The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga hosted the fourth annual Play, Believe, Achieve! event sponsored by the UTC Women's Center in recognition of National Girls and Women in Sports Day on Saturday, February 6.
 
Play, Believe, Achieve! is an opportunity for women interested in mentoring youth to spend the day with a student from the Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy (CGLA). Mentors empower their mentees to be physically active, fuel their bodies with healthy food and most importantly, spend the day reminding her that going to college and her dreams are within reach.
 
"We are grateful for the campus and community support we receive for Play, Believe, Achieve!," Women's Center Assistant Director Cassandra Nice said. "We had a tremendous fourth year and our students really treasured the opportunity to empower and learn from the young women of CGLA. And to top off the event, the Mocs won!"
 
They spent the day learning about nutrition and exercise by participating in a class with UTC Nutrition majors and taking part in a Zumba class at the UTC Aquatics and Recreation Center (ARC). They made posters for the women's basketball game against Wofford at the McKenzie Arena and cheered the Mocs on to victory.
 
Following the game, the UTC women's basketball team met with the participants and signed autographs and posed for pictures with the group.
 
Any woman who is a student at UTC is able to submit an application to serve as a mentor for the event. Several members of the Chattanooga women's soccer and volleyball teams participated this year. The mentees were seventh and eighth grade students from CGLA. Several CGLA ninth graders attended as "mentors in training". They were girls who went through CGLA's first year with the program three years ago and were expected to serve as role models for their younger peers.
 
CGLA had 50 girls, ages 12-14, participate in this year's event, along with 55 women from UTC.
 
National Girls and Women in Sports Day, now in its 30^th year, is a national observation celebrating the extraordinary achievements of women and girls in sports.