Former UVA Athletics consultant sponsors Women Leaders in Sports initiative

Veteran NFL executive Scott Pioli is doing one of those give-back things that more people should do.

Pioli, currently a consultant with the athletics department at Iowa, after serving in a similar role with UVA Athletics, is partnering with Women Leaders in Sports to provide membership scholarships to 100 student-athletes and students working in athletics at the University of Iowa and the University of Virginia.

The Women Leaders in Sports scholarships will give young women access to professional development, leadership experiences and a national network of women leaders in the sports world.

“It’s genuinely a privilege for my family and me to serve these student workers and student-athletes from the University of Iowa and the University of Virginia,” said Pioli, a member of the Women Leaders National Advisory Council. “More importantly, it’s an honor to serve Dr. Carla Williams and Beth Goetz by supplementing the extraordinary work they do in their roles as athletics directors. The recipients get to see their leadership firsthand, and so do I. The access to the Women Leaders in Sports network, combined with proximity to the daily leadership shown by Carla and Beth, will open doors and create opportunities for future young leaders for generations. We are fortunate to be able to serve them all.”

I can just sense Harmeet Dhillon reading about this with an itch to file a lawsuit aimed at putting this whole Women Leaders thing out of its misery because it excludes legacy White frat bros from being able to participate.

“Leadership is not something you wait to develop once you have a title; it is built through experiences, relationships, and opportunities to learn from others,” the aforementioned Carla Williams, the AD at Virginia, said in a statement. “We are grateful to the Pioli Family and Women Leaders in Sports for creating this opportunity. This scholarship will connect our student-athletes and students pursuing careers in athletics with a powerful network of women leaders across every corner of the sports industry.”