By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- Willamette University Athletics will be leading several activities this week to celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Each of the events will take place at the Sparks Athletic Center on the WU campus.
This year, the official National Girls and Women in Sports Day is Wednesday, Feb. 1. On Wednesday, members of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) will serve cake in the lobby of the Sparks Center from 12:30 p.m. until 1:30 p.m. to celebrate the NGWSD as well as the start of Willamette's 175th year.
On Friday, Feb. 3, girls 12 and under are invited to attend the Willamette women's basketball game against Pacific Lutheran University for FREE. Game time is set for 6 p.m. (PST). Youth teams are encouraged to wear their team jerseys and cheer on the Bearcats.
"The Athletics Department is looking forward to all of our special events this week," said Leslie Shevlin, head swimming coach and SAAC advisor. "We are proud to celebrate the importance of our women in sport at Willamette and in the Salem community. We will honor the impact sport has had on our current student-athletes as well as our department staff, our coaches and our female faculty."
Also on Friday, SAAC will be raising funds for the Marion-Polk Food Share as part of the annual Northwest Conference Winter Fundraiser. The SAAC groups at each of the NWC's nine colleges and universities are participating in the competition, which will also include Saturday, Feb. 4. The winner will be the SAAC group that raises the most money and other donations.
Willamette's basketball teams will be at home on both Feb. 3. and Feb. 4. At both games each day, SAAC members will walk through the stands during to gather donations of coins and paper currency. Pay-to-shoot activities at halftime of both basketball games on Friday, Feb. 3, also will raise funds.
All day on Friday and Saturday, SAAC members will take donations of canned food as well as cash. Food will count as 80 cents per can toward the fund raising competition. In addition to collecting cans and cash at basketball games, SAAC will have a donation table on campus on Friday.
"We are happy to support our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee as they raise money for the Marion-Polk Food Share," Shevlin said. "We ask everyone to come out to support Bearcat basketball and our fund raising efforts this Friday and Saturday. The committee will accept everything from coins to cans with all proceeds going to support the fight against hunger."