SMC athletes host youth girls sports clinic

Girls ages 6 to 12 gather at Angela Athletic Facility to practice their favorite sports with college athletes

By AIDAN THOMAS sports e ditor

o n Friday evening, s aint m ary’s c ollege hosted a n ational g irls and women in s ports d ay clinic. They welcomed about 125 girls, ages 6-12, from the s outh b end community to participate in four 30-minute sessions with various b elles’ athletes. a thletes from all eight s aint m ary’s varsity teams spread out across the a ngela a thletic Facility, providing a series of fun drills and games for the participants. a head of the event, s aint m ary’s athletic director

Julie s chroeder- b iek spoke to the girls, emphasizing the importance of getting to celebrate the day. b iek noted, chuckling that she was ‘dating herself’, that while she was their age, there were no organized sports for girls and they had to play with the guys if the guys let them. The concept was met with a gasp from the assembled participants.

“ i t was just heartwarming to me. That’s just what i just wanted to tell you … that’s just going to stick in my brain forever,” b iek said.

“ i think that we have come to a time where they can’t imagine life without girls sports.” a fter the welcome, the girls split into various groups, attending the sports they had listed as their preferences ahead of the clinic. a cross various sports, the activities varied, with the b elles’ athletes teaching basic concepts of their sports and mixing in different games to keep the kids engaged. l acrosse started by going over some basics of handling a lacrosse stick, while on the volleyball courts, some of the athletes helped the kids work on serving the ball over the net. The basketball set up events like a dribble relay race and some shooting drills. The softball team set up various hitting and throwing stations around their section of the gym, and tennis athletes soft-tossed balls to girls