WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- In celebration of the 24th annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD), two-time Olympic softball medalist and Women's Sports Foundation President Jessica Mendoza will join organizations and leaders from the National Girls and Women in Sport coalition in the nation's capital on February 2 and 3.

The Coalition is comprised of five partner organizations including the Women's Sports Foundation, National Women's Law Center, National Association for Girls and Women in Sport, Girls Inc. and Girl Scouts. Joining Mendoza in Washington are Olympic and champion women athletes Grete Eliassen (Skiing), Lillian Greene-Chamberlain (Track & Field) and Benita Fitzgerald Mosley (Track & Field).

An Equity in Sports briefing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, February 2, will commemorate National Girls and Women in Sports Day. NGWSD recognizes girls' and women's participation and excellence in sports and also highlights the need for continued expansion of opportunities for girls and women to play sports and lead physically active lives. Despite the stunning advances made in the 38 years since Title IX was enacted, there is still much work to be done. High school girls still receive 1.3 million fewer participation opportunities than do boys, and evidence suggests that the money spent on girls' sports programs lags significantly behind the money spent on boys' programs.

At the Feb. 2 briefing, Mendoza, Neena Chaudhry, Senior Counsel, National Women's Law Center, and Assistant Principal & Athletic Director and Susquehanna Township School District (PA), Peg Pennepacker, will discuss the importance of federal high school athletic data bills in ensuring gender equity in high school sports - a central issue of the Title IX Act passed by Congress in 1972.

"I feel honored to represent the Women's Sports Foundation and Coalition on February 2 and 3 in Washington, DC," Mendoza said. "We will be there to not only celebrate the progress made by girls and women in sports, but to also help advance the passage of the High School Data Bill which will require schools to disclose data that would be helpful in further advancing girls' participation in sports."

On Wednesday, February 3, the celebration of the 24th annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day continues as thousands gather across the country to promote the 2010 theme, "Stay Strong, Play On." The day will commence with congressional visits on Capitol Hill. Groups comprised of representatives from Coalition organizations will visit approximately thirty members of Congress. Champion female athletes secured by the Women's Sports Foundation will be present in these meetings.

Champion women athletes such as Women's Sports Foundation Founder Billie Jean King, first President of the Women's Sports Foundation Donna de Varona, and Past Presidents (in order of presidency) Carol Mann, Lyn St. James, Nancy Hogshead-Makar, Wendy Hilliard, Benita Fitzgerald Mosley, Nancy Lieberman, Julie Foudy, Dawn Riley, Dominique Dawes and Aimee Mullins, are among the champion athletes that have contributed to this day in past years.

In addition to athletes visiting the Hill, the Women's Sports Foundation is also hosting a "Stay Strong, Play On" Athlete Challenge in honor of girls and women across the U.S. Dozens of champion women athletes have taken to their Twitter, Facebook and their own personal websites to encourage followers, fans and friends to support girls' and women's sports.

About National Girls and Women in Sports Day: http://www.aahperd.org/nagws/programs/ngwsd/

About the Women's Sports Foundation: www.WomensSportsFoundation.org

SOURCE Women's Sports Foundation