National Women and Girls in Sports Day Celebrated in Norville by Loyola

Most days, the Norville Athletic Center is home to Loyola’s 13 Division I sports. But Feb. 11, it was packed with young children who were there to celebrate the National Girls and Women in Sports Day event hosted by the Loyola Athletic Department.

The event took place at 12:30 p.m. before the women’s basketball team faced Davidson College at 2 p.m., which resulted in a 48-45 loss for the Ramblers. 

Loyola’s women’s soccer, golf, volleyball and spirit teams were in attendance, as well as multiple club sports like field hockey and lacrosse. At each table, kids were given the opportunity to try out a new sport with guidance from members of each team. 

With over 250 attendees, the majority being young girls, Rambler athletes from all organizations helped kids try out new and different sports. 

The children in attendance had the opportunity to get their face temporarily tattooed like the Rambler cheerleaders and dance team, shoot some pucks with club women’s hockey, test their jumping abilities with ultimate frisbee and even take a few shots at soccer players. 

Before the event concluded, Loyola women’s basketball head coach Allison Guth gave a speech thanking the attendees for spending their Sunday morning supporting the dreams of many young girls. 

“That’s the thing that’s bringing us all together today is a love of sport,” Guth said. “We know and understand what sport can teach our kids.” 

Guth and many other Loyola athletes shared stories of not having a designated team to play on that fit their gender. Because of the growth of women and girls in sports, the option for girls to play on teams with other girls and have more sports options is now available, according to Guth. 

Abby Ball, a third-year forensic science major who is involved with women’s club rugby, said she resonated with Guth’s story, adding she had to be on men’s teams for sports she wanted to play growing up. She said she is hopeful to see young kids who can experience new sports on teams that match their identity. 

“I think it’s really great,” Ball said. “I was in a lot of male-dominated sports growing up, so it’s nice to see younger girls wanting to get interested in sports. I also think it’s a great opportunity to explore your options too, instead of trying to get thrown into a club.” 

The event had a low turnout last year with only four attendees, leading many of the athletes in attendance to be nervous about the event continuing for another year. Ball and women’s soccer’s Alaina Abel said they were pleasantly surprised after the event started. 

Abel, a fourth-year defender and captain of the women’s soccer team, said she thought the event had an amazing turnout and was proud of the impact she has on the younger generation of athletes. 

“It’s just really super inspiring to see that female athletes can empower the next generation to be strong and just confident in their skills and know they can do anything they put their mind to,” Abel said.

After the game against Davidson, Guth reflected on the events earlier in the day and how thankful she was to have the turnout they had. She also said the women who come after her in the sports industry are just as important as the ones who came before her, since there is still so much growth to come.

“When we will have made the most extreme strides are when we look in leadership positions across universities and we see female presidents and female athletic directors and we see more people who own those WNBA teams that are female,” Guth said. “That’s the work that is yet to be done. It’s so important because it really sheds light on the work that’s been done and the work we have to do.”

Featured image by Andi Revesz | The Phoenix