Washington Spirit, Olympique Lyonnais Féminin, and London City Lionesses owner Michele Kang has launched the Kynisca Innovation Hub (KIH), a non-profit initiative under Kynisca Sports International, that aims to transform training methods through science and data, unlocking the full athletic potential of female athletes.
Despite growing investment in women’s sports, only 6% of sports science data is dedicated to female athletes. KIH aims to fill this gap by prioritizing evidence-based, tailored training methods and education for coaches and practitioners. A global team of scientists, academics, and engineers will collaborate to achieve this mission, with input from athletic females being a key component.
“We have only begun to unlock the potential of female athletes. We will understand women’s physiology and biology and train athletes according to supporting data,” said Michele Kang. “Kynisca Innovation Hub will become a pioneer of female performance research – so we can stop training women as if they are simply small men – and unlock their true potential.”
KIH has announced World Cup-winning soccer player Samantha Mewis and Active Duty Air Force Colonel Rachel Ott Chancey as its first athlete ambassadors. These ambassadors will help advocate for and contribute to the hub’s mission.
KIH is targeting to raise $100 million to support its initiatives. Michele Kang has already announced a $50 million contribution in combined seed funding and matching funds to foster innovation at KIH. The organization is now calling for corporate support to advance projects focused on women’s health and performance.
Dawn Scott, Executive Director of KIH, and Theresa McDonnell, Chief Executive Officer, lead the hub’s efforts to develop comprehensive solutions for female health, wellness, and performance. KIH plans to create the world’s largest database on these topics, informed by academic research and data analytics. The suite of solutions will include a consumer app, a coach platform, a data analysis platform, and the KIH website.
“Having worked as a practitioner in elite women’s sport for over 20 years, this is the first time I have received support of this scale, both in terms of level of investment and, most importantly, understanding the need to focus on training females as females,” said Dawn Scott. “I am honored to be part of Michele’s vision and excited to be working with our world-leading experts to develop the global blueprint for female athlete support.”
“Michele’s unprecedented commitment to advancing women’s sports is providing the long-needed resources to close the 6% gap and finally develop training methods to optimize female athletic performance,” added Theresa McDonnell. “The Innovation Hub results will have a massive global impact on all sports and all levels of play.”
