National Girls and Women in Sports Day Celebration on Feb. 19

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Letterwinners from the first women’s varsity teams to compete at the University of Virginia will be honored at the National Girls and Women in Sports Day celebration when the Cavalier women’s basketball team hosts Duke on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 2 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena.

Since 1996, the Virginia Department of Athletics and the Maxine Platzer Lynn Women’s Center have collaborated to celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day, an event that brings national attention to the achievements of female athletes and issues facing girls and women in sports.

This year, the event’s theme will be “Half a Century of Opportunity. Half a Century of Excellence.” Members of the 1973-74 field hockey, basketball and tennis teams will be honored on the court at halftime of the game.

In addition to the halftime ceremony, there will also be a pregame NGWSD Youth Sports Festival held at John Paul Jones Arena on the upper concourse from 12:30 – 1:45 p.m. (Note: doors open 30 minutes earlier for this game). The festival will include sports stations for youth to visit, including field hockey, rowing, soccer, football and volleyball. Youth in eighth grade and under completing all of the sports stations will receive a complimentary t-shirt. Admission to the festival is free with a game ticket.

Recent honorees at Virginia’s National Girls and Women in Sports Day celebration include NFL Vice President of Health and Safety Initiatives Jennifer Langton, Olympic-gold-medalists Leah Smith, Lauren Perdue and Lindsay Shoop, the 1993 women’s basketball and 1991 women’s lacrosse teams, philanthropist and two-time women’s volleyball MVP Amy (Mitchell) Griffin, former UVa track standout and varsity football coach at Calvin Coolidge High School Natalie Randolph and longtime administrators Jane Miller and Barbara Kelley.