Photo: Northwest Mississippi Community College softball coach Chelsea Bramlett. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)
Feb. 6, 2025-Wednesday was the annual celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day across the country. NGWSD is an annual observance in the United States that celebrates the achievements of female athletes, promotes the importance of sports participation for girls and women, and advocates for gender equality in athletics.
Back in 1987, the first NGWSD was held to honor Olympic volleyball player Flo Hyman, who was a strong advocate for Title IX and women’s equality in sports. She died suddenly in 1986 from Marfan syndrome while competing in Japan, and the day was initially established to recognize her contributions. Over time, it expanded to celebrate all girls and women in sports and to highlight the progress made—and the challenges that remain—in achieving gender equity in athletics.
Wednesday morning, DeSoto Central’s female athletes came together to celebrate NGWSD for the first time with a breakfast held inside the Performing Arts Center. An inspiring story from Northwest Mississippi Community College softball coach Chelsea Bramlett followed.
Bramlett shared her story of playing sports, from being cut from her seventh-grade volleyball team, to becoming an SEC legend playing softball for Mississippi State and then successfully coaching the sport at Lewisburg and now at Northwest.
Bramlett also talked about how she became a highly-recruited player and chose State over College World Series champion Michigan, what the attention and decision process was like, and what happened after a concussion took her off the diamond.
At Mississippi State, Bramlett became one of two SEC players to be selected All-American all four years of her college career. She holds several career softball records still at State and was inducted into the MSU Sports Hall of Fame.
But Bramlett also encouraged the girls to embrace challenges, pursue their dreams and believe in their potential, explaining how weakness became her strength.
“I became an All American my freshman year, and I was like, what’s that?” Bramlett said. “Then that became my goal every year and I knew every year that they were going to come at me with what I’ve been the weakest at, so I ended up making it to where I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to make every one of my weaknesses my strengths.’ That’s something that has carried me all the way through life.”
Bramlett also encouraged the athletes to look at their experiences being preparation for the future.
“Sports are preparing you for the failures you are going to face in life,” she said.
National Girls and Women in Sports Day is meant to encourage young girls to participate in sports and physical activity, and recognize the achievements of female athletes at all levels.
