Jan. 31, 2005
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The University of South Carolina athletic department will stage its annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day recognition on Wednesday, Feb. 2, at halftime of the Gamecock men’s basketball game against Arkansas at the Colonial Center. Tipoff for the game is at 7:30 p.m.
This year, USC has chosen to recognize not only its current student-athletes, coaches and teams, but also to pay tribute to women whose efforts and achievements have made a long-lasting impact on women’s athletics at the University and in the state of South Carolina.
Wednesday’s halftime ceremony will feature a short presentation on the Colonial Center video board that highlights South Carolina women’s athletics and its successes through the years. USC’s current nine varsity teams and six special guests who have paved the way for the future for women’s athletics will also be recognized. Those honored guests include:
Dawn Ellerbe competed on USC’s women’s track and field team from 1993-97. Ellerbe captured a total of four NCAA titles in the hammer (2) and weight throws (2) during her Gamecock career. A 12-time United States Track and Field Champion, Ellerbe helped start the program’s nine-year streak of finishing in the top 10 nationally. She also competed in the hammer at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
Sheila Foster, who competed in basketball at USC from 1978-1982, is South Carolina’s all-time leader in scoring, rebounds, games played, games started and minutes played. Her No. 53 jersey was retired in 1982 and she became the first female inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993.
Charlotte Hamilton Giese competed in swimming at USC from 1976-1980. She was one of the first group of female athletes to receive an athletic scholarship and went on to become Carolina’s first swimming All-American, a feat she achieved in each of her four years in college.
Georgia Hart was one of 10 charter members of the Women’s South Carolina Golf Association in 1949 and served as the first president of the South Carolina Senior Woman’s Golf Association. She was also inducted into the South Carolina Golf Hall of Fame in 1986.
Kim Hudson coached her last game at USC in 2004 after a 12-year as volleyball head coach. The 1997 SEC Coach of the Year, Hudson took the Gamecocks to six NCAA Tournaments and coached 32 All-SEC players during her tenure, bringing national recognition to USC volleyball.
Helen Timmermans was hired as the University’s first women’s athletic director in 1974, a position she served in until 1977. Timmermans, who still lives in Columbia, continues to actively support the program she started in 1974 with six sports, gymnastics, volleyball, basketball, swimming, tennis and golf.
Recognitions and celebrations of girls and women in sports are held all across the country during early February. National Girls and Women in Sports Day was chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1986 to honor female athletic achievement and recognize the importance of sports and fitness participation for all girls and women.
Thousands of sports educators, coaches, athletic directors, recreation directors, association members, sponsors, students, and parents across the country will show their support of the Day and of this year’s theme, “More Than A Game”. NGWSD is celebrated in all 50 states with community-based events, award ceremonies, and activities honoring the achievements and encouraging participation of girls and women in sports.
NGWSD began in 1987 as a day to remember Olympic volleyball player Flo Hyman for her athletic achievements and her work to assure equality for women’s sports. Hyman died of Marfan’s Syndrome in 1986 while competing in a volleyball tournament in Japan. Since that time, NGWSD has evolved into a day to acknowledge the past and recognize current sports achievements, the positive influence of sports participation, and the continuing struggle for equality and access for women in sports.
NGWSD is jointly organized by the National Girls and Women in Sport Coalition. The Coalition combines the experience and resources of the seven premiere girls- and women-serving organizations in the United States: American Association of University Women, Girl Scouts of the USA, Girls Incorporated, the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport, National Women’s Law Center, the Women’s Sports Foundation, and the YWCA USA.
Collectively, these organizations have been in existence for over 432 years and have a membership reach of 5.5 million girls and women.
