Meet Maria Anderson of Game On! Sports 4 Girls in Boulder

Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Anderson.

Maria, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Game On! Sports 4 Girls was co-founded by Barb Lazarus in 2007 as a single multi-sport summer day camp in Lake Forest, IL. Now co-owned by Barb and long-time Director of Operations, Sara Hokin Rubin, Game On! has expanded to multiple locations and has grown to include summer day camps and school year programming all designed to empower and inspire our youngest girls.

My journey with Game On! started in 2016. I had been working in healthcare marketing for several years and raising two little ones. I was at a point in my life where I really wanted to do work that allowed me to truly give back somehow. I was asking around about jobs in a working mom’s Facebook group and Barb reached out to me right away. They had opened a Boulder location of Game On! the year prior and were looking for someone energetic and with a marketing background to take charge of the program. I’m from a family full of girls and the mission of Game On! spoke to me on a very personal level and I loved the idea of being so involved in my community.

I’ll be honest – I was learning every step of the way. It was a new industry, a new focus, and a new market from everything I had known throughout my entire career. My first summer camp season was incredibly challenging, but I learned so much and knew I had found something that spoke to me. We have a small but incredibly mighty team of strong women who have guided and helped me through every step of the way.

Today, Game On! continues to grow and thrive and are actively working to expand to new locations in order to bring the gift of sport to as many girls as we can. Here in the Boulder area, we just finished our fifth summer camp season and are becoming well known in the community as a high-quality program. We are always looking for new opportunities to introduce our unique, multi-sport programming to young girls, and we have great things coming for this next year. It’s an exciting time at Game On!.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
There’s never growth without bumps in the road. We’ve certainly had a few, but our biggest obstacle is often that because we are called a “sports camp,” parents often assume that if their daughter is not athletic, it is not for them. On the contrary, we fully believe that ALL girls have a place at Game On! and have the opportunity to define for themselves what it means to be an athlete. It’s why we have been honored with some of the special awards that we have from the United States Olympic Committee, the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition, and Toyota.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Since 2007, Game On! has been dedicated to working with young girls to encourage a lifelong commitment to a healthy lifestyle that includes sports and fitness. Through our unique summer camps and school-year events and programs, we have effectively empowered girls through sports by building their confidence and teaching each skills and values crucial to their growth as an athlete AND a person. We have worked hard, observing and listening to feedback every step of the way, to become the experts in the areas of communication and teaching methodology. The result is customized, fun programming that includes our signature incentive programs. We are so proud of our impact – exciting girls about staying fit and active on top of imparting core values and life skills that go beyond the playing field. This is our passion and our mission.

Some of our most recent accomplishments include receiving the 2018 Rings of Gold Program Award from the United States Olympic Committee and the 2019 President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition Community Leadership Award. Barb was also honored with the Toyota Everyday Hero Award in 2013.

What were you like growing up?
I was the youngest of three girls in a military family, so I was pretty loud and very opinionated. I loved writing, reading, and building connections with people whenever and wherever I could. I also loved moving my body, whether it was playing basketball, running track, or riding my bike around my small town.