Idaho State University National Girls and Women in Sports Day events scheduled for Feb. 20-21

Idaho State University’s annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, at Reed Gymnasium for kindergarten through fifth grade participants, and there will be keynote presentation at 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20.

This national day has been proclaimed by Congress every year since 1987, and is honored annually in the month of February. National Girls and Women in Sports Day recognizes the progress of girls and women in sports, and the benefits that sport and fitness activities can bring to the lives of all girls and women. “Game On” is the national theme for this year’s day and serves to acknowledge the importance of sport participation for women and girls. This is the 16th year ISU has hosted this event.

Idaho State University’s celebration will include free admission to the ISU Women’s Basketball game versus Montana State University for the first 300 kindergarten-fifth-grade girls and boys. Reduced admission of $3 is available for accompanying adults. Free T-shirts will be given to the first 300 kids, compliments of Bingham Memorial Hospital.

At half-time, the 2015 Trailblazer Award will be presented to Cynthia Pemberton, currently the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Dickinson State University in North Dakota, as the founder of the NGWSD celebration on the ISU campus. This award, given annually, recognizes a woman with affiliation to ISU who has provided significant leadership and mentorship to women in sport. Following the game, ISU female athletes from various sports will host an autograph session along with Benny the Bengal.

New this year is the National Girls and Women in Sports Day Keynote Address, given by Pemberton on Feb. 20 at 4 p.m. in the ISU College of Education Auditorium with a reception at 5 p.m. in the lobby. Pemberton is a nationally renowned scholar and author on gender issues in sport and higher education. She has authored the books “More Than a Game: One Women’s Fight for Gender Equity and Sport” and “Getting There: Women’s Journeys to and through Educational Attainment.” The topic of her presentation is “Girls and Women in Sport: Then, Now and Why it Matters.”

For more information call the ISU Department of Sport Science and Physical Education at (208) 282-2657 or email sspeinfo@isu.edu.