BLACKSBURG – The 33rd annual National Girls & Women in Sports Day will be held Wednesday, but Virginia Tech Athletics plans on making that day the start of a month-long celebration of its female student-athletes and former female student-athletes who served as pioneers for the current successes in women's sports at Tech.
National Girls & Women in Sports Day, sponsored by the Women's Sports Foundation, was created to recognize the accomplishments and impact of female athletes, while also empowering future females to get moving, reap the benefits of physical activity, and push past their limits both in sports and in life. The confidence, strength and character gained through sports are the tools that women need to become strong leaders in today's world.
This year's theme is "Lead Her Forward," which serves to honor the ways that sports push girls and women to achieve excellence and realize their boundless potential.
"We're proud to be a part of National Girls & Women in Sports Day and to do our part in celebrating and promoting women in sports," Virginia Tech Senior Associate Athletics Director and Senior Woman Administrator Reyna Gilbert-Lowry said. "Here at Virginia Tech, we're proud of our female student-athletes, both past and present, and applaud them as they make gains both in their sports and in the professional world. One of our many roles as an athletics department is to support student-athletes on their journeys while at Virginia Tech and after graduation, and it's a role that we welcome and take seriously."
Tech athletics department officials have several events planned as part of the celebration related to National Girls & Women in Sports Day. The list starts with a handing out of free smoothies to student-athletes and staff members Wednesday in the Nutrition Oasis, a room in Cassell Coliseum used for providing fuel for student-athletes before, during and after practice.
Also, the department plans on recognizing both Virginia Tech female student-athletes and local female youth athletes at halftime of the women's basketball game against Louisville on Sunday. Local youth will receive complimentary access to the game by simply wearing their uniform. Virginia Tech student-athletes also will be on hand at the National Girls & Women in Sports Day photo booth on the concourse near section 1.
In addition, athletics department officials want to reach out into the community and plan on offering seven local girls ages 9-12 interested in sports jobs an opportunity to shadow certain employees within the athletics department during the game. Parents can sign up their daughters by using the following link here.
Plus, there will be an increased social media presence on Tech's individual sports accounts that pays homage to both current female student-athletes and former ones – and to some of the memorable moments in Tech athletics history provided by these women. Academic accomplishments will be recognized, too, as five of the top six team grade-point averages at Tech this past fall were held by women's teams, led by the women's tennis (3.58) and volleyball (3.51) squads.
In addition to celebrating the accomplishments of women in sports, the Women's Sports Foundation also wants to protect athletics opportunities for women that provide lifelong benefits. College athletics certainly provides many of those opportunities.
At Virginia Tech, the athletics department offers nearly 300 participation opportunities for 219 female student-athletes through its 22 varsity sports. The university started sponsoring women's varsity sports in 1976 by elevating women's basketball and women's swimming to varsity status and have added at least one female varsity sport in three of the past four decades. The most recent addition came in 2015 with the sponsoring of women's golf as a varsity sport.
For the past three years, the Virginia Tech Athletics Department has been the host for the Celebration of Women's Sports luncheon/dinner and online auction. All proceeds benefit female sports and female student-athletes at Tech.
To learn more on National Girl & Women in Sports Day and the Women's Sports Foundation, and how it supports female athletes, please click here.
