Sweetheart Clinic to honor women’s sports teams

Marshall University will honor female athletes Sunday.

The Marshall Department of Intercollegiate Athletics will host the 15th annual Sweetheart Woman's Clinic.

The clinic will be at the Marshall Recreation Center and is meant to honor the nine women's sports programs at Marshall, while also getting children from the community involved.

"This clinic serves multiple purposes," said Molly Ginger, assistant women's administrator. "It gets the athletes involved and exposes the children to new sports, while getting them involved in Marshall athletics."

The clinic used to be in Gullickson Hall on Marshall's campus. This marks the third consecutive year it will be at the rec center. The Rec Center gives the clinic a better atmosphere. Ginger has been a part of the clinic for several years but is running the clinic for the first time this year.

"The clinic runs a lot smoother, and it is more localized," Ginger said. "It is an overall better experience for the girls, and it shows off the Rec Center to the community."

The main goals of the clinic are to get local kids active and to celebrate National Girls and Women's Sports Day, but the clinic is something the athletes enjoy as well.

"The clinic definitely gives the kids a chance to participate in some sports they usually don't have the opportunity to play," said Kara Kucin, member of the women's tennis team who participated in this event before.

"My favorite part of the clinic is seeing the looks on all the kids' faces and how excited they were to come learn tennis. It put a smile on the faces of teammates and I and brightened up our day."

Freshmen athletes are excited to participate in the clinic and work with the young female athletes as well.

"I'm looking forward to helping out the kids at the clinic," said Ali Suttles, freshman nursing major and defensive specialist on the volleyball team. "My teammates and I all love kids, and we are looking forward to teaching them new skills that will make them better."

The clinic will run from 9:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. followed by a pizza party, and pep rally by the cheerleaders. The girls will then walk to the women's basketball game vs. UAB at the Cam Henderson Center at 1 p.m.

The nine women's sports participating are women's golf, women's tennis, women's basketball, women's swim team, women's volleyball, softball team, women's track, women's soccer and the cheerleading squad.

The event is sponsored by WMUL 88.1 FM, The Marshall University Recreation Center and Pepsi.

Lawren Hightower can be reached at hightower5@marshall.edu.