate the achievements of all female athletes and inspire young girls through the power of sport, culture, history, equality and education. The soon-to-come “living, breathing” museum will feature interactive, state-of-the-art exhibits that recognize badass dames of the stadium—including historic athletes of all abilities, broadcasters, referees, executives and coaches—who have defeated the odds in professional sports, defied gender stereotypes and lead all women to new heights. Outside its groundbreaking institution, the team at WSM also plans to celebrate annual trailblazers in present day who have achieved success in all different realms, far beyond the court or field. Among the all-star honorees who have received the Trailblazer award thus far have been Dr. Jen Welter, the first female coach in the NFL; Mackenzie Soldan, a wheelchair basketball and tennis player/medalist; and Renee Powell, one of seven African Americans to play in the Ladies Professional Golf Association. “We want to give girls the huge life advantage that comes with playing sports,” says President Beth Green. “The idea is ‘see it; be it.’ Though more and more girls are becoming involved in sports, there are many more who can benefit from learning about female athletes and their successes both on the field and in life.”