Fresno State Athletics
Celebrating 30 Years of Title IX is National Theme in All 50 States
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Jan. 24, 2002
FRESNO, Calif. -
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National Girls & Women in Sports Day
The Fresno State celebration will be among more than 1,500 National Girls and Women in Sports Day activities held throughout the country on Feb. 6, 2002.
Established by Congress by joint resolution in 1986 to acknowledge the achievements of girls and women in sports and the importance of their participation, the Fresno State Athletics Department is in its sixth consecutive year of paying tribute to its female student-athletes and coaching staff.
In 1971, the year before the passage of Title IX, one in 27 girls competed in high school sports. Today, that number is one in three. In 1972, the number of women participating in sports was 1 in 25. In 2002, the number is 1 in 2.5.
Fresno State, which is committed to providing the best opportunities it can for women and their arena of sport, recognizes that the visibility and success of Bulldog Athletics is to be thanked in large part to the women athletes of today and those before them.
With the 16th Annual National Girls & Women in Sports Day to be celebrated nationwide on Wednesday, Feb. 6, the Fresno State Athletics Department will honor its women's teams and coaches that evening with a special celebration on campus from 6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
"Celebrating 30 Years of Title IX" is the theme of the 16th Annual National Girls & Women in Sports Day as the event will be observed nationwide.
Featuring all nine Fresno State women's sports teams, Fresno State will conduct question and answer sessions on team and individual sports from 7:10 p.m. - 8:15 p.m. in the North and South Gyms. From 8:20 p.m. - 9:00 p.m., there will be raffles, an autograph session and refreshments with Fresno State student-athletes and their coaching staff.
National Girls & Women in Sports Day was organized to remember and honor the dignity, spirit, and commitment to excellence by USA Olympic volleyball player Flo Hyman, who died suddenly of Marfan's Syndrome during a game in 1986.
The Women's Sports Foundation's Flo Hyman Award is awarded annually on National Girls & Women Sports Day to the female athlete who exemplifies Hyman's spirit. Past recipients include gymnast Mary Lou Retton, tennis champions Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, track and field stars Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Evelyn Ashford, golfers Nancy Lopez and Patty Sheehan, world disabled ski champion Diana Golden, basketball champions Lisa Leslie and Lynette Woodard, seven-time Olympic gymnastic gold medalist Nadia Comaneci, and the most decorated U.S. athlete in Winter Olympics history in speedskater Bonnie Blair, and tennis champion Monica Seles.
National Girls & Women Sports Day is sponsored by five prominent national organizations: Girls Inc., Girl Scouts of the USA, National Association of Girls and Women in Sports, Women's Sports Foundation, and YWCA of the USA National Board.
To register and to receive more information on the event at Fresno State, call the Fresno State Marketing Office at (559) 244-2800.