The O’rena filled with hundreds of young aspiring female athletes wearing pink shirts Oct. 11, anxious to interact with the Oakland University student-athletes and learn a new sport.

The day started with little girls coming through the doors of the Athletic Department holding hands with their parents with signs of nervousness and excitement in their faces. They were received by the members of the tennis team who gave each girl a book full of stickers to create their own nametag.

The girls seemed to be more confident after sticking the nametag to their brand new Oakland University pink shirts provided by the student athletes at the registration table. They were then directed into the O’rena where Jenna Taylor, the person behind the event, instructed them to occupy one of the stations on the basketball court.

Women’s soccer, women’s basketball, softball and golf all hosted a 20-minute clinic for each group of girls.

Athletes were very engaged with the girls from the beginning to the end of the event and seemed to enjoy it just as much as the participants. For some athletes, this experience was a little more personal.

“Working with the girls reminded me of how I started playing sports: going to camps, listening to older girls and their advice, and practicing,” senior volleyball player Taylor Humm said.

“At one point, I saw a tennis player goofing around with a soccer ball or a basketball or even playing catch,” Humm said. “I thought it was cool to look around at all these kids and college girls trying to participate in things that they may not have tried before.”

Around 95 volunteers helped with this event. Teams such as women’s soccer, women’s golf, volleyball, softball, women’s basketball, tennis and dance donated their time to a successful day.

After the clinics finished, the girls were taken to Elliott Room where they had an arts and crafts session with the student-athletes with the purpose of designing gameday signs for the competitions taking place later in the day. Then they headed to the speech from Alfreeda Goff before closing the day with a tailgate that led to the OU volleyball and soccer games.

The turnout was so good that Taylor is considering continuing the event for next year and beyond.