FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida SouthWestern State Athletics will celebrate National Girls & Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) during the FSW Baseball and Softball doubleheader at City of Palms Park on Wednesday, Feb. 7. The reigning 2017 Region 8 State Champion FSW Softball team will host Miami Dade (4pm/6pm) and the Buccaneer baseball team will battle Broward College (5pm).
To celebrate the day, all women and girls will be admitted FREE to the doubleheader at City of Palms Park.
February 7, 2018 marks the 32nd Annual National Girls & Women in Sports Day (NGWSD). The 2018 theme is "Play Fair, Play IX." NGWSD is a time to celebrate the extraordinary achievements in girls and women's sports and the positive influence athletic participation brings to their lives. NGWSD recognizes the ongoing effort towards equality and access for women in sports and the nation's commitment to expand sport and participation opportunities for all girls and future generations.
National Girls & Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) began in 1987 as a special day in our nation’s capital to recognize women’s sports. The day united premiere organizations and elite female athletes to bring national attention to the promise of girls and women in sports.
In 1987, NGWSD also served as a remembrance of Olympic volleyball player, Flo Hyman, for her athletic achievements and dedication to promoting equality for women’s sports; Hyman died of Marfan’s Syndrome in 1986. NGWSD has since evolved into an event to acknowledge the accomplishments of female athletes, the positive influence of sports participation and the continuing struggle for equality for women in sports.
NGWSD is celebrated annually across all 50 states with community-based events, award ceremonies and other celebratory activities. NGWSD is organized by the members of the National Girls & Women in Sports Day Coalition. Champion women athletes have also contributed to annual NGWSD activities.
For more information on National Girls & Women in Sports Day and how you can get involved, visit: National Girls & Women in Sports Day.
Historical female moments throughout the NJCAA
June 23, 1972: President Richard Nixon implements Title IX, a law that George E. Killian saw as an opportunity for the NJCAA to grow and added the Presidents' Special Study Committee to analyze the prospect of adding a separate division for women in the NJCAA.
December 1974: CCBC Catonsville hosts the first NJCAA Women's Volleyball Invitational Championship in Baltimore, MD. The championship is the first held for women by a coed national collegiate athletics organization.
March 1975: The NJCAA establishes the first women's division for collegiate athletics in the United States.
November 1975: The NJCAA Women's Volleyball Championship becomes the first championship held for women by a national coed collegiate organization.
March 1990: Elected as the 13th President of the NJCAA, Lea Plarski from St. Louis-Florissant Valley (Mo.) becomes the first female to hold the office.
June 1990: Former Roane State (TN) women's basketball player Bernadette Mattox becomes the first female assistant coach for an NCAA Division I men's basketball team under Kentucky head coach Rick Pitino.
April 1993: Former NJCAA All-American and 1991 NJCAA Player of the Year Sheryl Swoopes from South Plains (TX) is named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament after leading Texas Tech to its first national championship.
April 1995: The NJCAA adds Division II for women's basketball, cross country, and soccer.
July 2009: Interim Executive Director Mary Ellen Leicht is appointed as the third Executive Director of the NJCAA. Leicht becomes the first female chief executive of any intercollegiate athletics organization in the United States.
February 7, 2018: NJCAA participates in 32nd Annual National Girls & Women in Sports Day
FOLLOW THE BUCS
For the latest news on FSW Athletics, log on to FSWBucs.com or stay connected to the Bucs on social media. Follow the Buccaneers on Twitter @FSWBucs, on Instagram @FSWBucs, on Facebook at Facebook.com/FSWBucs and on Snapchat at BucsSnaps.
WATCH THE BUCS ONLINE
All of FSW’s home games will be available online through FSW Livestream (FSW.edu/livestream), and can be viewed on smartphones, tablets and laptop or desktop computers.
SUNCOAST CREDIT UNION ARENA
The Buccaneers compete in the brand new Suncoast Credit Union Arena. Suncoast Credit Union Arena is approximately 75,000 square feet and is home to the FSW basketball teams and a student athletic center. The arena seats approximately 3,300 fans and includes six skyboxes, a hospitality event center, competition courts that convert into recreational courts, athletic office space, student, faculty and staff wellness, and an athletic center with a fitness pavilion, men's and women's locker rooms and a weight training area. The arena has two Daktronics displays, on the north and south walls, that each measure 10 feet high by 20 feet wide. Both displays incorporate variable content zoning to each show one large image or they can be divided into multiple windows to show any variety of live video, instant replays, up-to-the-minute statistics, graphics and animations, and sponsorship messages. One-hundred feet of ribbon displays have been installed on the east and west walls of the arena. The ribbons provide the opportunity to supplement the content on the main displays as well as highlight sponsors throughout events.
FLORIDA SOUTHWESTERN
The Florida SouthWestern State College athletic program is a member of the Florida College System Athletic Association (FCSAA) and the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). The Buccaneers are one of 25 schools in the NJCAA Region 8 and are one of six schools in the Suncoast Conference. Florida SouthWestern State College currently supports four intercollegiate athletic programs (Baseball, Softball, Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball).
Baseball and Softball began their regular season competition in 2016 at the City of Palms Park in Fort Myers. Located on the Thomas Edison (Lee) Campus in Fort Myers is the brand new Suncoast Credit Union Arena (completed in fall 2016), where FSW’s men’s and women’s basketball teams compete.
THE NJCAA
The movement to form a unique sports association dedicated to America’s two-year colleges arose in 1937 when several track and field coaches gathered in Fresno, California. A year later, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rejected a petition from 13 two-year colleges in California to grant their teams and athletes permission to compete at the NCAA Track & Field Championships.
In the spring of 1938, following the NCAA’s rejection, those same 13 two-year colleges gathered again in Fresno to organize and form an association that would promote and supervise a national athletics program exclusively for junior and community colleges…and the rest is history.
On May 14, 1938, the first constitution of the National Junior College Athletic Association was accepted by its charter members and the organization held its first national championship event a year later in May 1939.
The NJCAA has played a vital role in collegiate athletics for the past eight decades and continues to be the leader in championing academic and athletic opportunities for student-athletes. This section of the association's website is dedicated to celebrating the NJCAA's rich history and tradition as the national governing body of two-year college athletics.
For more information on the NJCAA log on to www.NJCAA.org.
THE FCSAA
The Florida College System Activities Association, Incorporated (FCSAA) is a statewide non‑profit corporation regulating, coordinating, and promoting intercollegiate activities in: Athletics, Brain Bowl, Forensics, Music, Student Government, Student Publications, and Theatre.
Membership in the Florida College System Activities Association is open to any of the 28 colleges in the Florida College System. Each member institution is represented in the policy‑making deliberations of the Association through that institution's President or other designated representative. The institutional representatives constitute the FCSAA Presidents Assembly, the ultimate authority in FCSAA.
For more information on the FCSAA log on to www.TheFCSAA.com.
NJCAA REGION 8 & THE SUNCOAST CONFERENCE
Member colleges of the NJCAA are allotted to a specific NJCAA Region upon membership to the association. Unlike other collegiate organizations that defer to conference affiliation, the NJCAA guarantees each member college's membership within the regional structure of the association. In most cases, region assignment is based upon geographic location of the college.
The region structure of the NJCAA is the primary method used by all sponsored sports of the association in determining qualification for national championship tournaments. In certain sports, two or more regions are partnered to form a competition 'district', which is then used for national championship qualification. The organization of districts varies per sport and is formulated every two years under the authority of the association's board of directors.
FSW is in Region 8 and is joined by ASA College Miami (Region 8 only; non-FCSAA member), Broward College, Chipola College, College of Central Florida, Daytona State College, Eastern Florida State College, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Gulf Coast State College, Hillsborough Community College, Indian River State College, Lake-Sumter State College, Miami Dade College, Northwest Florida State College, Palm Beach State College, Pasco-Hernando State College, Pensacola State College, Polk State College, Santa Fe College, Seminole State College of Florida, South Florida State College, St. Johns River State College, St. Petersburg College, State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota and Tallahassee Community College.
The Bucs are also in the Suncoast Conference with Hillsborough Community College, Polk State College, South Florida State College, St. Petersburg College and State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota. The women’s basketball program is also in the Suncoast Conference, but with only three other teams (Hillsborough Community College, St. Petersburg College and Eastern Florida State College).
For more information on Region 8 log on to www.TheFCSAASports.com.