National Girl Scouts Day: NFL Has Ties to Scouts
By Nafisa H
Fall Sundays are made for the NFL, but this Sunday honors a group who has interesting ties to the league on National Girl Scouts Day
Regardless of what teams they root for, NFL fans can all agree on one thing: Sunday is the best day of the week. We go through the motions as we wait for it to come, notice signs of life on Thursday nights knowing Sunday is within reach, and then finally come alive! The excitement from the week carries over to Monday before we transform into robots again on Tuesday, but the cycle continues.
While NFL fans love to rise and shine on football Sundays during the fall, other Sundays can be just as special. In addition to gaining an extra hour of daylight on March 12, this Sunday also recognizes another special group on National Girl Scouts Day. I know what you’re thinking: what do Girl Scouts have to do with the NFL? Well, prepare to be surprised.
Fans don’t all root for the same NFL team, but are united in their support of America’s team: The Girl Scouts of America. What’s more, fans have come to associate the end of the NFL season with the start of another: Cookie Season. Around the time of the Super Bowl, the Girl Scout Cookies start popping up, much to the delight of most everyone.
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As though that’s not enough, we’ve even seen Girl Scouts make use of the Super Bowl and the hosting city to make their sales. As reported by Sporting News, one troop sold over $350,000 worth of cookies on the first day of Super Bowl XLIX in Arizona. It takes a lot of effort but pays off big time for the scouts and sweetens the Super Bowl experience for fans.
The Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers also join Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in support of Girl Scouts. The Chiefs took them beyond the gridiron when they held a Girl Scouts takeover at Arrowhead Stadium (via Girls Scouts of NE Kansas and NW Missouri) in October 2016. The 49ers, who have maintained a good relationship with the Girl Scouts organization throughout the years, trumped the Chiefs when they hosted approximately 1,000 Girl Scouts for a sleepover at Levi’s Stadium, per Pro Football Talk. And although the team had to dish out extra money when it rescheduled the party on short notice for a concert last year, the 49ers felt it was necessary and money well spent.
While the NFL recognizes the importance of talent scouts year round, it’s important for us to recognize the hidden figures of the NFL: the Girl Scouts. As important as it is for an NFL team to establish brotherhood as a foundation for their success, it’s just as important for women to be empowered that they can achieve anything. All women matter—intelligent women, seasoned women, curvy women, immigrant women, etc.
Through the organization, Girl Scouts learn five essential leadership skills—goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics. They use these vital skills throughout their lives to change society for the better. Similarly, many of those skills are realities for the stars of the NFL as well.
Sorry Matt Ryan; the Girl Scouts of America organization is the real MVP. The Atlanta Falcons weren’t smiling after Super Bowl LI, but that’s nothing a Savannah Smile can’t turn around.
So while the Falcons can thank the Girl Scouts for helping to bring happiness following heartbreak, the NFL family shares an undeniable connection with the Girl Scouts of America. And on a Sunday with no football—but even those with it—we should recognize the great things that the organization does to empower women.