The young ladies at Howard Middle School were treated to a special assembly on National Girls and Women in Sports Day with a visit from the Atlanta Dream.
The city’s WNBA team came bearing gifts and spent the morning inspiring and encouraging the students at Howard Middle School to pursue their goals on and off the court.
“It’s important to celebrate women doing awesome things in every aspect,” Howard Middle School principal Tekeshia Hollis said. “This gives us another opportunity to teach girls how to shine, how to be confident, and what that means while still hitting the pavement to get equal rights for women in sports and women in other industries.”
After leading an exciting relay competition where a handful of girls were split into teams that raced to put on a WNBA-sized practice uniform and shoes before making a layup, Atlanta Dream president Morgan Shaw Parker and forward Nia Coffey joined Howard girls’ basketball coach Ben Abernathy and APS health and physical education coordinator Myss Johnson-Jelks for a panel discussion about their respective careers and how women can excel in male-dominated industries like sports.
“I didn’t really have this opportunity when I was in middle school and high school, so I just love to be able to give back in a different way and bring the fun and lessons of sports,” Coffey said. “Just reminding girls that opportunities are out there, and it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go to the top levels. Just being in those environments, you can learn so many different things on and off the court.”
The Atlanta Dream’s visit to Howard Middle School on National Girls and Women in Sports Day meant a lot to students like Julianna Richman, an eighth-grader on Howard girls’ basketball team.
“It was really inspiring hearing how [Nia Coffey] got here and what it took,” Richman said. “It makes me want to continue to play basketball through high school and college.”
“When you’re younger, a lot of times, you get encouraged to do dance or cheer. It makes you not want to play anymore,” she added. “But then hearing that you have this whole day for you and that other women have gone through it too is really inspiring.”
National Girls and Women in Sports Day was a big success at Howard Middle School. The girls excitedly cheered for their classmates during the relay competition and got the chance to hear from women who forged their own way into a career in sports.
“One of our core pillars is empowering girls and women,” Atlanta Dream director of community impact Kelly Harper Lee said. “The reason why it’s important to come in and empower girls is because we know, in particular middle school girls, that’s the age where they tend to drop off playing sports, and we wanted to come in today to encourage them to play and stay in sports. And what better place to come than Howard, who has already been a longtime partner.”
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