February 7 is National Girls and Women in Sports Day. The annual occasion was established in 1987 to acknowledge the essential half ladies play in sports activities. It continues to boost consciousness and the necessity to promote gender equality. The thought of ladies in sports activities isn’t nearly athletes and coaches on the sector or on the court docket. It’s about ladies who work in sports activities whether or not it’s within the media, as officers, or in a wide range of roles in administration for skilled, collegiate, and highschool athletics applications.

As for the longer term, the ladies who work in sports activities now look ahead to setting an instance for young women and women at present.

“One thing I didn’t realize when I was growing up was all the different types of jobs you can have working in athletics,” Ludwig mentioned. “Until I got to college, I thought you had to be coach and that was pretty much it. If you have a passion for sport, don’t think that you have to play it or have to coach it. There are so many ways that you can be connected to what you love and be impactful.”

“Don’t let being a woman hold you back,” Cox mentioned. “You’re going to have to work harder than some other people. You have to put yourself out there. Don’t let the fear of rejection stop you from following your path. At some point you have to make your own opportunities and force people to tell you no.”

“You sort of have to grab hold of the fear and accept that there will be some nerves,” Lang mentioned. “You have to be OK with messing up because you’re going to make mistakes. I still have to remind myself of that to this day!”

“Find your passion and do what it takes to realize it,” Van Horn mentioned. “Be sure to pay it forward and do what you can to lift someone else up.”