SBU to Welcome 400 for Annual National Girls, Women in Sports Day

By Kiara Catanzaro
SBU ’15

St. Bonaventure University will host its 28th annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 29.

Local high school girls and their coaches will participate in sporting event programs throughout the day with St. Bonaventure’s female student-athletes and staff.

The event, sponsored by the School of Education, the Department of Physical Education, the Department of Athletics, the Department of Military Science and the Visiting Scholars Program, will host 15 school districts including 400 women student-athletes along with their coaches and teachers.

Students from the following school districts will attend: Allegany-Limestone, Archbishop Walsh, Austin Area Schools, Bath, Bolivar-Richburg, Bradford, Cuba-Rushford, Fillmore, Franklinville, Jamestown-Lutheran, Portville, Randolph, Seneca Nation, South Park and Southwestern.

After 9 a.m. registration, students will listen to a keynote address from alumnus Amy Moritz, ’95, a sports reporter for The Buffalo News and former St. Bonaventure women’s basketball manager. During her address, “Women in Sports Media: Moving Beyond the Pink Ghetto,” Moritz plans to talk a little bit about her personal story, how the place of women in sports media has evolved and what challenges still lie ahead.

There will be two 45-minute clinics for students with the following St. Bonaventure women’s sports teams: softball, basketball, soccer, lacrosse, rugby, tennis, swimming and cross-country.

Army ROTC, physical education and sport studies majors will present a fitness challenge and strength and conditioning option for participating students. Claire Watson, chair of the Department of Physical Education, will host a health and wellness promotion as part of the fitness challenge. Becky Misenheimer, assistant professor of visual and performing arts, will host an exhibition with the Enchanted Mountain Roller Derby.

After both clinics, students will receive lunches donated by St. Bonaventure students. Visiting students will also have an opportunity to meet Pat Laczkowski from Rugby NY’s Project 2020.

From 1 to 2 p.m., St. Bonaventure’s admissions team will provide tours of campus for students.

At 3 p.m., students and their coaches with have an opportunity to attend an optional St. Bonaventure women’s softball practice.

The National Girls and Women in Sports Coalition started in 1987 in remembrance of Flo Hyman, an Olympic volleyball player who died in 1986 while competing in a volleyball tournament in Japan.

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