Virginia Athletics celebrated National Girls & Women in Sports Day at the women’s basketball game Jan. 26 versus Louisville ahead of the official holiday which is celebrated Feb. 5. Since the team does not play at home again until Feb. 6, it was decided that the celebration would be held early. Several stars from the 2024 Paris Olympics such as senior swimmer Gretchen Walsh, Class of 2023 swimming alumna Kate Douglass and senior rower Sky Dahl signed autographs postgame as part of the celebration.
National Girls & Women in Sports Day was established in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan to promote gender equity in sports and commemorate the success of female athletes. And in Charlottesville, there certainly is a lot to celebrate. In the 52 years of women’s sports at the University, the programs have grown exponentially, and several had incredible seasons in 2024. In celebrating this day, the University hopes that these programs will only continue to grow — in the win column, in attendance numbers and in popularity.
In 1970, the University opened its doors to women in a coeducational setting, and three years later, the first women’s varsity sports were added — tennis, field hockey and basketball. Soon after, swimming and diving joined the mix, then lacrosse and most recently, squash in 2017.
Although these teams consistently had decent records, including two championships from women’s cross country in the 1980s and two championships from women’s lacrosse in the 1990s, their attendance was nowhere close to that of men’s sports.
Even though the disparity of attendance between Virginia men’s and women’s sports still exists, it is significantly smaller now. Over the past 10 years, more than half of the women’s programs set attendance records. Cross country had 6,723 people attend the NCAA Championship in 2023 — also an NCAA record — and volleyball had 3,162 fans against Virginia Tech in the 2023 season.
The most notable though, was women’s basketball’s 11,974 attendees against Virginia Tech in the 2023-24 season. In fact, they are averaging over 4,000 attendees per game, up from 1,828 ten years ago.
The program has steadily improved, and as a result, so has attendance and even financial investment — as the program received a multi-million dollar donation from Class of 2005 alumnus Alexis Ohanian. Dawn Staley, women’s basketball coach at South Carolina and Class of 1992 alumna, has taken notice of the growth of women’s sports as well.
“I’ve seen where we’ve come from, but now we’re at a place where we are valued a little bit differently,” Staley said in a December Virginia Athletics video feature. “We’re in high demand, we’ve grown to the point of talking about the current happenings of our game, the comparisons of where men’s basketball is and where we are, and where we can take off.
In addition to increases in investment and attendance, Virginia has put a lot of work into upgrading the facilities for women. For example, prior to the spring of 2020, the Cavaliers’ softball team played on a recreational-esque field that was further away for students to get to, over by the School of Law. However, with the opening of Palmer Park in 2020, the field became more accessible with 522 stadium seats, tons of standing room and outfield seating for students to choose from.
Similarly, the Cavalier volleyball team normally plays in the historic Memorial Gymnasium which has limited space, but they now play one match each season at John Paul Jones Arena. The team had nearly 3,000 fans show up to watch them at JPJ take down No. 16 Miami this past season.
When asked about the impact that the increased support for women’s sports had on the volleyball team specifically, Coach Shannon Wells expressed gratitude.
“Over the course of my 4 seasons here, it has been humbling to see the fans pour into JPJ and Mem Gym to watch and support our program,” Wells said. “There is nothing like the atmosphere that UVA fans create …. Our team is inspired to continue to push and give this community a championship-level volleyball program.”
The University has not only had localized successes but also international ones in women's sports. After competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics, Walsh, the gold medal-winning Olympic swimmer, has brought much publicity to the already four-time championship winning swimming and diving program.
“It has been a truly inspiring time to be part of the success of our female sports at U.Va.,” Wells said. “National Championships. Olympians. NCAA tournaments. History-making seasons. It seems that every season another female sport is having a record year. We are so proud to be among them and draw inspiration from these amazing coaches and athletes on Grounds.”
Virginia’s women’s sports feature a very high level of talent and have genuinely become entertaining to watch. Just this school year alone, field hockey had its best start since 2010, volleyball went to the National Invitational Championship and swimming and diving is on course to likely win its fifth consecutive championship. Because of this, students want to engage and be a part of Cavalier success.
The success of volleyball in particular sparked a lot of interest for members of the student body this season. First-year College student Lauren Morrow, who attended a number of sporting events last fall, expressed her admiration for women’s sports.
“Women’s volleyball. I loved watching,” Morrow said. “I was at the game against Pitt, and when we left the arena, the line to get in was hundreds long, past the tennis courts. It was cool to see so many people standing in the rain for the chance to watch a women’s sport.”
But it is not just Virginia’s women’s sports programs that are now seeing this peak in interest from fans. College programs across the country are featuring star athletes that are increasingly becoming household names. Stars such as Iowa Basketball with Caitlin Clark, Louisiana State Basketball with Angel Reese or Oklahoma Softball with Jocelyn Alo, have been crucial for leading a complete turnaround in engagement for their respective sports.
Seeing women’s sports across the country receiving praise and attention is inspiring for young women athletes everywhere. Morrow, who played tennis growing up, is optimistic about the continual growth of women’s sports.
“It's long overdue,” Morrow said. “Growing up, no one seemed to care except us young girls watching. Now, it's super cool to see these sports being played at such a high caliber and have such a solid fan base — it gives hope that young girls watching could picture themselves being cheered on like that.”
Read More
Uncovering the unknown depth behind the celebrity look-alike contest boom
By Delores Cyrus | 1 hours agoThe trend kicked off in October in New York, and since then celebrity look-alike contests have taken over the minds and social media feeds of both casual scrollers and the chronically online for the last few months.
Wrestling enters John Paul Jones Arena hoping for a turnaround
By Ryan Weiner | 1 hours agoThe season's coolest event could double as a big moment in the season's trajectory.
The 2025 Grammy Awards mark a revitalization of the music industry
By Madigan Lounsbery | YesterdayDoechii was another big winner of the night, taking home the Best Rap Album award for her flawless hit album “Alligator Bites Never Heal.”
