On Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Angela Athletic and Wellness Complex, 125 participants aged six to 12 participated in Saint Mary's National Girls and Women in Sports Day Clinic. The free clinic, open to the community, provided young athletes with an opportunity to engage in various sports.
Saint Mary’s offered sessions during the clinic with all nine varsity sports, including basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, STUNT, tennis and volleyball. Athletics director Julie Schroeder-Biek emphasized how the event is special to Saint Mary’s as an all-women’s college and the effect it has on participants who attend.
“It's so natural for us being in an all-women's college to want to celebrate little girls in sport,” Schroeder-Biek said. “It has a big impact on the community and has been a very popular event for us, but it's our way to give back to the little girls and really try to expose them to sports and fitness.”
The event began with check-in, where participants received name tags and a schedule of the four sports clinics they would attend. Following check-in, parents and children went downstairs to hear an introduction to the event presented by Schroeder-Biek.
The sports clinics were held across Saint Mary's, including the basketball courts, track, fieldhouse, golf room and studio two.
Signs are shown on the windows of the golf room for where sports sessions are being held.
At the sports clinics, children were able to learn basic-level drills. For soccer, young athletes participated in cone-weaving drills and a red light, green light game.
“These are kind of intro-level sports, because we go for about two hours, so they're getting about 20 to 30 minutes in their sport,” Schroeder-Biek said.
Saint Mary's student-athletes were responsible for much of the event's execution. They aided youth participants by teaching basic principles of the sports and accompanying the young girls to their next clinic sessions.
Senior Emma Zmudzinski, a student-athlete on the lacrosse team, discussed what youth participants learned and experienced during the session the lacrosse team held.
“We did lots of throwing and catching ground balls, just the fundamentals of lacrosse, and then we were able to incorporate games in with the fundamentals, like musical ground balls,” Zmudzinski said.
Junior Julia Lizak, a student-athlete on the golf team, noted the benefits of being a mentor for young girls at this event.
“I love seeing all the young girls come out and learn the sport that they're interested in,“ Lizak said. “It just reminds me of when I was younger and how far girls can come. You can see their energy and how much they love being involved in that stuff.”
Following the sports sessions, youth participants and parents went back to the basketball courts for a wrap-up on the event and were given the opportunity to get signatures from student-athletes at the fieldhouse.
“They [student-athletes] are critical to us. They are our counselors, they are the teachers and they bring such great energy … Then at the very end, we do an autograph session, and the little girls get the autograph of our athletes who have put on the clinic,” Schroeder-Biek said.
Student-athletes enjoyed the autograph session as a final opportunity to interact with the kids one-on-one. Freshman Shannon Dudy, a student-athlete on the tennis team, felt the autograph session was a great aspect for the clinic to have.
“I think the autograph session is really cool because you can really see that the kids care about us as mentors and older peers,” Dudy said.
The clinic has been held for at least 10 years and has persisted despite challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, building reconstruction, renovation and field refurbishments.
Saint Mary's Sports Exploration Camp, launched five years ago, will take place from Monday, June 23 to Thursday, June 26, 2025, offering participants instruction in basic skills for Saint Mary's nine varsity sports.
Head volleyball coach Denise Van De Walle said she hopes youth participants felt welcome and had fun.
“I think the most important thing is that girls come and see what sports are out there, and they also come make new friends and especially have fun. We love to show what Saint Mary's offers and give them a taste of it in a real short time,” Van De Walle said.
Schroeder-Biek also hopes this event sparks a passion for young girls in pursuing sports throughout their adolescence and adulthood and actively taking part in living healthy lives.
“I hope that it ignites a passion in them for girls and women in sports, and I hope that they can see that sports are fun,” Schroeder-Biek said. ”Some of the studies say that if girls don't get involved in sports between six and 12-years-old, they're less likely to live an active lifestyle. So, it's our hope that we're going to expose them and just ignite that passion in them for activity and just moving their bodies.”
