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National Girls & Women in Sports Day brings Chapel Hill community together

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UNC Women’s Field Hockey show young girls how to dribble with a stick during UNC’s National Girls & Women in Sports Day on Jan 26, 2025, at the Bill Koman Practice Complex to highlight women’s athletics in North Carolina.

On Sunday in the Bill Koman Practice Complex, two toddler girls tangled themselves in a lacrosse net, their laughter spilling across the gym as UNC women’s lacrosse players crouched to free them.

Not far away, a little girl in a frilly dress leaped for a volleyball spike, while three young boys with field hockey sticks debated UNC’s identity: basketball school, field hockey school or women’s soccer school?

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UNC Women’s Field Hockey teaches young girls how to hold a stick during UNC’s National Girls & Women in Sports Day on Jan 26, 2025, at the Bill Koman Practice Complex to highlight women’s athletics in North Carolina.

At UNC’s annual National Girls & Women in Sports Day, the games were small but the stakes were big. For 90 minutes, the future of sports played out as kids darted between stations led by UNC’s female athletes. Afterward, attendees were given complimentary tickets to the women’s basketball game. Nearly all 15 women’s varsity teams participated, and more than 1,000 attendees filled the complex.  

The event dates back to over a decade ago when Associate Director of Academic Support for Student-Athletes Jenn Townsend pitched the idea to Senior Associate Athletic Director Cricket Lane. That first event, organized by Townsend, Lane and a then-senior softball player, featured just a handful of mini-clinics and drew a modest crowd. Since then, the event has grown into one of the athletic department's most celebrated community outreach initiatives. 

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UNC Women’s Soccer teaches young girls how to shoot a goal during UNC’s National Girls & Women in Sports Day on Jan 26, 2025, at the Bill Koman Practice Complex to highlight women’s athletics in North Carolina.

At its core, the event has remained true to its mission: showcasing UNC’s women’s teams and exposing young athletes to new sports.

“It’s kind of inherent in my personality to want to champion things that maybe won't get attention otherwise,” Townsend said

At the rowing station, senior rower Claudia Quintaba watched as kids lined up to test their strength at the erg machines, some returning for second and third turns. 

“We put so much work in behind the scenes, and if you want to come just try out what we do, for even a little bit of time, [that] really means a lot to us,” Quintaba said. “It’s really rewarding for us to be able to share what we do with the community and have this space for kids to see if they might enjoy doing one of these sports later on.”

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UNC Women’s Gymnastics demonstrates how to tumble during UNC’s National Girls & Women in Sports Day on Jan 26, 2025, at the Bill Koman Practice Complex to highlight women’s athletics in North Carolina.

UNC’s assistant softball coach, Aquila Mateen James, juggled her daughter on her hip as she took in the scene.

James said that it is a big responsibility for the student athletes to be role models, but it is amazing to be able to empower younger girls to get into sports.

“There [are] tremendous role models here at UNC,” John O’Brien said, who brought his daughter, Claire, to the event. “For my daughter to be able to meet and greet some of them and try some of these new sports is encouraging and motivating for her.”

Gianna Bruner, a recurring attendee of the event, stood near her favorite station with the women’s soccer team. Bruner said that it would be amazing to play soccer at UNC one day. Maggie Miltenberg, daughter of track and field and cross country director Chris Miltenberg, said that she wants to grow up to be an inspiration to girls one day.

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UNC Women’s Soccer teaches young girls how to shoot a goal during UNC’s National Girls & Women in Sports Day on Jan 26, 2025, at the Bill Koman Practice Complex to highlight women’s athletics in North Carolina.

“I just feel really inspired by everybody here and I want to come to UNC one day maybe and be a student-athlete,” Maggie Miltenberg said

As Townsend’s voice echoed over the loudspeaker, dismissing attendees to the women’s basketball game, young girls raced to get their final autographs on T-shirts and posters.

There was mutual affection to be observed in these exchanges, as the athletes saw reflections of the girls they once were while the girls gazed back at the women they hoped to become. 

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