TicketsApril 5, 2007
The and Xavier University Departments of Athletics are joining forces to locate and update information of those former women student-athletes who participated in college sports at both schools. Records from the early pioneers of women's sports through present day are incomplete and it is the hope of the two schools that former student-athletes will answer the call to action and contact the schools via their respective web sites.
Varsity athletics for women at UC date back to 1971 but the university is seeking the names of the thousands who participated in sports through the Women's Athletic Association which began in the 1890s.
Xavier might have a slightly-easier time finding its female sports participants. The school became a coeducational institution in 1969 and first fielded a women's sports team in 1971.
Registration pages have been built at both GoBEARCATS.com and GoXAVIER.com where former women student-athletes can update the departments on their current contact information. This data will be used to contact the former student-athletes and invite them to be a part of a special recognition banquet and ceremony in advance of the 2007-08 Women's Basketball Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout. A date for the event has not yet been set.
Former UC swimmer Bill Keating and local girls' advocacy group, the Harmony Project, have led the year long effort in raising funds for the development of this special recognition project as part of the Women's Basketball Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout. Funds generated by this effort are donated to local youth and non-profit organizations which directly represent women's sports. In 2007, the Crosstown Shootout attracted a sold-out audience of 13,176 for the first time in the twenty-nine year history of the rivalry series between Xavier and UC.
"We want to build on the great success of last year's Women's Crosstown Shootout sell-out. We hope that this Call to Action will help us locate these former student athletes so we can invite them to our banquet in December and honor them as the pioneers of women sports," says Bill Keating, Jr.
To register a former female student-athlete with the , please click here or contact Bryan Allen at 1-877-55-UCATS or via e-mail at ucats@uc.edu.