Marine recruiters will recognize outstanding female high school athletes under a new program that honors students who excel at sports and academics.
The Semper Fidelis All-American Program will bring together 100 male and female high school athletes from across the country in 2017, a Marine Corps Recruiting Command news release says. The program is an expansion of the Semper Fidelis Football Program, which was geared toward a male audience.
"The new initiative will continue to place priority on athleticism, civic and academic achievement, but will do so in a way that's open to both young women and men who play any sport," MCRC spokesman Lt. Col. John Caldwell said in the news release. "We're looking for students who possess a fighting spirit -- they overcome adversity in all aspects of life and actively engage in improving the lives of others."
Recruiters will promote the program when they visit high schools, said MCRC spokesman Jim Edwards. No recruiters will be responsible for hosting athletic competitions.
All nominees must be high school juniors, Edwards told Marine Corps Times. Coaches, teachers, guidance counselors and others can nominate athletes at https://sfaap.marines.com/. Students can also nominate themselves.
"If a recruiter has a student selected from his area, he will announce the selection at an appropriate venue; such as an end-of-year high school awards ceremony," Edwards said.
Those students selected as Semper Fidelis All-Americans will spend two to three days in Washington, D.C., to take part in the Battles Won Academy, he said. The exact list of activities that the students will engage in is still being developed.
"They will have an opportunity to interact with each other, will hear from high-profile keynote speakers and Marines, attend leadership sessions, participate in athletic activities, perform a community service event, and attend a culminating banquet that will honor the Semper Fidelis All-Americans," Edwards said.
MCRC does not have any data on how many male athletes who participated in the old Semper Fidelis Football Program went on to join the Marine Corps, said MCRC spokeswoman Cpl. Logan Block.
"Many of the athletes recognized through the Semper Fi Football Program went on to play collegiate football, and some even went on to play in the National Football League," Block said.
The expanded program comes as Commandant Gen. Robert Neller is trying to boost the number of women in the Marine Corps from 7 percent to 10 percent.
"I've told them that 10 percent is where we want to go and they're working on it," Neller told the Associated Press. "Go recruit more women. Find them. They're out there."
The head of Marine Corps Recruiting Command has attended the Women's Basketball Coaches Association conference and is meeting with female athletes across the country to try to correct misconceptions about life for women in the Corps.
"We got to talk to them, got to show them there are plenty of female Marine officers and enlisted, that it's not a good ol' boys club anymore when you talk about the career issues," Maj. Gen. Paul Kennedy told the Associated Press.
In addition to recognizing female high school athletes, MCRC has taken other steps to reach out to more young women who may want to join the Marine Corps, Edwards said.
Those steps include sending direct mail packages to women in their junior year at high school, working with female high school and college sports programs across the country and updating Marine advertising campaigns to show female Marines in the fleet and downrange, he said.
"Since the opening of all career fields to women and in support of the [commandant's] goal to increase the percentage of women in the Marine Corps, we have increased the amount of female-inclusive or female-specific advertising to generate awareness about what it means to be a Marine and regarding opportunities for women in the Marine Corps," Edwards said.
