A lifelong passion for sports led financial adviser Beth Green to help build the fledgling Women’s Sports Museum.

Green was a three-sport athlete in high school and college, with a football coach dad. Her love of sports motivated her to help initiate “a brick and mortar museum” that will celebrate women’s roles in athletics. She started by chairing last year’s fund-raising gala; now she’s president of the museum board.

Green envisions virtual reality exhibits and educational programming that can get the community excited even before a permanent building comes to fruition, with plans for a pop-up space or temporary location opening this year.

The idea for the museum originated with Englewood’s Sue Zipay, who played baseball for the Rockford Peaches in the 1950s and appeared briefly in the film, A League of Their Own. Green says the museum “would be the only one of its kind in the world,” and that even though “women’s” appears in the name, it’s meant not only to celebrate women’s accomplishments but to help both girls and boys see the struggles women have faced.

“Through sports, we make connections with others,” says Green, who sees our area as a hotbed for sports tourism. “We’re excited to bring something of this magnitude” to town. The Women’s Sports Museum’s next gala is set for Oct. 19, and scholarships to area girls will be presented then.