Dr. Paula Scraba always relies on a good deal of collaboration with members of the St. Bonaventure community each year to pull off the annual Girls & Women in Sports Day event at the university.

That teamwork took on new meaning this year as she brainstormed with students in the SBU Physical Activity Club (PAC) as well as athletics coaches and staff on how to celebrate and connect with female athletes when they weren’t able to host the usual 500 middle and high school students on campus.

The conversation started with the PAC leadership team, women’s soccer coach Steve Brdarski, and senior sport studies major Julianna Misenheimer, who is a manager/technology assistant with the soccer team. As they considered some type of online tutorials, they talked with Alysha Giarra, director of operations for the women’s basketball team, as to how the team offered a similar virtual event for a local YMCA summer program.

Instead of hosting the traditional in-person sports and skills clinics, they devised a plan with students in the spring PHED Sports and Games course to create a number of how-to videos, from volleyball blocking to basketball speed dribbling, lacrosse face dodging and badminton backhand serving.

A playlist of the 42 videos is available via YouTube so students can watch the videos and follow the lessons at home. View the playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHwb0HtevtZn1flJHkyF4VxVf2OGlpedM

“We were fortunate to have our physical education program graduate assistant Abby Easton, who is familiar with the technology used to videotape lessons, also collaborate with Zachary Murphy, an intern from the Jandoli School of Communication, to create a playlist through YouTube to share with area schools,” said Scraba.

Student-athletes in the class from various Division I teams, including women’s lacrosse, softball, baseball and soccer, and club men’s and women’s rugby, volleyball and basketball assisted. The students demonstrated skill progressions and assessments for a variety of sports as well as games such as cornhole and Kan Jam. In addition, the students created study guides for each of the activities.

Physical education majors Elyse Graham and Chelsey Vincent attended the university’s Girls and Women in Sports Day as high school students.

Vincent, who is from Falconer, said the event was fun and it was great to be surrounded by women like her who enjoyed sports.

“I joined PAC to give back to the community that allowed me to participate in events like these. I know that the event isn’t the same this year, but I hope that athletes use this tool to build their skills and cross their fingers that we can have it on campus next year,” said Vincent, a junior who plays on the rugby team.

Graham, a freshman softball player from Olean, is also grateful that they were able to come up with an alternative program.

“As we are dealing with the circumstances that we never wished for, it breaks my heart to see that female athletes in the local/surrounding areas didn’t get to experience this awesome event in person,” she said. “Even though it was not the way we wanted it to be, it was still very cool to be on the other end as a Division 1 athlete teaching and presenting the skills to becoming a successful athlete.”

Every student in the class had a part in the virtual event.

“Overall, it was a great experience. Being able to film everyone, it was cool to see all types of majors being able to teach the necessary skills for the specific sport,” said Adam Stradtman, a junior physical education major.

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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University is a community committed to transforming the lives of our students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a lifelong commitment to service and citizenship. In 2020, St. Bonaventure was named the #2 regional university value in New York and #3 in the North by U.S. News and World Report.