Hey, ladies, today is your day to go play outside.
Don’t give me that look. I know it’s possible that playing outside in February could include playing in the rain and mud, but we’re in Eugene. That happens.
But nevermind the weather. Today is National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Today is your day to play.
So grab your Frisbee, a couple friends and your most mud-proof sneakers and find an open field.
Or trade in the Frisbee and the field for a basketball and a court or any other sport you’d prefer to play on your day.
The day was chartered 18 years ago by Congress in recognition of the importance of fitness and participation in athletics for girls and women, as well as female athletic achievement.
Eighteen years later, the Women’s Sports Foundation also gives out the Flo Hyman Memorial Award to an athlete who embodies the “dignity, spirit and commitment to excellence” that the late Hyman, an Olympic volleyball player, possessed.
Across the country every Feb. 4, there are events, awards ceremonies and community-based activities to honor the national day. Everything from lectures to golf tournaments, sports clinics to activities at women’s collegiate athletic events will be used to celebrate the day this year.
There are no registered activities in Oregon, though, and just two in Washington. That doesn’t mean you have an excuse. Create your own event. Play catch across 150 Columbia with one of the foam toys that every booth at last week’s Career Fair was handing out. Grab a hackey sack and start a game in the EMU Amphitheater. Hop on your bike and turn the between-class pedestrians on 13th Avenue into an obstacle course.
It might even provide some amusement along with the fitness aspect.
If you absolutely don’t have time to participate in a sport today, at least pass along the word. Tell your best girl friends to go roller skating or bowling tonight. Even taking a few minutes to read up on the history of women’s sports counts as a celebration today.
This June, we come to the 32nd anniversary of Title IX, the 1972 education amendment that demanded equality for women’s sports.
Without a baseball team at Oregon — yes, to some degree the doing of Title IX — the guys around campus might challenge your pick-up softball game. If they do, make sure to blow them away with that underhand fastball. It will be in the catcher’s glove before they decide if they should swing.
My celebration of sorts came a week early. On Jan. 28, I took part in the media day game of the Oregon women’s softball team against members of the media. It was the first time since an intramural softball season three years ago that I picked up a batting helmet and a metal bat in an organized game.
In all honesty, Oregon pitchers Anissa Meashintubby and Lindsey Kontra have me figured out when I’m at bat: I’ll swing at anything, especially those really low pitches.
I struck out in both of my at-bats, but I made it past three pitches both times.
But I will say that I still play a mean first base. Yes, I missed one throw, but I’m short — so sue me. I made a pretty nice dive to my left on what could have easily been a triple down the line for one Oregon player, and Kontra made a nice throw back to me at first to catch sophomore Beth Boskovich off the base on a popup.
With that as my celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, I might just grab a Frisbee or join a game already in progress tomorrow as a second celebration.