Play Like A Girl—The Sports Bra Bar Turns One & Scores Big With Everyone

“Finally.”

“It’s about time.”

“Thank you.”

“This changes everything.”

These are just a few of the comments that have poured in for Chef Jenny Nguyen, the founder of The Sports Bra bar in Portland, Oregon. In just over one year, Nguyen and the Bra bar have created a vibrant community of women supporting women, and one that stretches well-beyond being a place to watch women’s sports. And, even if the ‘ask’ is not overt, her venture has asked everyone to take notice and perhaps, follow suit.

Look what happens when you support people.

Basketball and cooking have been two constants for Nguyen, even during the most uncertain of times. However, the former professional chef found herself at a crossroads after jumping from one corporate kitchen job to the next. Then, after a five-year hiatus from professional kitchens all together, and amidst the pandemic when everyone seemed to have a who am I period of reckoning, she too found herself in the same predicament. With a push from her partner, Nguyen ended up tapping the kernel of an idea that kept cropping up.

As a major women’s sports fan, she recalls countless occasions when she and her friends would go to traditional sports bars in hopes of catching their favorite team game. Each visit would reveal one disappointment after another. In many cases, the women’s games would be nowhere in sight; in other cases, a bartender might switch one television over to a game; further still, if the game was on at all, it would be in a far corner or on the smallest set.

During the 2018 NCAA championship game, the biggest game of the year, Notre Dame vs Mississippi State, fans were on the edge of their seats. It was an electrifying game, and after a major gap in the score, then a three-point shot at the end of the game buzzer, Notre Dame rose up and won the game. It was a remarkable triumph. As one would expect, there were cheers, there was a celebration.

But guess what? Nguyen and her group had been watching the game in silence because the sound wasn’t even on. As she told Radio Cherry Bombe host and founder, Kerry Diamond, in a recent podcast, “I realized the only way we were going to watch women’s sports is if we had our own place.” Even the name The Sports Bra came to Nguyen very quickly in the days that followed that pivotal experience, she says. “As soon as I thought it, I couldn’t unthink it.”

It wasn’t until Nguyen had the what more can I do moment during the pandemic that the seed that had been planted three years prior revealed itself. “I thought, I’ve just been sitting on my haunches. Along with millions of other people, everybody got the chance to reevaluate their place in the world and their priorities.” After research and planning, and finding a location in her hometown, Nguyen was encouraged to launch a Kickstarter to see if the idea could become a reality.

There was a great deal of risk. She was embarking on a new path, one that hadn’t ever been done before, and in a realm beyond her own previous experiences. She knew she was taking a chance and yet, even if she couldn’t voice it at the time, she knew it wasn’t just about opening a bar; it was about creating community. She was creating a community of women who would feel seen, respected, and welcomed.

“Jenny is such an example of change and action,” says Diamond, in the intro to the podcast. Nguyen says it was important to her to create a space that not only supports women but young girls as well. That is why the Sports Bra is open to all-ages until 10pm. Thinking back to herself as a 13-year old athlete, as a 13-year old queer girl, as a 13-year old person of color, and as a 13-year old first generation Vietnamese American, she wonders how different things would be if the intersections of her world were better represented. Well, thankfully, they are now.

And women and girls are taking notice. In addition to collaborating with numerous organizations in her community, people reach out from everywhere to connect, say Thanks, and acknowledge the literal and figurative space the Sports Bra has established. Last fall, along with Amanda J. Cain, who has made some historic firsts as an African American sports photographer, now for the NHL, she and Nguyen hosted a sport photography exhibition, turning the bar into a gallery.

Recently, an 8th grader from Beaverton reached out to Nguyen to tell her about a year-long action project she was conducting at school revolving around a topic that mattered. The young girl wrote and said, “My issue is inequality in men and women’s sports. I chose this issue because I am a competitive softball player and I have always wanted to raise awareness about the inequalities and try to assist. To help this, I am making bracelets out of old baseballs and softballs and selling them to later donate the money to an organization that supports women’s empowerment in sports.” Nguyen not only spread the word about the young athlete’s efforts on her social channels but went out in person to support her on the day the teen sold the bracelets at her town park.

Nguyen and the Sports Bra have not only created the physical space but cracked open a forum for young girls to take action and feel great pride in doing so. Even heavy hitters like ESPN have reached out to acknowledge what the Sports Bra is doing for sports overall, which is one step closer in the industry recognizing how essential it is to even the playing field in terms of exposure.

And the Food at The Sports Bra?

Let’s not forget Nguyen is a chef after all. The menu at The Sports Bra includes a host of delicious bar nosh from burgers and wings to everything in between, but caters to vegetarians, vegans, gluten-free or non-dairy consumers too. That was something else, Nguyen says, that was lacking at traditional sports bars. Although more of an overseer these days, she has enlisted a team of trusted chefs to keep the menu fresh and creative, and one that include some of her childhood favorites like her mom’s Vietnamese style baby back ribs and her aunt Tina’s “Vietna-wings.

In the year that the Sports Bra has been open, enthusiasts nationwide have expressed their desire to have a Sports Bra in their neck of the woods. And now that there is one in the world, most of us reply, duh. It just makes sense, and yet, as much as Nguyen could see that happening and hopes she can make that a reality someday, it has to be carefully executed and managed. It is, after all, about authenticity and creating not just a place, but a culture.

“I have to keep reminding myself, everything that is happening is very, very positive. It just feels like a lot all at once. It’s way more than I envisioned for myself, [and] the Bra. The ripple effect of the movement has been dramatic and very, very fast. I thought it would eventually be kind of a big deal, but I thought it would take a lot more time.”

Jenny, it is definitely a big deal.