Heather Mitts, TQL score with She Plays, She Wins

CINCINNATI – You go, girls.

That's the message three-time Olympic gold medal soccer star Heather Mitts - a Hyde Park native and St. Ursula Academy graduate - hopes to get out as she partners with TQL Urban Race for the She Plays, She Wins program.

Greater Cincinnati female athletes ages 13 to 24 have a chance to win $1,000 in scholarship money or uniform vouchers for their teams through the new program.

"We believe it's important to have strong women in the workplace," Kristine Glenn said, spokeswoman for Total Quality Logistics, with local offices in Milford and Union Township, Clermont County, and Western Hills. "A lot of those women come out of a sports background. This is a chance for girls to tell people what their sports mean to them now and how they will benefit them in the future."

Girls can submit a two-minute video or 500-word essay to the TQL Urban Race page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ ShePlaysSheWins) answering the question, "How have sports positively impacted your life and how do you think they will affect your future?" Entry deadline is June 20.

A panel of Tristate women business leaders will nominate the top five entries in age categories 13 to 15, 16 to 18 and 19 to 24. The public will vote on the winners from July 8 to 18.

Mitts was in the eligible age range when she first began making a name for herself on the pitch. She was a sophomore on SUA's 1993 state championship team that beat Westerville North 4-1 and finished the season 21-1-2. She went on to the University of Florida where she won an NCAA title with the Gators over heavily favored North Carolina in 1998.

She played in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, the 2008 games in Beijing and the 2012 London Olympics, winning three gold medals along the way.

"I feel like it's an opportunity to give back," Mitts said. "I think it's a very positive thing, obviously, for girls to have sports in their lives.

"There are very few female athletes who are in a position to be a role model and if I can be one of them, that's great. I want to be."

Glenn said TQL is involved in several charities related to youth athletics. Its annual Urban Race benefits the Reds Community Fund and Marvin Lewis Community Fund, both of which provide opportunities for at-risk youth in the community through sports and education. She Plays, She Wins is just an extension of that involvement.

Mitts is now retired and living in Philadelphia with her husband, former NFL quarterback A.J. Feeley, and 3-month-old son, Connor.

"Now that I'm retired I have more time to do things like this," she said. "I have more of a chance to get back to Cincinnati to see family and friends.

Mitts said she stays in touch with a lot of the players from the 1993 state championship soccer team from SUA. She will host her annual soccer camp July 19 at Northern Kentucky University.

"All these teams I played on and had success with - from the state champs, to the NCAA, to the Olympics - the one thing we had in common was that we were close on and off the field," Mitts said. "You learn a lot from the girls you play with every day."