On Wednesday, February 27, twenty-one female athletes from Corona del Mar attended the nineteenth annual Sally Reclusado Women in Sports Celebration, held at Eastside Church in Anaheim The event celebrates the strides that have been made by and for women in sports and discusses issues that would relate to athletes and young women in general. Over 1000 female high school athletes attended the event. 

Five outstanding speakers presented to the attendees. Jayne Strand was the first, a college and professional basketball player from Ames, Iowa. Her presentation focused on finding your own identity and sticking to what you believe. She likened each person to an iceberg, with only 10% (appearances, dress, etc.) available for the world to see. Her advice was to focus on the other 90%, your beliefs, values, and identity. The next speaker was Tayyiba Haneef Park, a three-time Olympian with the Women’s Volleyball Team. Standing at an impressive 6 feet seven inches, she helped the US win silver medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics. Her speech taught a few main ideas through anecdotes about her time training for the Olympics including giving yourself permission to be great and focusing on a vision rather than goals.The third speaker was the charismatic Jill Jelnick, who happens to be the daughter of Mr. Jelnick of CdM. While she talked about her collegiate softball career, her focus was on her current job as a sports broadcaster currently working as the main anchor for Sports2Nite in San Antonio, Texas. Her love for her job inspired all those attending. The fourth speaker, at only 11 years old, has already done more good for the world than many will do in their life. Khloe Thompson, who created the organization Khloe Kares, makes custom “kare bags” for homeless men and woman. In addition, she has installed two water pumps in Ghana and hopes to open community centers in both Los Angeles and Ghana. The fifth speaker, Dr. Nancy Kelly, has served in many positions in both school and CIF Southern section administration .Her speech was an important reminder to attendees as she aimed to remind us that even those adults who we look up to as our administrators don’t have perfect life. Through talking about her struggles with depression, she sought to help those in need to gain the courage to speak up. 

Overall, the Women in Sports Celebration inspired all those who attended through stories of female athletes and others who work in the sports world.