Leveling the Playing Field: Danielle Lugo on
Empowering Young Girls Through Sports

As a lifelong softball player and champion of access and inclusion in afterschool programming, Danielle Lugo holds a firm conviction that sport sampling is the key to building leadership and confidence in youth, particularly for young girls who often face greater discouragement in athletics. 

Early Career & Impact of High School Tennis

A passion for youth sports development began early on in Danielle’s career when she joined MLB Youth Academy in Compton, California after graduating college in 2013.

“I went out there for the first time with a little girl. We were in the batting cage and I was like, ‘how do I teach a child what I know?’”

Along with a Master’s in Sport Management from CSU Long Beach, Danielle’s early experiences with MLB YA, Boys & Girls Clubs, and as a site coordinator for other afterschool programs deepened her understanding of the profound impact coaches can have on youth—an insight that became a guiding touchpoint while collaborating in different roles, including in partnership with the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation. Danielle later oversaw Coach Across America’s Dodgers Dream Team Field Champions program, supporting coaches in implementing trauma-informed social-emotional learning. Understanding how trauma affects the brain and how to support youth through sports-based development programming was essential to Danielle’s pathway to joining Woodcraft Rangers. 

“While getting my Master’s, that’s when it truly hit me that I loved working in the nonprofit sports world, especially the youth sports piece,” Danielle said. “I dove deeper into the impact of youth sports and how it’s currently making its way into private equity. There are issues with accessibility for all, there is more work to be done. If we actually allow youth to sample sport, they end up living a better quality of life in the long run.”

Having played softball competitively from age six to 22, Danielle experienced firsthand the intensity and burnout that comes from long-term dedication to a single sport. Like many athletes, she faced the identity question after college: “Who am I without this sport?”

“In my freshman year I was recruited by my tennis coach,” Danielle recalled. “I was wearing my softball gear playing travel ball year-round. I’ll never forget, Coach King came up to me and said that I should try tennis. I went home and told my mom what he said. She was like, ‘Danielle, we’ve already spent so much money on your softball.’ It was a family member who bought me my racquet. I was good, I enjoyed it so much. I made it onto varsity my junior year. I think they wanted me to join varsity sophomore year, but I still had my softball swing so I was sending the ball over the fence!”

On the court, Danielle found that many skills from softball, like hand-eye coordination and quick ‘stop-and-go’ movements, translated perfectly to doubles strategy. 

“In high school, I had a heart condition. It made sense that when I tried to play a sport like soccer, I hated it because I couldn’t breathe,” Danielle explained. “Doubles is great because it’s quick movements. I was really good at volleying. While in softball they’re hitting the ball at 50-60 miles per hour, in tennis I realized the girls weren’t hitting that hard for this level of play. I could see the ball and react quickly. In a way, I was bummed because I was like, I could’ve been playing this sooner. I don’t miss softball, it was so intense. There’s no inkling in me that I miss it. But tennis excites me.”

Woodcraft Rangers Partners with the USTA Foundation

Danielle’s next step was joining Woodcraft Rangers as Sports Program Manager, a role rooted in access, inclusion, and equity. The Southern California nonprofit offers Expanded Learning programs before and after school for grades TK-12, emphasizing sport sampling, six-week rotations that allow youth to try a variety of activities throughout the year. Not wanting to pigeonhole herself into a career in baseball or softball, Danielle eagerly embraced the opportunity to lead this dynamic programming. 

In Spring 2025, the USTA Foundation approached Woodcraft Rangers at one of their events to propose adding tennis to their multi-sport offerings. After a staff coach development workshop with Kevin Finkelberg, now Director of Southern California USTA Coaching, tennis launched at eight elementary schools as well as one middle school. With this addition, Woodcraft became part of USTA SoCal’s National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network of tennis providers who implement an academic educational element to their programs.

“We are grateful for USTA SoCal for supplying our racquets and the equipment to start our sites,” said Danielle. “Because of our sports sampling layout, all of our coaches understand that it’s not just one sport we do, it’s multiple sports. My overall goal is that our coaches understand that they are a coach/mentor first and then we can teach the skills later. If they are a confident coach, they will be able to teach all of the sports.”

Leveling the Playing Field for Girls

Extending her appreciation to all of the coaches involved, Danielle mentioned how Rehan Jaweed, Sports Coordinator for Woodcraft Rangers, exemplifies the organization’s vision. With a strong background in basketball and experience coaching other sports like flag rugby and soccer, Rehan quickly adapted to the addition of tennis, helping make it accessible and fun for all students.

Recalling the inaugural Ways of Woodcraft (WOW) tournament held in spring 2025, Danielle emphasized the excitement of the kids who were learning this new sport. “Rehan and I were laughing because the kids would play just one game and immediately turn and ask when we would be doing the tournament again,” said Danielle. “It’s similar to our flag rugby programming that we do – we see a lot of girls coming out to play. With soccer or basketball, in society we are more likely to engage our boys in these sports. When we get out to these spaces with these 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders, there’s a lot of girls who are still told ‘this sport isn’t for you.’ It’s intimidating because these boys have played since age 3 or 4. But with our flag rugby, it’s a level playing field. No one has really played it. It’s something that the girls can feel confident trying out. For tennis, I see the same thing.”

During this Women’s History Month, it’s imperative to recognize the impact of sports on young girls and their confidence. The well-known mantra ‘Girls who play sports become women who lead’ reflects Danielle’s vision for the programming she oversees.

“I’m always trying to think of how to get more girls playing. Capturing girls when they’re younger, the earlier you get them into sports the sooner you can stoke their confidence before someone tells them it’s not for them,” said Danielle. “One of our sites uses red ball tennis as a girls sports club. Tennis is the level playing field because it’s different. It’s new for everyone, let me try it out.”

Future Program Growth & Expansion

In fact, first place victory at the Woodcraft Open 2025 resulted in two young ladies dominating on the court from Nevada Elementary. Parents joined in to learn the rules of tennis and cheer their kids on from the sidelines. As the only Community Impact Hub on the West Coast chosen by the USTA Foundation, the organization expanded tennis to 10 additional schools in Fall 2025. Compared to the original 160 students participating in tennis, Woodcraft now boasts 360 students who are picking up a racquet for the first time. Last year’s Woodcraft Open showcased students’ skills as they graduated from the Fast4 format to a full set of competitive doubles play. Aside from competition, as a Community Impact Hub the organization hosts family ‘play days,’ which provide families access to red ball and tennis-themed activities. All Woodcraft Rangers agency events include a red ball zone to encourage students and families to try the sport.

On the growth of the program, Danielle explained how she’s currently looking to see how tennis can be implemented during their before-school programming as well as afterschool. “We are looking to expand tennis to our sites outside of the San Fernando Valley region,” said Danielle. “In 5 years, I envision all of our sites playing red ball. You start to think about what skills translate from other sports. To be able to talk to the sports coordinators about universal skills we should be teaching that can come from multiple sports, it keeps me fresh.”