TWR's Running Project IX for Middle and High School Girls
While Title IX legislation was enacted more than 50 years ago, we still see lower participation in sports, including high school cross country and track & field, for girls than for boys. This TWR Athletics Club summer program seeks to make progress toward fulfilling the promise of the Title IX legislation by creating an opportunity for girls and young women in grades 6 through 12 in Howard County to explore how high school running can help them get more out of life through a combination of training and education.
The Freedom of Opportunity Unlocked
and
The Power of Lives Lived Meaningfully
TWR's Project IX program focuses on both running and education. Instruction in high-school running disciplines – middle- and long-distance running, as well as sprints – will come from a female-led RRCA- and USATF-certified coaching staff. Running Project IX also offers educational lessons about health & nutrition issues for the female athlete from a board-certified pediatrician. Additionally, participants study the history of Title IX legislation and of girls' participation in sports and how some high-profile female athletes have overcome barriers to lead fulfilling lives, full of meaning and purpose.
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As a participant in Project IX, you will learn from a female-led coaching staff about:
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The fundamentals necessary to succeed at the high school level in cross country and track & field
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Health and nutrition issues that girls need to be particularly aware of when participating in a sports system that was designed around males
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Title IX and the history of female participation in sports in America
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The pressures that sometimes make it uncomfortable for girls to participate in sports and how to alleviate them
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Technical barriers to girls’ participation in sports and strategies for dealing with them
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How other female athletes have found joy in sports and how they have lead happy and fulfilling lives outside sport
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Participants will have the opportunity to compete in outdoor youth track meets during the summer, if they are interested.
Project IX, most of all, will be filled with learning the joy of running and expressing oneself as a female athlete while preparing for a happy and healthy future. The same welcoming environment for athletes of all skill levels that exists in other TWR programs will pervade TWR’s Running Project IX.
Summer 2026 Program Information
TWR's Summer 2026 Running Project IX will run from June 8 through August 21.
Practices will be held on Mondays and Wednesdays in the early evenings at Wilde Lake High School. Attendance at all practices is encouraged but not required.
Practices will be 90-minutes long and consist of both running and educational instruction.
We will utilize both the WLHS track and fields behind the school.
Participation is open to girls who live in Howard County and will be in grades 6 through 12 in the fall of 2026.