Kylie Kelce has launched the Kylie Kelce Dove campaign called Back Her Game, partnering with Dove to send one US high school girls’ sports team to a FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 match. The prize takes the winning team to Brazil, where the tournament is staged, for a live match experience.
Dove is an Official Sponsor of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027, and the campaign sits squarely within that partnership. To enter, coaches across the United States must post a video on Instagram or TikTok before 4 October, explaining how their team builds confidence on the field. According to PRNewswire, the contest is open to legal residents of the 50 US states and Washington D.C., aged 18 and over, who are authorised coaches of girls’ sports teams made up of players between the ages of 13 and 18.
The Dropout Statistic Driving the Kylie Kelce Dove Campaign
The backdrop to the initiative is a body-confidence crisis in girls’ sport. Dove’s own research found that one in two girls who quit sport have been criticised for their body type, a figure that frames why the Back Her Game contest is structured around confidence rather than purely competitive achievement. Kelce has spoken about this dynamic directly, noting that girls are leaving athletics not because of a lack of ability, but because of external pressure and self-doubt.
‘You’re talking about these women who are just going out there and being badass,’ Kelce said, reflecting on the current generation of women athletes. ‘And not only do I get to now watch them and cheer them on and appreciate them, but this is the world our girls are growing up in, how lucky are we?’
For Kelce, the visibility of women’s sport today represents a fundamental shift from her own formative years. She grew up watching Mia Hamm, which she described as ‘an amazing thing to get to have as a core memory’, but acknowledged the limitations of that era. ‘It was slim pickings,’ she said. ‘It was so small, the opportunity, for women to sort of take that national stage, and now we have all of these women who are just absolutely demanding people be interested because they have the skill, they have the determination, they have the grit.’
Coaching, Playing, and an Eye on Philly Women’s Sport
Kelce coaches field hockey at her high school alma mater, a role that puts her in daily contact with exactly the demographic the Dove campaign targets. She played multiple sports growing up (soccer, lacrosse, softball, basketball) before field hockey took hold. The sport eventually led her to transfer to Cabrini College to compete at Division III level. ‘The joy that field hockey brought me, being around my team, playing the sport, feeling accomplished, that was worth it to me to keep going,’ she said.
That coaching experience informs her understanding of what young female athletes need. She described finding a new challenge each time she works with players, supporting them in their individual goals rather than applying a single template. She no longer plays field hockey herself, but, as she put it, ‘I get to talk about it almost every day.’
Her enthusiasm for women’s sport stretches well beyond the touchline. Kelce said she has been ‘star struck’ meeting today’s leading athletes. ‘I got to talk to A’ja Wilson. My brain melted. Trinity Rodman. My brain melted,’ she said. The growth in viewership around women’s sport, she added, is exciting not only for the next generation but for adult fans as well.
Looking further ahead, Kelce has not ruled out owning a women’s sports franchise one day, provided it is based in Philadelphia. ‘It would have to be Philly,’ she said. ‘There’s no other option.’ She was clear that a move of that kind would require ‘the perfect scenario, the perfect storm’ rather than any rushed decision.
As for her four daughters, Wyatt, Elliotte, Bennett, and Finnley, they are currently trying soccer, martial arts, and gymnastics. Kelce is relaxed about where any of it leads. Her husband Jason Kelce was in competition jazz band at school, she noted, so the family is ‘prepared for the arts’ just as much as for athletics. ‘We upped our odds,’ she said, with four children testing different paths.
The Back Her Game entry window runs until 4 October, with the winning team’s trip to Brazil for a FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 match representing the headline prize.