Monday, February 14, 2005
While the women’s basketball team celebrated a victory against Colorado, the Athletics Department held a celebration of its own to honor girls and women in sports.
For yesterday’s 19th annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day, current and former Kansas female student-athletes were recognized at Allen Fieldhouse during the game. Fifty former letter winners as well as current Jayhawks from nine of 11 teams were presented to the crowd of 2,265 during television timeouts at the game.
After the game, current Kansas student-athletes signed autographs for fans in the fieldhouse.
“It was exciting,” former Kansas tennis player and 1985 graduate Steffanie Keefer said. “It’s always good to recognize women’s sports.”
The ceremony was part of NGWSD, which was chartered by Congress in 1986 to give recognition to female athletes and stress the importance of their participation in sports and physical fitness.
“Hats off to the marketing and promotions department for recognizing National Girls and Women in Sports Day,” coach Bonnie Henrickson said. “There were a lot of former and current athletes that hopefully enjoyed the afternoon and got some love and recognition from the crowd.”
NGWSD is celebrated in every state. Ceremonies honoring girls and women in sports take place all over the country during February. This year’s theme, “More Than a Game,” looks to continually increase national acknowledgment of women’s sports throughout recent history.
Originally, the event was organized to recognize Flo Hyman, an Olympic silver medalist in volleyball.
Hyman lead the U.S. team to international prominence during the 1984 Olympic Games.
Hyman died while playing volleyball in 1986 because of a connective tissue disorder known as Marfan’s Syndrome.
According to womensportsfoundations.org, NGWSD is sponsored primarily by seven national organizations that comprise the National Girls and Women in Sport coalition. The American Association of University Women; Girls Incorporated; Girl Scouts; National Association for Girls and Women in Sport; National Women’s Law Center; the Women’s Sports Foundation and the YWCA all lend support to the day of recognition.
Outside of Kansas, other events including sports clinics, luncheons and award ceremonies take place throughout February.
The attendance at yesterday’s game for NGWSD represented the fourth largest crowd of the season for the women’s basketball team.
“There was a lot of energy for our team and we really appreciate it,” Henrickson said.
Both the softball and tennis teams could not attend due to athletic competitions. Softball played at the Hilton Classic in Las Cruces, N.M., and the tennis team took on No. 14 Texas in Overland Park.
Edited by Jennifer Voldness
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