WNBA Celebrates Girls And Women In Sports Day

NEW YORK – The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and its players, coaches, and teams will celebrate the 25th annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD), which will be on Feb. 2. Fitness clinics and workshops will be conducted on this day in markets across the country to help lead, inspire, and create positive change in the lives of women and young girls.

NGWSD – first chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1986 – honors female athletic achievement and recognizes the positive influence of sports participation for girls and women.

Events taking place in WNBA cities across the nation in support of NGWSD include:

Atlanta
The Atlanta Dream will host a fitness clinic with Girls Inc. of Greater Atlanta. Approximately 60 girls will learn strength, endurance, and flexibility techniques and tips for improving their body, mind, and athletic performance.

Chicago
Chicago Sky Chairman Margaret Stender will team up with the Chicago's U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to help promote their Let's Move initiative at the Young Women's Leadership Charter School.

New York:
The New York Liberty is hosting a basketball clinic for approximately 30 kids from the Boys & Girls Club at Central Ward in Newark N.J. The Shabazz High School girls basketball team will also attend and participate, along with Liberty legend Kym Hampton, who will talk about the value of fitness and sports.

Additionally the Liberty will host the Department of Education’s award ceremony at the Garden and recognize the girls high school team of the year and coach of the year. More than 250 will attend a pregame ceremony and then the winners will be honored and recognized on court with Hampton. The New York Knicks will host them in a suite for the game.

Phoenix:
In conjunction with NGWSD, the Phoenix Mercury will conduct a promotion for women and girls to submit their team or individual sports photos to the Phoenix Mercury Facebook page. At the end of the contest, fans will be randomly selected to win tickets to the Phoenix Suns game.

Seattle
The 2010 WNBA Coach of the Year Brian Agler and the Seattle Storm will host a reception for the Women’s Sports Foundation and their GoGirlGo! Program to announce its new partnership with the Seattle Storm Foundation.

On Feb. 3, Seattle Storm President and CEO Karen Bryant and the women of Force 10 Hoops LLC will be honored as the Girl Scouts of Western Washington’s 2011 Women of Distinction at the organization’s annual Seattle Leadership Luncheon.

About the WNBA
The WNBA is a unique global sports property combining competition, sportsmanship, and entertainment value with its status as an icon for social change, achievement, and diversity. The WNBA – which features 12 teams and is the most successful women’s professional team sports league in the world – finished its 14th season with a fourth consecutive year of attendance growth, surging WNBA Finals ratings, and strong increases in traffic to WNBA.com and WNBA Mobile sites.

Through WNBA Cares, the WNBA is deeply committed to creating programs that improve the quality of life for all people, with a special emphasis on programs that promote a healthy lifestyle and positive body image, increase breast and women’s health awareness, support youth and family development, and focus on education.