University of Lynchburg Women's Athletic Teams Support Young Girls Dreams by Hosting Women In Sports Day Camp 

(Jessica Strickland): Hi, my name is Jessica Strickland. Every year on the first Wednesday of February, women across the United States celebrate Women in Sports Day. Today on February 5th, the University of Lynchburg's female athletic teams invite young girls across Lynchburg to come to their youth camp, where they'll teach them athletic skills and also encourage them to pursue sports. Have you faced any unique challenges as a woman in your sport? 

(Margaret Scoggin): I would say being a woman in sports, a lot of people view me as weaker and not as as a strong enough player, a strong enough athlete compared to guys. I feel like that's one of the biggest challenges I faced growing up in sports.

(Jessica Strickland): Do you have any changes you would like to see in women's sports?

(Margaret Scoggin): I'd say more fans at different sports. I know at bigger schools, at D1 schools, there's a lot of support for women's sport, but a lot of times in D3 and D2, you don't see as much, as many fans at so I would say that's the biggest change I would like to see.

(Jessica Strickland): Do you have any changes you would like to see in women's sports?

(Coach Emily Zimcosky): I mean, I feel like an obvious answer is just kind of getting that same zeal on both genders of sports. But honestly, just the confidence. It's something that's really a passion of mine as a female coach. But just having that development of character throughout sport. and seeing that a little bit more on the female athletic side.

(Jessica Strickland): What advice do you have to give to young girls who want to pursue sports? 

(Coach Emily Zimcosky): Honestly, I think my biggest advice would be to just go for it. So much of our time is spent doubting ourselves and imagine what you can do if you believed in yourself in that time. So kind of finding ways to stay out of your own head and just making it fun.

(Jessica Strickland): How do you deal with the pressure and expectations of being a female athlete?

(Tori Williamson): I think, first and foremost, I deal with the pressures of being a female athlete by my faith. I use that a lot. I pray a lot before games, after games. And when I'm feeling down, I also feel like leaning on my teammates a lot because you have more in common with your teammate than you know because you're going through the same exact thing, the same academic struggles, the same athletic struggles. Most athletes at this point have had an injury or so, so just being able to depend on your team and your coach, just that in general has helped me a lot. 

(Jessica Strickland): What has been your proudest moment in your career so far?

(Tori Williamson): I think my proudest moment I have is when we won our regionals for my high school team, so that meant we were going to state. We hadn't done that since I think like 20 or so years, so that was a really good accomplishment. And I was really proud of the team because we had worked for four years. I had worked for four years with my fellow seniors to get there. So that was a really good moment, and then also probably committing to play collegiate level volleyball because I know there are a lot of people who play in high school and play travel ball but don't ever really get the opportunity to play in college. So I thought that was really great that I could continue to play for four more years.