Girls’ event planned by NHS coaches to spur involvement
Avery important event is taking place starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Newcastle High School Fieldhouse Hospitality Room tomorrow (Friday). Girls soccer coach Lauren Dansby and Hannah Evans have planned a program called Empowering Girls Through Sports.
If you look up the definition for empowerment, it is the “process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one’s life and claiming one’s rights.” The intent of the Empowering Girls’ event is to show the importance of getting girls active in playing team sports, as well as the outcome for those who do.
Coach Tom Pecore said research shows that girls who play sports in school do better. He said the meet and greet program’s intent is to find the girls who don’t play sports, or the ones who quit, or those who aren’t necessarily athletic and get girls involved.
Coach Dansby said any female student attending Newcastle Middle School or Newcastle High School is invited to attend. Parents of female students also may attend.
Dansby said, “Together we will play fun games, eat snacks, talk about friendships, what it is like to live a healthy lifestyle, and what it means to play sports for your school.”
Dansby said those attending will meet current and former female collegiate athletes from Oklahoma University, the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Baptist University, Southern Nazarene University, West Point, and the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. These women will discuss the benefits of being involved in athletics through the school.
While Dansby and Evans are the event facilitators, Dr. Beth Brown, Ph.D., a former OU golfer and basketball player and published author, is also helping facilitate. According to her website, adventureswithdivotandswish. com, Brown “is a life-long educator on a mission to inspire families and kids to have fun, become more active and learn life skills through sports.”
That’s what her book, “Adventures with Divot and Swish,” is all about.
Her website further states, “As her love for sports continued, she realized the unique opportunity sport has to impact not only physical abilities, but life skill development as well. This led Beth to earn her Ph.D. in sport psychology at the University of Kansas. Since then, she’s gone on to influence and impact thousands through her roles as a golf coach, an educational program developer at First Tee and LPGA-USGA Girls Golf, and founder of the coaching and consulting agency, Team Aureus.”
In explaining the consulting business, another of Brown’s websites, teamaureus.com, states, “Team Aureus is on a mission to empower people to perform at their highest level in sports, business, and life.”
Other presenters or speakers at the Empowering Girls’ event include: Sam Pecore of USAO, Emily Biddick of West Point, Jessica Knehans of OU, Gracie Schmidt of USAO, Evans of OBU, and Dansby of UNCC.
They will focus on the benefits of being a female athlete, staying healthy through sports, the benefits of being a multi-sport athlete, being brave enough to try new things, making friendships through team sports, and playing and delighting in sports because it is fun.
There will be games to help everyone get to know each other, charcuterie-style snacks, “building a relationship with a sports role model,” a fireside chat with time for questions and answers, and then a concluding social time.
Girls sports available at Newcastle Public Schools are: soccer, cross country, track and field, swimming, cheerleading, pom, basketball, softball, volleyball, football and wrestling.
