On Feb. 5, 2025 OHS held their annual Girls and Women in Sports Breakfast. The event is put on with the help of the athletic department and OHS Parent Teacher Organizations (PTO).
Samantha Walls was one of the coaches who attended and helped with the breakfast. She has been the bowling coach at OHS for three years, and she feels this event is important in representing female athletes.
“[The athletic department] makes sure that the female athletes have just as much time to shine and just as much recognition as all of the male athletes,” Walls said. “I like the fact that they went above and beyond just recognizing the day for girls and women in sports and actually always have that breakfast for them so that they feel special and it is not just another day.”
Athletic Director Tabitha Beard wants to make sure female athletes are recognized not just on National Girls and Women in Sports Day, but in all aspects.
“I think it is important to celebrate women in general and where we come from in sports,” Beard said. “I do not think the girls nowadays really realize the origin of girls in sports and what it used to be like. I think it is 54 years of Title XI now, so that means 54 years ago there was no law or any mandate and girls were not treated the way they were now.”
Title XI was a civil rights case in 1972. The Supreme Court ruled it was illegal for educational programs receiving federal funding to discriminate on the basis of sex.
“It has become cool to be an athlete,” Walls said. “It has become cool to do things other than the prissy or the cute things. It is cool to be a powerlifter and it is just cool to see that.”
Walls has noticed female athletes are expanding outside of traditional women’s sports. OHS junior basketball player, Syndey Glahn, has seen the support for female athletes grow from her time at OHS as well.
“I love my team,” Glahn said. “I love being able to play with girls my age, girls older than me and girls younger than me and just making a fun environment. Specifically, I have seen people come to more games and be supported by other teams.”
Beard makes an effort to show as much support for her female athletes as possible. She recently traveled with the OHS cheer team for the National High School Cheerleading competition.
“It is so neat to watch them being here with cheer this week,” Beard said. “It is really cool to watch hundreds and hundreds of girls having an outlet to do what they love. That is the biggest part, being able to watch them shine and build their confidence.”
