High school athletes, women sports professionals and allies rallied to attend the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference’s (WCAC) second annual National Girls and Women in Sports Celebration on Thursday.
The event was one of hundreds held nationwide during the first week of February for National Girls and Women in Sports Day, an annual celebration that has recognized female athletes and advocates since 1987.
Dwayne Foster, the commissioner, creator and host of the event, spoke to open the event. He introduced the event’s presenting sponsor, Bras for Girls, a non-profit organization that donates new sports bras and breast development education booklets to girls in need. Some of their recipient programs include sports teams, school programs, community programs and other initiatives that elevate girls’ access to sports.
Jai’lyn Edwards is a North Carolina Central University graduate and a current Howard University doctoral student. During the event, Edwards spoke on behalf of Bras for Girls and explained why organizations like theirs are important for female athletes.
“Girls in sports significantly drop off between ages 10 through 17, and that is primarily due to finances and then girls not understanding their body images with their developing changes,” Edwards said.
The body image issue, she explained, connects directly to athletic wear.
“It’s important because you want to feel comfortable, you want to be safe while you’re playing and it just enhances overall body comfortability.”
Attendees gathered over food before the main part of the event, a panel titled ‘Lead Her Forward.’ The panel featured women in sports from all sectors, including Georgetown University Associate Athletic Director Dr. Cheri Hodges, Washington Commanders Coaching Chief of Staff Sarah Hogan, American University Associate Athletic Director Patty Medina and University of Maryland Eastern Shore Vice President of Athletics and Recreation Tara A. Owens.
Panelists were presented by moderator Ingrid Wicker McCree, a senior associate director at Duke Sports Sciences Institute.
The panel gave advice on various topics, such as strategies for managing stress, along with what “lead her forward” means to them, discussing leadership and women empowerment.
The second panel featured Catholic University of America Head Soccer Coach Casey Sommers, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Director of Athletics, Physical and Recreation Tiffany Tucker and Howard University Assistant Director of Football Operations Janice Pettyjohn.
The panelists opened by recounting experiences, people and stories that illustrated the moment they decided to choose a career in the sports industry; each panelist shared the pivotal moments that shaped their paths. They also offered wisdom they wished they’d had as high school athletes.
Pettyjohn is a 2022 Howard University graduate and the first woman hired for a full-time position on Howard University’s football team. She expressed why events like these are important for young women.
“Representation, access, and just giving people the ability to believe that it’s possible,” Pettyjohn said.
The reason those factors are interconnected, she noted, comes down to visibility.
“All can be true at the same time, but a lot of these jobs in these areas that women are in, a lot of women don’t even know exist because they’ve just never been in front of them for it to happen. So representation and access are major,” she continued.
At the end of each panel, the moderator closed things out with a round of rapid-fire questions, giving attendees a chance to get to know the panelists on a more personal level, with one question being “What is your go to karaoke song?”
On the attendees’ way out of the event, they were met with “swag bags” that contained event-themed shirts, WCAC merchandise and a Washington Capitals hat, along with a separate package of bras from Bras for Girls.
Distributing the bags was MJ Reynolds, a 2015 Howard University graduate currently wearing many hats in the sports industry. Reynolds is an evaluating scout, a coach for a Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) team and an academic coordinator for a boys academy. Reynolds shared her perspective on representation and opportunity in the sports industry.
“All of these spaces we have now for women are because another woman saw [that] the men have this and said let’s start this for the women,” Reynolds said. “I feel like events like this are important for us to know that we can do whatever we want in this world, whether in sport or in business.”
Copy edited by Daryl R. Thomas Jr.
