This Month’s Featured Article

National Girls & Women in Sports Day: Three female athletes on their achievements in athletics and why women’s sports are so important
National Girls & Women in Sports Day began in 1987 as a special day to recognize women’s sports. Co-founded and powered by the Women’s Sports Foundation, the day originally served as a remembrance of Olympic volleyball player, Flo Hyman, for her athletic achievements and dedication to promoting equality for women’s sports.
Since then, the day has evolved into an event that acknowledges the accomplishments of girls and women in sports, the positive influences of sports participation, and the continuing struggle for equality for women in sports. Each year, schools and community-based organizations host over 300 grassroots events across the United States in celebration of NGWSD.
February 5 marks the 39th annual NGWSD, and this celebration inspires girls and women to play, be active, and realize their “full power.”
“The confidence, strength, and character gained through sports participation are the very tools girls and women need to become strong leaders in sports and life,” the Women’s Sports Foundation writes. “A vibrant movement we celebrate annually, NGWSD honors the achievements of girls and women in sports and continues to Lead Her Forward by acknowledging the power of sports to unlock her limitless potential.”
In honor of National Girls & Women in Sports Day, I spoke to three women about their unique experiences in athletics and why opportunities for women in sports are so important.
Elise Berger
Elise Berger, a Vermont native, is one of six female athletes playing men’s collegiate baseball in the United States and is Bard College’s first female baseball player.
Elise Berger grew up in a sports household. Her father is a huge baseball fan, so games would constantly be on the television or the radio, and her other sisters were three-season athletes – playing soccer, basketball, and cross country. As if that weren’t enough, her grandparents were also season ticket holders for the minor league team in her home town in Vermont, so she would attend baseball games regularly. As a kid, when spring would come around and it was time to sign up for T-ball, she was eager to start playing.
A life filled with sports
Elise’s athletic career has always included multiple sports. When she was in elementary and middle school, like her sisters, she was a three-season athlete, playing soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, and baseball in the spring. Later, she attended Champlain Valley Union High School, where she switched over to playing just basketball and baseball. During high school, she also started playing travel baseball with the Bases Loaded Bulldogs, Vermont’s premier travel baseball organization.
“At the age of 12, I joined the Boston Slammers, an all-girl baseball team, and played in Baseball-For-All tournaments against other girls’ teams,” Elise explained. Baseball For All is a 501(c)3 girls baseball nonprofit that builds gender equity by creating opportunities for girls to play, coach, and lead in the sport.
“When I was 16, I went to the USA Women’s National Baseball Team tryouts and made the team! I traveled to Canada to play in a series in 2022 and since then, I have pitched for the national team in 2023 and 2024 in the WSBC World Cup qualifiers and finals.”
Elise’s goal has always been to play college baseball. She recalled making a dream board when she was 13-years-old, and it featured college baseball as a popular theme. “I grew up in a very supportive environment, and since I wanted to keep playing baseball at the highest level, everyone around me supported and helped me reach that goal.”
In the fall of her senior year at Champlain Valley Union, she committed to play baseball at Bard College, in Annandale-on Hudson, NY. Elise chose Bard because it aligned with both her academic and athletic goals.
“I’ve always wanted to attend a smaller, liberal arts school on the East Coast and study something in a STEM field. Bard originally was not on my list of schools, but a mutual contact through Baseball for All reached out to see if I wanted to go to their fall recruitment camp,” Elise said.
In the fall of her junior year, she attended the baseball camp and ended up staying in contact with the coaches throughout the year. It more than paid off, as Elise got the offer in October of her senior year. She committed shortly thereafter.
“I felt that Bard was the school that would give me the best support and opportunity to play baseball, as both the coaches and the players were excited and open to the idea of having a girl on their team,” she said. “The general attitude of everyone was that if I could play and help contribute to the team’s success, then it didn’t matter if I was a man or a woman.”

Photo courtesy of TeamUSA Baseball, provided by Elise Berger
A cyclic training schedule
Her training schedule varies depending on the time of the year. Her season starts in February, so she takes some time off from throwing during the winter months to give herself a bit of a break ahead of the start of the season. Since she will be pitching for Bard in the spring and for the Women’s National Team in the summer, she will continue to pitch the whole time and will not lighten up on throwing until the fall.
In the fall, Bard has a short season, during which Elise will only pitch once a week and start to ramp down her training, followed by a short break before she picks it back up again in the early spring. She lifts throughout the whole year, but changes her lifts depending on where she is in the season. Out of season, her intent is to build muscle, but once the season starts, her focus will shift to mobility and maintenance in order to stay healthy.
“Once the season starts, my daily schedule will include going to classes in the morning, and then going to practice in the afternoon, followed by a lift session, and then getting dinner, doing homework, and going to bed,” she said.
One of the few and one of the many
While being the only woman on the field can amount to some pressure, it’s a feeling that Elise is familiar with. “There are times when it feels like everyone is watching you or that you can’t afford to make a single mistake because you won’t be taken seriously, but like any athlete, you must be able to put the past behind you and be in the moment with confidence,” she said.
Overall, Elise feels incredibly lucky to be a part of a team that has her back and is there to support her no matter what happens on the field. Because this is true, most of the pressure is eliminated.
“I am proud to be one of the few women playing college baseball right now, and I hope that I can be a role model for younger girls who want to play someday,” she said. “I know that when I was little, seeing women succeed in baseball with the men was something that kept me going, and it let me know that it was possible to achieve.”
However, there are plenty of challenges when it comes to playing on a men’s team, and the physical challenge is the one that Elise is thinking about constantly. When she was around 15 years old, she noticed all of her male teammates getting stronger. While she quickly realized that she would never be able to be as strong as them physically, she found ways to adapt.
“I started lifting weights at the end of eighth grade and have found ways to deal with the fact that I will not be as strong as men. When I pitch, I focus on location rather than velocity. I throw hard enough to be competitive with the men, but not to throw it past them. I rely on my off-speed pitches and location to fool them instead,” Elise explained. “In the weight room, I can keep up with most of the lifts the guys are doing. Having them around to push me harder has also been a big key to my success on the field and in the weight room.”

Photo courtesy of Bard College Athletics, provided by Elise Berger
Sydney Segalla
Sydney Segalla, a Connecticut native, is a Housatonic Valley Regional High School graduate, is currently a student at Boston College – where she plays soccer and runs track – and was a part of USA U20 track team in 2023.
Sydney Segalla has been playing soccer for as long as she can remember. Both of her parents played sports, and her older sister played soccer, so sports have always been a part of her life. She started playing soccer when she was about five years old, and during her high school athletic career, she was named all-state in Connecticut – a recognition program for the top athletes in a state – for all four years of high school. She also played basketball in high school, during which she scored 1,000 points and won Gatorade’s Track and Field Athlete for Connecticut. In her senior year, she began running track, which has continued into her athletic career at Boston College.
“Now, I get to compete in two sports at a power-four school, which is something I could have never even dreamed of,” Sydney said.
From Boston to Team USA
She always planned on playing Division I college sports and committed to Boston College when she was 15. Sydney’s sister, who is five years older than her, played soccer at West Virginia University and served as one of her inspirations. “It always seemed like playing D1 sports was what needed to happen for me, too,” she said. “I really saw no other way for myself.”
Sydney chose Boston College because it fit both her academic and athletic aspirations. The Atlantic Coast Conference, which Boston College is a member of, is the best women’s soccer division in the United States. “It’s close to home, the education is amazing, and I couldn’t ask for a better city to be near,” she said. “I knew I could come in as a freshman and make an impact – and I was able to do just that.”
In addition to playing for Boston College, Sydney was also a member of the Team USA20 track team, which is a national team in which all of the players are under 20 years old. She described being a part of Team USA20 as a “fever dream.”
“I went from running the 400 finals in Oregon, to driving to the processing building where they booked my flight and sized me for my Team USA gear,” she remembered.
Her time of 52.58 placed her in the pool for the 4×400 relay at the Pan American U20 Games, which took place in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico in August of 2023. Additionally, Sydney’s time bested the previous Boston College record of 53.09. Later on in the Pan American U20 Games, Sydney placed first with her team in the 1600 meter relay with a time of 3:30.25. She not only established multiple new personal records, but she also finished 16th in the ACC Championships and second in the Boston College All Time Performance. In last year’s ACC Indoors, she placed second in the 400 meter relay.
“It was honestly one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I’m so blessed,” she shared. “The overall experience was different in the sense that I was representing my country when competing, so it’s a different level of expectation. I was also surrounded by the best of the best athletes my age. Putting on the USA jersey, I knew it was a privilege to be able to compete and it brought out a different kind of competitiveness in me.”
Training all year round
Sydney’s training never stops. In the summer and fall, she typically trains with just soccer, but once winter and spring comes around, she doubles up with training for both soccer and track. Occasionally, she has to miss a game or event on one team to meet demands for the other.
“Last year, I missed our spring soccer game, as I was running in the indoor ACC finals,” she said. “My coaches are very understanding of my load and unusual schedule, so they make sure to not overdo it.”
She noted that her soccer coach will allow her to sit out of a practice if she has a track meet the next day, and vice versa.
This coming spring season will look a little different for Sydney, however, as she has just undergone hip labrum repair surgery. A hip labrum tear is an injury to the ring of cartilage that lines the rim of the hip socket, which helps to stabilize the joint and provide cushioning. A hip labral tear can cause pain, clicking, and instability in the hip. Due to her surgery, Sydney will be out for the remainder of the 2024-25 school year, but is looking forward to being back for soccer in the fall semester.
“Playing sports has been such a privilege. It’s taught me so much and opened so many doors for me,” she said. “Women’s sports are growing and will continue to grow with proper support. I thank my community for the love and support that I have received while on my own personal athletic journey.”

Photo courtesy of Sydney Segalla
Haleigh Funk
Haleigh Funk, a Pine Plains, New York native, played sports in high school and college and now teaches physical education in the Burnt Hills School District in Ballston Spa, NY.

Photo courtesy of Haleigh Funk
Haleigh Funk comes from a family of athletes. Her father, Les Funk, is a physical education teacher, athletic director, and longtime coach for the Pine Plains Central School District, and her mother, Sarah Funk, has taught dance at the Stissing Loft since she was a teenager.
“I first got involved in sports when I was about two or three years old. My dad had a basketball in my hands as soon as I could walk, and my mom gave me my first pair of tap shoes at a very early age,” Haleigh recalls.
Growing up, Haleigh played nearly every sport imaginable. When she entered high school, she narrowed it down to four – soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, softball in the spring, and tap dancing year-round.
Haleigh served as the team captain for the basketball and softball teams, which was an important leadership role for her at a young age. Both teams were incredibly successful; in softball, they won the section and MHAL titles, and in basketball, they made it to the NYS final four during both her junior and senior years.
Following her graduation from high school, she was undecided about whether or not she wanted to continue playing sports at the collegiate level. Ultimately, she chose to play intramural sports for fun, a tradition that she has continued as an adult.
“I am so thankful that I grew up playing sports because without them, I don’t think I would’ve gained the many different skills and strengths that I have now. I learned how to be a leader, work hard for something, problem solve, cooperate with others, and be patient. I use those skills every day as a teacher and coach.”

Haleigh with her dad and coach, Les Funk
Making the transition from athlete to teacher
Haleigh always knew she wanted to become a physical education teacher. In fact, she still has an autobiography project from when she was in the third grade where she wrote about how she wanted to be a PE teacher. “From a young age, I knew that I wanted my life to revolve around sports and physical activity,” she shared.
Now, she teaches elementary PE to grades kindergarten through fifth at the Burnt Hills School District in Ballston Spa. While she’s certain that her athletic experience has benefitted her teaching style, she also noted that being on the coaching side of athletics provides a completely different point of view than that of an athlete.
“I love what I do because I have the knowledge of the game and can help the next generations grow and learn,” she said. “I hope to instill the same passion that I have for athletics into my students. Beyond school, I want to teach my students how to be physically active and healthy for the remainder of their lives.”
Haleigh’s curriculum is set up so that she teaches many different activities and sports in her classes in order to provide her students with options. “My goal is for every kid to find at least one activity that they enjoy, whether it’s volleyball, gymnastics, baseball, etc.”
Making an impact
The most fulfilling part of Haleigh’s job is knowing that she is making a positive impact on young lives every day. “I love being their favorite part of the school day,” she shared. “Being a teacher and a coach can be draining at times, but I remind myself that I’m making a difference.”

Haleigh with her students at Burnt Hills
For her, one of the most important parts of her job is building connections with her students and helping them grow. “The skills that they learn in physical education are ones that will be carried with them throughout their lives, beyond school and athletics.”
Haleigh’s passion for her career directly stems from her passion and determination as an athlete. “There were many days that I felt drained and wanted to give up. It’s exhausting to give 110% of your heart to every practice and game,” she explained. “There were countless hours spent outside shooting hoops in my backyard or having extra batting practice with my dad on a winter day.”
“I didn’t have to do that extra work, but I wanted to be the best I could be,” she continued. “It’s easy to show up to games and practices when you’re winning and successful, but it takes a lot of mental toughness and grit to continue working and showing up when you’re in a slump or just lost a tough game. As a teacher and coach I’ve felt this way, too. It’s a tiring job, but at the end of the day, it’s rewarding knowing that my hard work and dedication will pay off.”
Haleigh noted that women’s sports overall have come a long way from where they were 50 years ago, and on a personal level, she feels incredibly lucky to have had strong, empowering female role models growing up.
“That definitely shaped my mentality that girls are just as valuable as boys. My parents, coaches, and siblings never made me feel like I was ‘less than’ just because I was a female athlete. My mom still has a photo of me fearlessly playing rec basketball with the boys when I was around eight years old,” she laughed. “I know many kids are not as lucky to have the strong female role models that I did, so today, I strive to be that for young girls and lead by example. Every day, I aim to empower them and help them realize that they are valuable, strong, and capable of being great.” •
To learn more about National Girls & Women in Sports Day and the Women’s Sports Foundation, visit womenssportsfoundation.org.