ALBANY, NY — The Capital District Sports Women of the Year, Inc. is proud to celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day on February 2, 2022.

National Girls and Women in Sports Day, abbreviated as N.G.W.S.D., is observed on February 2 this year and it is all about breaking the gender stereotypes built around the sports industry. National Girls and Women in Sports Day was first observed in 1987 to remember the Olympic volleyball player Flo Hyman and acknowledge her as the best female volleyball player of her time and her work in promoting equal representation of women in sports. Hyman died of a genetic disorder, Marfan’s syndrome, while playing a tournament in Japan.

Since then, the day has evolved to commemorate all women athletes, their achievements, the positive impacts of inclusion of women in sports, and to address the challenges regarding equal participation of women in sports activities. The day also appreciates the progression made since the enactment of the civil rights law, Title IX.
National Girls and Women in Sports Day is celebrated in all 50 states. The day is usually celebrated by organizing community events, award ceremonies, and other sports activities that inspire girls and women to play sports and be active.

CDSWOY is celebrating this date by starting to solicit nominees for the 2022 Class of the Capital District Sports Women of the Year. Nomination opportunities have been provided to the Directors of Athletics at Capital District high schools and colleges and will be open until May 20.

“I was fortunate to meet Flo Hyman on September 13, 1980, when the Olympic women’s volleyball team came to the University of New Haven and I was a student assistant in the sports information office,” said Eric McDowell, President of CDSWOY. “She and her teammates were so gracious and kind, and the team put on a wonderful show while our student-athletes truly enjoyed the experience. It is fitting that today we begin to solicit the nominations for the exceptional young women in the Capital District who would make Flo so proud.”

The 2022 Capital District Sports Women of the Year Awards Gala will be held in early August at the GE Theatre at Proctors in Schenectady, NY.

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