Twenty aspiring female athletes from Pacifica attended the Women in Sport Conference, which is an invitational conference open to all schools from Orange County. The chaperones were Ms. Modaffari and Mrs. Howell, teachers at our school known to encourage female students at Pacifica. Guest speakers, who either played a sport in college or were in the Olympics, shared the legacy of women in sports and motivated the young female athletes at this conference. In the Women in Sports Conference, the main goal is to empower female high school athletes to continue sports!
Ms. Modaffari, our girls JV soccer coach,shares how she approaches the sport she coaches. Reflecting on the stories of other speakers at this event, she felt deeply moved and thought about her own journey in athletics. She began with, “Walking away from that experience, I felt so inspired. Hearing the speakers talk about how sports have shaped their lives really made me reflect on my own path—why I love coaching, what I hope to give back to my athletes.” Ms. Modaffari also hopes to share this experience with her athletes and how she can grow as a leader.
Pacifica student-athletes, Callie and Reagan Gillespie were both picked by Track and Cross Country Coach Josh to attend this inspirational event. Natalie Buchoz, a guest speaker who had played softball, was later in a ski accident which resulted in her becoming paralyzed. She shared, “If you can walk, you can do anything’”. Callie was very inspired by Natalie as she said, “Everything happens for a reason. As long as you give it your all, it’ll all work out”. Reagan reflected how this conference had transformed her into having a good mindset while being a student athlete: “It made me realize that I should be grateful for what I have and just work hard. I can do anything I put my mind into.”
The inspiration and empowerment provided by the Women in Sports Conference is not just confined to Pacifica student-athletes, but all high school female athletes in attendance. The ultimate goal of this event was to inspire passion and motivation for aspiring female athletes to find success in their sport and beyond, in both the present and future.
