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February 3 is National Girls and Women in Sports
Day. Since its inception in 1987, NGWSD has become
the premiere occasion to celebrate the participation, success
and accomplishments of girls and women athletes.
Started as a single event in Washington, D.C. to honor
Olympic volleyball star Flo Hyman, it has grown into a
nationwide celebration.
The enactment of Title IX in 1972 opened countless
doors for women in athletics and brought to America’s
attention the idea that sports should be a place where all
girls and women can realize their potential. Without the
law, there would be no equal prize money, no Olympic
Gold for the U.S. softball team, and none of the other
unforgettable happenings in women’s sports.
To look at how far women have come…
1987 – One in 27 girls participated in high school varsity
sports
2009 – 1 in 2.5 played
1987 – 300,000 young women participated in interscholastic
athletics
2009 – More than 3 million female scholastic athletes
1987 – Women participated in only 13 of the 24 events of
the 1984 Olympic Games
2009 – In Beijing, female athletes competed in 28 of the
32 Olympic events
1987 – Female professional athletes received far less prize
money compared to their male counterparts
2009 – At Wimbledon in 2007 and the Winter X Games
in 2009, identical purses were given to both men
and women winners
(Provided by the National Women’s Sports Foundation)
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