University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Celebrate Girls And Women In Sports Day
January 18, 2016 | Women's Rowing, Student-Athlete Development
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – UNC's fourth-annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day celebration, held Sunday morning, proved to be the biggest and best yet, drawing a crowd of more than 500 young athletes and their parents to Fetzer Gym on the North Carolina campus.
“The goal of this event is to give young Tar Heel fans a chance to come out and be active and interact with the student-athletes from our women's varsity teams,” said Cricket Lane, Assistant Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Development. “By that standard, I think it was a smashing success and the best one we've had. It was great to watch the kids running around and having a blast, and to see our female student-athletes having just as much fun getting to play and share their sports. Everyone had an awesome time.”
The action inside started just about the time the sleet let up outside. Still, it was an excellent day for indoor play, particularly with so many options. Student-athletes from the women's basketball, women's cross country, field hockey, women's fencing, women's golf, rowing, women's soccer, women's swimming & diving, women's tennis, women's track & field and volleyball teams provided the opportunity to try out various aspects of their sports. Some had to be more creative than others: fencing brought along foam weapons, golf brought putting greens and the swimmers and divers devised a relay race. Track also put on a relay race, including small hurdles, and the rowers brought over “erg” machines, stationary rowers they use for dry-land training, as well as one of the long oars with which they row.
“I really enjoyed seeing the kids try the rowing machines for the first time,” said senior biology major Chelsea Gustafson, a rowing team captain and one of the student-athletes who helped to organize the event. “Everyone was having a good time and the kids would come back after they learned how to row so they could race against their friends. It reminded me of why I like to do my sport and the joy that it can bring people. It was also fun to introduce people to the rowing machine because rowing is not a very popular sport in North Carolina and everyone was very curious about it.”
UNC sponsors 15 women's sports, and all but three were present. (Gymnastics, lacrosse and softball had other team events or competitions going on.) In addition, organizations like Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, Healthy Girls Save the World, Girls on the Run, I9 Sports and the Carolina Women's Center were there to add to the fun.
“NGWSD is one of my favorite events we get to participate in every year,” said volleyball senior Paige Neuenfeldt, a business major and another of the event's student organizers. “It's a great way for young athletes to come out and interact with their role models, and for us as student-athletes to get to give back to the community. It's an honor to be a part of organizing this great event and to be a part of empowering young females to get out and go play sports!”
Players Mentioned
