Whether it be planning events like Turnabout, or supporting each other as female athletes, Girls Letter Club (GLC) has grown immensely from what is used to be during Title IX, a rule that resulted from women’s rights movement in the ’80s. GLC is a club for all female athletes on varsity sports that aims to recognize one another’s achievements, to support each other and plan events like dances. Overall, the club is an opportunity for recognition of the girls’ achievements.
As of now, there is no club for males who participate in varsity sports. Hannah Nelson, senior club president, has been a part of GLC for two and a half years. Nelson believes that male athletes receive a lot more support and acknowledgement than female athletes, which is what GLC tries to improve.
“I feel that girls’ varsity sports don’t get as much recognition or support as much as boys’ sports,” Nelson said. “So they made a club to get girl sports to be [more] involved and have them be able to have other girls support [them] at their games.”
Club Sponsor Kim Kiraly believes it is important that girl athletes get just as much support as boy athletes. One of the clubs goals, according to Kiraly, is to get the same amount of fans in the stands for the girls as there are for the guys.
“Female athletes generally have not gotten as much support throughout the years, in terms of attendance to games,” Kiraly said. “So one of our big pushes is to really try to get this group of girls to go out and support each other.”
During the meetings, the members discuss upcoming games and the performance of all the teams. During the winter months, they talk about the plans for Turnabout, such as the theme and decorations. They work on the details that are necessary to get the dance organized.
Sophomore Bailey Burke’s ideas of GLC is that it is an opportunity to meet other female athletes and connect with them about their sports.
“You meet new people and it’s a lot of fun assembling all the stuff for Turnabout and learning about other teams,” Burke said.
Another point of the club is to show athletes the qualities that they should posses to be successful on the field and to then pass on to the lower teams within their sports. Kiraly also believes that the current athletes should provide an inspiration to the upcoming generations. When all the girls are working together, they learn from one another and are able to grow in their performances.
“We are trying to build leadership and ownership through some of the different events that we are planning, because those are the skills that a lot of varsity athletes need to have to be successful on their teams and to lead all levels of their teams,” Kiraly said.
For Nelson, the club is all about support for the other athletes. She believes that it is important to be there for them, even if they are not participating in the same sport.
“Just getting support from other girls and knowing that your friends are coming out to your games to support you is really good,” Nelson said.
