Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State Honors Girls and Women in Sports
1/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | General
Photo Gallery Jan. 24, 2010
FRESNO, Calif. - Girls and women of all ages enjoyed numerous activities on the campus of Fresno State on Saturday as part of National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
The afternoon began with a sports clinic for approximately 40 young girls at the North Gym. The girls were split into five groups that went through five rotations of sports clinics that were run by the Fresno State women's softball, volleyball, soccer, lacrosse and golf teams.
In the rotations, the girls learned how to hit and pitch (softball), pass and work on footwork (volleyball), dribble (soccer), catch and dig balls (lacrosse) and putt (golf).
"Today was really special because it gave a chance for young girls to come out and learn about a lot of different sports," said Callie Seidman, a sophomore on the women's lacrosse team. "There was a time when women's sports weren't a big deal and now they are and we are really fortunate now to be able to play at the collegiate level."
After the clinic, the student-athletes signed autographs and the entire group walked through campus to the Save Mart Center for the women's basketball game.
Meanwhile, in the Bulldog Foundation Room at the Save Mart Center, former student-athletes from the 1960's reunited with some of their former teammates and were honored for their contribution to women's sports by Athletic and University Administration.
These former student-athletes and coaches were some of the first at Fresno State in the sports of volleyball, basketball, tennis and badminton.
"It's hard to even describe what it feels like to be back here," said Joyce Cade, one of the stars of the women's basketball team in the 1960's at Fresno State. "For years and years you think about what female athletes didn't have and to see what they have now, I just always wished they could see what it was like in the beginning and today we got that chance to show them and get together with people I haven't seen in 40 years."
After they mingled and shared stories with current student-athletes, the ladies from the 60's then went and watched the current women's basketball team defeat Louisiana Tech. At half-time, these ladies were escorted by another group of current female student-athletes and honored on the court. At that time they also received Athletic Letters that did not exist for women in the 1960's.
"I want to thank the committee that helped put this day together," said Senior Women's Administrator Betsy Mosher. "All the work they did to hunt down the names of these women to get them here was well worth it after seeing the looks on their faces here today."
"We Are Your Team" - For tickets log on to www.gobulldogs.com.
