Organic Runner Mom

Happy National Girls and Women in Sport Day!

Today is the 34th Annual National Girls & Women in Sports Day! This is an important day to recognize all that has been achieved by female athletes, the coaches and role models who lead them and the potential and positive influence that athletics brings to all girls and women. This day was started by the Women’s Sports Foundation. Communities across the United States are holding events in recognition of this day.

I am very fortunate to have grown up at an age where women’s and girl’s sports were growing. Title IX was enacted in 1972 to prohibit federally funded educational institutions from discriminating against students or employees based on sex. This meant a growth in women’s athletics with the addition of varsity sports programs for women and more scholarships available to women in sports programs. I am also lucky to have attended an all girl’s School where we had access to sports and were encouraged to participate.

Happy National Girls and Women In Sport Day!!! Come join the celebration with me and read about how sports have helped to shape me! #ngwsd #WomensSportsFdn #girlsinsport #womeninsport

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I am also very lucky to have encountered several coaches throughout my athletic career to date that were champions of women’s sports. One of my most memorable coaches was Coach Liesel Hud who became the first coach of the inaugural Agnes Irwin Rowing Program in the spring of 1993. She was the perfect fit for our brand new team of rowers. Liesel was a National Level Rower for the United States. Liesel introduced our fledgling team of rowers to the sport of Crew at the Philadelphia Girls Rowing Club on the Schuylkill River In Philadelphia. She taught us the technique and skills that we needed to move the boats forward. She challenged us to work hard and to work as a team. Even though we were all new to the sport she believed in our abilities to come together and to be successful. Liesel motivated us to work hard. She believed in us as athletes but also impressed upon us that it was important to keep up with our studies too.

Coach Liesel made me fall in love with rowing and made me want to work hard in sport to succeed. She was influential in helping me to become the athlete that I still consider myself to be today. Today we need to celebrate coaches like Liesel and all of the female role models in sport. We need to celebrate all of the girls and women who get out and move their bodies in sports every day. I am thankful to have had the opportunity to participate in sports throughout my life because I have learned not only the sports but also valuable life lessons along the way.

My daughter now plays sports and joined her first ever Field Hockey team this past fall. It was exciting to watch her gain new confidence and skills on the field. She was fortunate to have had two awesome female coaches who inspired the girls and who gave all of the girls ample playing time during games to help them to become better players But most of all they were encouraging and positive. I hope that my daughter will continue to have positive experiences in sport as she grows up as I feel that sports can play a huge role in helping to shape who she becomes.

Celebrate National Girls And Women In Sport Day with Me. Tell me who an influential coach was/is for you in women’s sports or about a female athlete that you admire and why.