Celebrate NGWSD with SAAC
Young students had the chance to practice skills with St. Lawrence athletes this past weekend when the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee hosted an event celebrating National Girls & Women in Sports Day. This year marked the 38th annual celebration of National Girls & Women in Sports Day, celebrated on Feb.7, which recognizes the accomplishments of women and pushes for equality in sports.
Local youth from schools around the county were invited to St. Lawrence last Saturday, April 27, to participate in stations run by current St. Lawrence student-athletes. Participants rotated around six stations and were led by athletes in activities related to skills needed for their sport. Team members from Field Hockey, Football, Women’s Hockey, Women’s Basketball, Women’s Volleyball and Swim led the stations. Vice President of Events Mick Tesluk ’24, who conducted most of the event planning, spoke to the success of the event. “It’s always fun connecting the student-athlete community with the local Canton community, and getting involved, especially with the kids, really puts the strength of these bonds into perspective. I know I can speak for all student-athletes that participated by saying we had a blast playing with the kids. It’s so inspiring to watch the kids be excited about and explore sports!” said Tesluk.
After completing all the stations, participants were walked out to the women’s lacrosse game, where they stood alongside the women’s lacrosse team before their senior-day game against RIT. The 14-7 win over RIT was a special way to commemorate their senior day and the accomplishments of women’s sports. Participants then had the opportunity to replenish with pizza and enjoy the busy home-game weekend, which featured senior days from Tennis, Softball and Track and Field.
Mackenzie Marcus ’25, president of SAAC, was excited to bring back the event for the first time since 2019. “SAAC has struggled ever since COVID-19, and it was exciting to get our National Girls & Women in Sports Day event up and running again. Being able to host a National Girls and Women in Sports Day event was phenomenal because we haven’t hosted an event like this since 2019. I loved watching local girls and boys engage with our student-athletes at SLU, followed by the kids standing with the women’s lacrosse team on the field. Connecting with the community was awesome, and I hope that we will be able to get a bigger turnout in the future,” said Marcus.
This event concludes the academic year for SAAC, but they look forward to restarting in the fall of 2024 to hold more events. The community can be on the lookout for SAAC’s traditionally held fall events, such as Power of Pink and Fall Kickoff. SAAC is also diligently planning the return of Special Olympics, which is anticipated to take place this coming fall.