Ward's acceptance speech at the Women's Sports Foundation
for award of The Heart of the Game as Best Entertainment
April 11, 2007

      Seven years ago, when I naively began to make a movie about an eccentric tax professor with the audacious idea of fully empowering teenage girls and encouraging the full expression of their spirits, I never realized how difficult it would be and how much resistance I would encounter in getting such a "revolutionary" message out into the world. And as a man, I think I experienced what a lot of women in this culture experience every day: the subtle and not so subtle discounting, resistance and dismissiveness of one's voice.

      That is what is so beautiful about being in this room tonight. The Women's Sports Foundation has opened and busted down so many doors for women and girls. And this is good news for men. It is! And I'm afraid the stakes now have never been higher. The very survival of the planet depends on the full valuing, welcoming and bringing to the front of the bus, women's vision, voice, power, integrity and wisdom. And The Heart of the Game is my humble offering in service to that need. On behalf of the 200 individuals who helped make The Heart of the Game a reality, solely from the good of their hearts, I thank you.