Jan. 24, 2008

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - USC Upstate will host its first National Girls & Women in Sports Day celebration on Feb. 2, as part of the women's basketball team's Atlantic Sun Conference game with Mercer at the Hodge Center. The event, which is also an NCAA Pack the House event, will feature a poster contest and a free all-sports clinic, with the day's events kicking off at 11:30 a.m. Admission to all participants in the celebration (children under the age of 14) is free and family members will be admitted for $1.

The event will feature two poster giveaways, with the first 100 participants receiving a National Girls & Women In Sports Day poster autographed by all Spartan women's athletics teams. After the women's basketball game, the Spartans will be available to autograph their team poster.

"This will be a great event for all of women's athletics in the community of Upstate South Carolina," Upstate Senior Women's Administrator Tami Matheny said. "For 22 years, National Girls and Women in Sports Day has been at the forefront of recognizing the importance of athletics in young girls' and women's lives. USC Upstate's athletics department is glad to lend its resources and our student-athletes to put women's athletics in the spotlight. We hope the community will embrace the event and that we can make this a tradition."

The day will begin in the auxiliary gymnasium in the Hodge Center at 11:30 a.m. with the USC Upstate women's golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field, volleyball and cheerleading teams hosting a free sports clinic, with members of each team on hand to instruct. At 1 p.m., there will be a poster contest, with all the poster board and markers provided to all participants.

At 2 p.m., the Upstate women's basketball team will take the floor in the main gym of the Hodge Center, facing off against A-Sun foe Mercer. At halftime, there will be a poster parade and the winner of the poster contest will be announced. The winner of the contest will receive a T-shirt and ticket pack to future Upstate women's basketball games.

If you have any questions about attending the Upstate National Girls & Women In Sports Day celebration at the Hodge Center, please contact Upstate's Director of Marketing Katie Pate at 864-503-5893 or kpate@uscupstate.edu.

NGWSD is celebrated in all 50 states with community-based events, award ceremonies, and activities honoring the achievements and encouraging participation of girls and women in sports. NGWSD began in 1987 as a day to remember Olympic volleyball player Flo Hyman for her athletic achievements and her work to assure equality for women's sports. Hyman died of Marfan's Syndrome in 1986 while competing in a volleyball tournament in Japan. Since that time, NGWSD has evolved into a day to acknowledge the past and recognize current sports achievements, the positive influence of sports participation, and the continuing struggle for equality and access for women in sports.

NGWSD is jointly organized by the National Girls and Women in Sport Coalition. The Coalition combines the experience and resources of the six premier girls- and women-serving organizations in the United States: Girl Scouts of the USA, Girls Incorporated, the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport, National Women's Law Center, the Women's Sports Foundation, and the YWCA USA.