Girls and Women in Sports

We gather each year to celebrate the many opportunities girls and women have to compete in sports throughout the Commonwealth and the Nation. This year's event was held Wednesday, May 22 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.

Consider registering two deserving women athletes from your school for this important event when information becomes available. There is no fee for the event.

A team of Lacrosse players cheering together

Massachusetts Women in Athletics Distinguished Service Award

The MIAA Women in Leadership Committee yearly recognizes women who have worked with distinction on behalf of the girls’ sports in their communities with the Massachusetts Women in Athletics Distinguished Service Award (MWADSA). This award celebrates the efforts of those whose contributions have had a lasting and profound effect on female student athletes.

From 1997 to 2003, the award was named the MIAA Unsung Heroine Award.

Nominations for the 2023-2024 MWADSA Award have closed. Please watch this space and submit your nominee next year!

Past Recipients

2020 – Present

2023

Donna Andersen – Triton Regional High School
Nicole Fossas – Shepherd Hill Regional High School
Julie Gosselin – Mount Alvernia High School
Casey Grange – Central Catholic High School
Linda Taylor – MSAA

2022

Judy Slamin – Volleyball Tournament Director
Margie Grabmeier – Hopkinton High School

2021

Kim Munsey – Ursuline Academy (Dedham)
Kim Pellerin – Seekonk High School
Cathy Silva – Fairhaven High School

2020

Lynn Anderson – Mohawk Trail Regional High School (Shelburne Falls)
Eileen Donohue – Watertown High School
Martha Jamieson – Silver Lake Regional High School (Kingston)
Theresa Nyhan – Mansfield High School

2010 – 2020

2019

JoAnne Lee-Nieves – Jeremiah E. Burke High School
Sherry Webb – Smith Academy
Shelly Zalneraitis – Quabbin Regional High School

2018

Ruth Beaton – Pentucket Regional High School
Denise Carrara – East Bridgewater High School
Kim Huffer – Chelsea Public Schools
Lisa Keene – Peabody Veterans Memorial High School

2017

Pamela Alvarez – Bristol County Agricultural High School
Bobbie Finn – Notre Dame Academy (Hingham)
Eleanor E. Petrovick – Foxborough High School
Linda Zacchilli – Milford High School

2016

Elizabeth Haygood – Amherst Regional High School
Terry Riley – Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School
Pat Ruggiero – Melrose High School
Judy Schneider – Hanover High School

2015

Mary Ryan – Rockport Middle/High School
Mary Lou Thimas – Coach, Administrator, Official and Women’s Sports Advocate
Tanya Sullivan – Middleborough High School

2014

Marge Bohan – Dedham High School
Sarah Greeley – Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School
Deb Roussell – Maynard High School

2013

Ann Simons – Holyoke High School
Tara Morano – Middleborough High School
Mary Burke – Medway High School

2012

Vicky Caburian – Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School
Melanie Martin – Holyoke High School

2011

Dara Johnson – Dover-Sherborn High School
Theresa Smith – Plymouth North and Plymouth South High Schools
Kathy Swain – Norfolk County Agricultural High School
Kathleen Thompson – Wayland High School

2004 – 2010

2010

Sue Dean Ames – Framingham High School
Lynne Geiger – East Longmeadow High School
Debra Riggott – Waltham High School
Janet Sullivan – Stoughton High School

2009

Jean Fedak – Algonquin Regional High School
Molly Foster – Peabody Veterans Memorial High School

2008

Pat Coniff – West Bridgewater M/S High School
Elizabeth Grady – Natick High School
Mim Jarema – Reading Memorial High School
Patricia Morano – Mashpee High School

2007

Sharon Dupre – Blackstone-Millville Regional High School
Karen Grezesik – Ralph C. Mahar Regional High School
Gladys Perez-Byrd – Madison Park Technical/Vocational High School

2006

Donna Brickley – Notre Dame Academy (Hingham)
Amy Heath – Newburyport High School
Karen McCarthy – Avon Middle/High School
Brenda Sullivan – Maynard High School

2005

Elizabeth Knight – Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School
Elaine Wasylow – Bristol-Plymouth Regional Vocational Technical High School
Nancy Williams – Chelmsford High School
Lisa Zappala – Academy of Notre Dame (Tyngsboro)

2004

Virginia Slagle – Lynnfield High School
Susan Moss – Whitman-Hanson Regional High School
Kathy Brosnahan – Douglas High School
Angelina Chilaka – Harwich High School

MIAA Unsung Heroine Award 1997-2003

2003

Mary Kelleher
Nancy Martens – Official
Mary Ellen Hasenfuss – Medway High School
Chris Brown – Wayland High School

2002

Marge Bohan – Dedham High School
Barbara Damon – Danvers High School
Katharina Decas – Sharon High School
Nancy Mowry – Bishop Feehan High School
Yvonne Van Goor – Triton Regional High School

2001

Beth Ahern – Plymouth
Lorraine Benoit -Peabody
Patricia I. Brown – Winthrop
Dorothy Houston – Williamstown
Verna Mulready – Weymouth
Carol Ryan – Worcester
Janet Cassidy Wood – Wilmington

2000

Sandy Curt – Lexington
Nancy Healy – Weston
Rose Naples – Nauset
Margaret O’Leary – Beverly
Joan Pacheco – Rockland
Cynthia Tozzi – Hingham

1999

Mary Anne Clougher – Dedham
Midge Durgin – Hingham
Sandy Lezon – Salem
Pat McGee – Winthrop
Ruth M. “Penny” Pension – Lynn
Lisa Reynolds – Wakefield
Joan Rosazza – Winchester

1998

Susan Leddy – Raynham
Laurie Hill – Mansfield
Kathleen McSweeney – Agawam

1997

Judy Corwin – Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School
Janice Dolan – Winchester HS
Cynthia Cuthbertson – Apponequet Regional High School
Marilyn Fitzgerald – Andover
Diane Jackson – Mansfield High School
Sally Johnson – Gardner
Jody McManus – Shepherd Hill Regional High School
Karen Olander – Osterville
Cheryl Palm – Minnechaug Regional High School

Title IX at 50

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a United States law, enacted on June 23, 1972 that states:

“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance…”

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