Springfield native Kellsea Vasileff is one of the Wittenberg players girls in the community can meet and learn more about during the second annual campus celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
Springfield, Ohio — The Wittenberg University women's basketball team will again host a sports expo and a postgame meet and greet/autograph session with its players as part of a celebration of National Girls And Women In Sports Day (NGWSD) on Saturday, Feb. 7.
The HPER Center Gymnasium will come alive with sports of all sorts at 1 p.m. All 12 Wittenberg women's varsity athletics teams and several club sports will be represented, as team members and coaches provide the hundreds of invited Springfield-area children with camp information, slideshows and sports demonstrations.
A local sports nutritionist, an orthopedic specialist and a certified athletic trainer, along with professional female football player Andrea Judy, will be on hand to share their experiences working in athletics-related careers. There will also be a table highlighting Tiger women's sports history, which is being organized by Professor of Health, Fitness and Sport Linda Arena, who won 192 games in 17 seasons as Wittenberg's field hockey coach and also served as the university's women's director of athletics for more than a decade.
NGWSD began in 1987 to honor former Olympic volleyball player Flo Hyman. Since its inception, NGWSD has evolved into a day to acknowledge the past and recognize current sports achievements, the positive influence of sports participation, and the continuing struggle for equality and access for women in sports.
Considering Wittenberg's success in intercollegiate women's athletics and its history of support for female participation in recreational activities, it is fitting that the university is celebrating NGWSD. Numerous pioneers in the field of collegiate women's athletics, most notably Betty Dillahunt, class of 1946, have played and/or coached at Wittenberg. Tiger teams have achieved a great deal on the field of play, including three straight NCAA Division III semifinal appearances by the volleyball team (2005, 2006 and 2007) and NCAA Division III Round of 16 finishes for the women's basketball and women's soccer teams in the last six years as well.
"NGWSD is a wonderful way to celebrate female participation in sports and recreational activities and to promote healthy lifestyles," said Wittenberg Women's Basketball Head Coach Sarah Jurewicz. "We look forward to sharing with the Springfield community the way athletics can positively impact young peoples' lives.
"Hopefully, exposure to these athletic activities and athletic professions will help them make recreational activities a significant part of their adult lives."
The Tigers, who have records of 11-6 overall and 6-3 in the NCAC heading into a key game at the College of Wooster on Saturday, Jan. 31, tip off an important conference game at 2 p.m. in Pam Evans Smith Arena against Hiram College. There will be no admission charge for the game. Throughout the game Tiger apparel from a variety of women's sports will be given away and NGWSD wristbands will be for sale.
The expo will continue during halftime. The meet and greet/autograph session with Wittenberg women's basketball team members will take place immediately after the game.
Written By: Ryan Maurer
Photo By: Erin Pence
004-09