This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Women’s Sports Federation recognizing and celebrating National Girls & Women in Sports Day. It is also the first year the university hosted a panel to commemorate the day.
Danielle Parr, associate athletic trainer and senior woman administrator for the university, served as the moderator for the panel and organized the event.
Parr got her inspiration for the event from the Greater Columbus Sports Commission, who used to host a similar event to honor the day but stopped its celebration after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Katie Lease, women’s golf and 2018 graduate of the university, Kassie Lee, women’s track and field and 2020 university graduate, and Nici Workman, volleyball and 2004 university graduate were the panelists.
The women discussed various topics, from their fondest memories in college to how their athletic skills translated to the workforce.
Lease, who currently works at The Ohio State University’s enrollment management, said the unexpected lessons sports taught her were time management and discipline.
Lease said balancing sports and classes in college prepared her for the schedule she currently holds. A strong work ethic and competitive drive also helped Lease build her confidence.
Workman said a valuable lesson she learned from sports was “it always gets done.”
The “real-life application of an experience from college,” Workman recalled, was the time she changed jobs and faced unexpected hardships.
She said in the moment she was ready to quit, she looked back on her collegiate athletic days because they taught her perseverance, dedication and drive to see things through until the end.
Lee said that the accountability she learned as a student-athlete has been invaluable to her success as a traveling operating room nurse.
All three panelists agreed that the ability to find people of like minds and similar value systems, as well as familiarity with team-centered environments, have contributed to their post-graduate accomplishments.
In the years since their graduations, the panelists have seen a change in the societal attitudes toward women’s sports.
They have enjoyed seeing women’s sports gain popularity.
“Half the world is missing out on incredible entertainment,” said Workman.
Workman, who has two young daughters, ensures women’s sports are visible to her children, and that her family attends female sporting events.
Lease said that women are “just as capable and willing” to compete like male athletes, and that recent developments in the women’s games are testament to the fact.
Lee added to this sentiment that the talent, skill and intricacies of the women’s games are comparable, if not better in some regards, to men’s games.
The women also spoke of a “quiet confidence” instilled in them by sports.
Workman said, “You’ve already survived 100% of your hardest days,” and with that in mind, there is little women are incapable of, both within and outside of the sport.
As the event concluded, the women spoke directly to the first-year student athletes.
“It’s hard to trust in the moment,” said Lease, “but you find the small moments that make life incredible.”
Parr is hoping to make this an annual event and increase the outreach in coming years.
