Chiney Ogwumike joined ABC13 to talk about how the “Every Kid Sports” campaign can get toddlers in the game through grants.

“Sports teaches you how to be powerful, to be strong, to fight.” ESPN’s Chiney Ogwumike shared insights with ABC13 on how sports can truly change a child’s life.

“Sports teaches you how to be powerful, to be strong, to fight.” ESPN’s Chiney Ogwumike shared insights with ABC13 on how sports can truly change a child’s life.

“Sports teaches you how to be powerful, to be strong, to fight.” ESPN’s Chiney Ogwumike shared insights with ABC13 on how sports can truly change a child’s life.

“Sports teaches you how to be powerful, to be strong, to fight.” ESPN’s Chiney Ogwumike shared insights with ABC13 on how sports can truly change a child’s life.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Before Chiney Ogwumike shined under the bright lights in ESPN’s studios, stunned on red carpets, or made history this year as the first female ambassador for the Basketball Africa League, she was already holding court in Cy-Fair ISD, where she led her high school basketball team to two titles before playing college ball at Stanford University.

“Sports transformed my life, and it is so much bigger than the game,” Ogwumike told ABC13.

That’s why now Ogwumike is among the ESPN stars aligning to spread the word about this summer’s ESPN, Disney Jr., and Every Kid Sports campaign to get preschoolers more active in sports.

LEARN MORE: ESPN, Disney Jr. team up with Every Kid Sports to get preschoolers in the game

The initiative, officially launched in June, offers grants to families facing financial hardship to cover the costs of placing their kids in sports.

Those activities aren’t always accessible. Seventy-four percent of kids from lower-income households are missing out on playing sports.

In addition, the average cost for preschool sports registration in the U.S. is estimated to be $80 per sport, per season. New data also suggests that as kids grow older, between the ages of 6-18, sports will cost more than $1,000 per year, per kid, according to the Aspen Institute.

Meanwhile, the average family pays $883 annually in one child’s primary sport.

It’s why Ogwumike told ABC13 she’s passionate about removing those barriers to entry, especially for young girls.

“Sports creates a next generation of female leaders and the numbers stand behind it,” Ogwumike said. “I know people have seen the statistic of 90% of women in C-suite positions, whether it’s CEO, CMO, COO. All of them played sports. To me, that just is a game changer for girls.”

“It’s truly the confidence that we need to attack a world that might sort of second guess our passions or second guess our capabilities or second guess our dreams,” she continued. “Sports teaches you how to be powerful, to be strong, to fight, and I think seeing the amazing moment that we’re in with women’s sports is just even more inspiring.”

And meeting the moment is something Ogwumike does well.

She was a large part of the studio coverage during the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, and served as host during the special, which in itself was a hit.

The Championship’s pre-game show alone earned 2.9 million viewers as a lead-in to the South Carolina Gamecocks and Iowa Hawkeyes.

“As someone who has three sisters, understanding the power of sisterhood, like if you play sports and you’re a girl, you’re a part of something that is growing in real time. You’re part of something that is evolving right now,” Ogwumike said.

Ogwumike and her older sister, Nneka, now a 10-time WNBA All-Star and the president of the WNBA Players Association, have already achieved a rare feat as the only siblings, besides Peyton and Eli Manning, to ever be selected No. 1 overall in a professional sports league.

Nneka was drafted first overall in the 2012 WNBA Draft, while Chiney went to the Connecticut Sun in 2014.

But the come up wasn’t easy.

Ogwumike recalled how she and her sister actually played soccer first and tried their hand at gymnastics, but it was basketball where she eventually found home, even if it was a little rocky at first.

“We were horrible. And I say we, it was more my sister because I quit that first year because I love to only do things that I’m really good at,” Ogwumike laughed. “She stuck through being the worst for a long time.”

“We both wore, in our first basketball practice, jean shorts, tank top. We had scruffy little socks. We weren’t wearing the basketball shoes. We were wearing Keds. We had glasses, glasses holders. We were the ultimate nerds. But my parents saw the potential, the value of sports,” she said.

Ogwumike, who is of Nigerian descent, explained that her parents immigrated to this country and didn’t even realize at the time that sports could be something profitable. Rather, they recognized that sports instills work ethic, plus can build camaraderie among people with different backgrounds.

“It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish. And my story is truly a testament to when you honor the beauty of sports, it really transforms you inside, then out,” she added.

Ogwumike is using her platform on an international stage to remind young children there’s space for them.

“I always tell little boys and little girls, ‘If you see a little girl that wants to play, let her play. Respect her game,’ and vice versa. I always tell kids at camps, ‘Tell the little girls, “I can do anything.” And the little boys say to the little girls, ‘I’ve got your back,'” Ogwumike told ABC13. “To me, when you approach the game that way, where you value what people bring to the table, not what people look like, what they come from, then we’re creating not only a better sports world, but just simply a better world.”

Ogwumike also works with Giants of Africa, a nonprofit designed to educate and empower African youth through basketball. Their first camp was in 2003. Ogwumike is now a coach with the organization.

She also emphasized that while many student athletes may desire to go pro, that’s not the only way to be successful in a sport.

“Understand that you can be pro in so many other things within the ecosystem of sports,” she began. “It creates jobs. It changes lives, not just for those who play, but those who talk about it, those who coach, those who are literally becoming the female boss owners that are changing the game for the business of sports. The possibilities are limitless.”

“Sports is honestly the only unifier that I’ve seen that can do some of the impossible,” Ogwumike continued. “Everyone can do a little bit that can move the ball forward, you know, pun intended.”

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