An Organized Day of Play

Pomona honors women in sports with a day of fun.

Seventy-five junior high school girls crowd into the foyer at Rains Athletic Center on a Saturday morning, a restless mass uniformed in green T-shirts. They talk and giggle, occasionally thump a friend on the head with one of the complimentary balloons.

"Let's hear it for Fremont," someone yells. A cheer goes up.

Lisa Beckett, associate professor of physical education and senior woman administrator for Pomona-Pitzer athletics, corrals the girls' attention toward the front of the room. She stands next to a white-board where a flier announces the reason for this gathering: National Girls and Women in Sports Day, February 9, honoring the late Flo Hyman, Olympic volleyball player and ambassador for equality and access for women in athletics.

Nearly a decade ago, Lorig Charkoudian '95, then a Pomona senior, petitioned for a program to allow students to get out into the underprivileged communities that are so near the sometimes cloistered college campus. This was the start of Pomona Partners. The first partnership established was with Fremont, which mainly serves these communities. College volunteers make weekly trips to the school to tutor and teach, as well as to act as mentors.

"The intent is to encourage students to see they have choices," says Motts Thomas, Director of Community Programs at Pomona College. "To show them that you do have a choice about what you want to do with the rest of your life."

As the program grew, field trips were arranged to help show Fremont students the world outside of their borders. For the past three years, this has included Sports Day, a coordinated effort between Thomas, Beckett and Fremont administrators.

"Your mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers, didn't have the opportunities we have to enjoy play," Beckett continues, "to enjoy each other, enjoy the opportunities in your life to be active."

Having gotten the girls a little more focused, Beckett now prepares to begin the day's activities. "My own children say adults talk too much," she says. "Is that true?"

Another cheer. Of course it's true.

The day begins with a discussion on healthy eating, ways to get active and the benefits of exercise. The girls, with the assistance of the college athletes, talk of fruits and vegetables; note that exercise can help prevent stress and fight against osteoporosis; and give examples of activities ranging from joining a sports team to simply jumping rope.

A chuckle goes up when one group says exercise "stimulates the mind and body." Most of them are teenagers after all.

The girls filter into Voelkel Gym for a group photograph, one serious, one goofy. They then split into three groups. Each will rotate between the three sports chosen for today: soccer, basketball and softball.

"I hope they have a good time," says college athlete Amy Bertken '04. She sees her responsibility as setting a good example and staying positive.

Softball is played on Merritt Field. Members of team Sagehen teach the girls proper body movements for throwing the ball and how to position themselves for catching--a few need even more basic instruction, like being shown which hand to put the glove on. The athletes are patient and supportive.

"It's about having fun," says Onelly Flores, an eighth grader at Fremont. "I like the shirts and everything."

Each girl also gets a turn batting whiffle-balls; they seem to love the 'squashing a bug' analogy used to explain how to pivot the back foot when swinging the bat.

"Girls, just in general, aren't as confident about sports," says Michelle Wilson '04, a tutor with the Pomona Partners who is out on this unseasonably warm February day to observe the instruction. "It's good here, because the focus is just on them. They don't have to worry about what the boys think.

"It's also good for them to see college girls playing sports; it just give them another reason maybe to go to college," she adds.

"That's what we hope," interjects Courtney Chavez '02. A member of the tennis team, she helped instruct the girls last year.

Chavez says sports played an important role in building her own confidence as a child. "When I was young, I was really shy," she explains. "I think sports brought me out of it."

On the soccer fields, set up at the Strehle Track, instructors run scrimmage games after showing the girls some offensive and defensive techniques. Nearby, the girls' track team runs wind sprints and tosses javelins.

Melina Jimenez, eighth-grader, rolls up her pant legs, feeling the heat on this 73-degree winter day. She says she liked playing basketball, especially learning to do lay-ups, but appears less enthusiastic about soccer. Jimenez is a cheerleader at Fremont now, but says she might try out for the basketball team when she gets to high school.

Like at the softball field, all of the participants are playing. There are some who squeak when the ball comes at them, others square off determinedly and head toward the goal.

"I had a lot of doubts at the beginning," says soccer player Aliza Norwood '05, noting that she did hear some complaints when the first group took to the field. Some said they were hungry, some tired. But those comments dissipate once the games begin.

"It feels good to act kind of like a role model," she adds. "It's only one day, but it is fun to help them."

One small girl gets smacked with a soccer ball in the side of her face. She doesn't cry, but steps out of the game just long enough to shake it off and get a drink. Then it's back in the game.

"Amy's dangerous!" a teammate jokes.

The most intense instruction comes on the basketball court. There, feet are made to move constantly, eyes to focus forward, and no one is allowed to slack off.

"Everyone get down, bend your knees and stick your butt out," orders Tamara Kislak, a Pitzer junior and guard on this year's exceptionally successful team. "When I yell 'defense,' I want you to hit the floor and yell 'defense!'"

The girls are even taught how to take a charge, with all of the dramatic flurry necessary to get the referee's attention and, hopefully, a foul called in their favor.

"No one really likes working on the fundamentals," Kislak later admits, her intensity melting away once she is off the court. "I started playing basketball in the eighth grade. It keeps you off the streets. Basketball is sort of like religion."

Cindy Green, a teacher at Fremont, expresses surprise that all of the girls are participating. In the classroom, she notes, "some of the girls are real concerned with the way they look."

In fact, many of them were set to resist participating when they first arrived, Green adds. "Now there is almost 100 percent team effort. They are on common ground."

Another Fremont teacher, Tom Carillo, says the girls that have participated in past years appear more assertive upon returning to school and are more willing to take risks.

Darlene Mattos is one of them. Now part of the student body at Diamond Ranch High School where she is a sophomore, she has returned to the program for the third year. She plays junior varsity volleyball in high school and is also a peer counselor. She hopes to go on to college--probably UCLA, she says, or maybe Pomona.

All of the girls gather back at the track, run a relay race, take a few more group photos--this time with their college instructors--then it is off to the pool to watch a diving meet. They ooh and ahh with the rest of the audience, doubling the size of the crowd. There are no disruptions, but almost every girl has stripped off her shoes and socks to dip her feet in the water.

Finally, it is time for lunch and farewell.

"We got a chance to do what the boys do," says eighth-grader Destiny Torrance as she passes plates out to girls in line behind her. "And we might be better than they are."

The girls no longer appear restless, but neither are they listless. It is only 2:30 p.m., still sunny and warm, and they are geared up to go to the arcade after lunch as promised.

"You notice how much fun they have," says Beckett. "They laugh--they laugh through play. If play and moving can be fun, it will last for a lifetime."

Tomorrow, a woman will win the first gold medal for the U.S. in the Winter Olympics. A young woman named Jennifer Rodriguez will win two bronze medals in the coming weeks. Vonetta Flowers will become the first-ever African-American to stand atop the gold medal podium. And a 16-year-old will stun the figure-skating world with a routine she says was just about having fun.

Whatever happens, at the end of this day, the girls seem inspired. Says irrepressible eighth grader Judith Borcello, recovering bravely from a small scrape on her elbow: "I feel pumped."

--Gary Scott is a reporter for The Claremont Courier.