Female Athlete News

The off-season has been grueling. The preseason is finally over.

And the real gritty has begun…except, you’re a girl or a woman.

What’s the story behind the late-quarter claw back win? Or the energetic, synergistic push in the second half that redefined the outcome? Can’t find the story on mainstream media?

Welcome to Female Athlete News. 

Our motto, caring beyond the story, lends itself to self-explanatory reasoning. We were formed due to a need for quality female sports reporting.

With media focusing its attention only 10 percent or less covering how females are performing, FAN was created in August 2022 and had a soft website launch on Sept. 12.

Here’s what we are about:

Motto: Caring beyond the story.

Mission: FAN was launched in 2022 to publish news, features, game coverage, photos, and investigations. The site is meant to create a dialogue about female athletes.

FAN is starting its site covering field hockey, the outdoors, and health and wellness. As the site develops, additional sports could be added.

Its initial focus is Pennsylvania.

We are excited to share with you that founder Jana Benscoter has over 20 years of media experience and 30 years in field hockey, as well as knowledge about several female sports. She is working with Mary Driscoll, of Hershey, as well as Rose Anna Moore, of Wellsboro, to share a holistic approach to news and sports.

Driscoll will cover health and wellness and Moore is covering the outdoors. As columnists and contributors, they are going to cover anything from the latest epidemic, pandemic, or health alert to environmental issues.

Driscoll operates Mary’s Health and Fitness; is an NCAA and international FIH field hockey umpire; and is a Penn State University field hockey alum.

Moore is the Executive Director of “This is My Quest,” which provides opportunities in the outdoors for traditionally underrepresented youth and adults. Moore was most recently featured in season 8 of The History Channel’s hit show “Alone.” Moore spent 37 days in grizzly bear country in a Canadian province before having to depart due to frost bite.

FAN welcomes all people, from all walks of life. We are excited for you to become part of our community. As it grows, the benefits of membership will include FAN making monthly donations to businesses, non-profits, and local fire departments and EMS, along with offering a seasonal scholarship to a deserving high school student-athlete.

Since the launch, FAN has had over 86,000 unique visitors. Of that, 31,000 return regularly. When we were in the heart of the field hockey season, we were adding 1,000 plus new visitors weekly. We were able to accomplish that without any advertising. Our site spread organically and by word of mouth. 

Our business model is anchored in supporting the next generation of athletes. We have a scholarship competition, where seniors gather their closest supporters to vote for them. Voting occurs by being an Athletes Pass holder. It's $10 a month or $100 for a year. Additionally, as we grow our photo Gallery, we're also selling Gallery Passes, which allows a holder of one to vote, too.  The price is the same for both passes. 

We are starting to sell Athletes Passes as we get closer to our first voting event. It's scheduled at the end of the month. The winner will receive $2,500 in August (prior to preseason). After one semester, we're asking the athlete proves she has a minimum 3.0 GPA to earn the other $2,500. 

FAN is capping off its scholarship competition with an event, where we are going to bring in inspirational/motivational speakers. We feel that there's never been a more important time than now - after a pandemic - to try to inspire girls and women to keep going. 

We are also working with potential advertisers, and eventually selling merch. The scholarship competition is going to be administered in the fall, spring, winter. As we are just getting started, we are hoping to hold at least three events this year. FAN is also interested in sports issues and planning on hosting one annual event that focuses on how we can improve as a community.  Whether that's a conversation about disconnect between coaches, umpires, and parents or how should we be treating brain injuries.