SF Parks & Recreation Easter Eggstravaganza Photo Gallery
BAWSI Photo Gallery

San Francisco, CA -- The Academy of Art University women's soccer team has been hard at work this offseason, putting in hours both on and off the field. The Urban Knights, coming off their most succesful season in program history, had a busy month, helping out at the Easter Eggstravaganza in Golden Gate Park at the end of March and then going out again at the end of April to participate in an event sponsored by the Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative (BAWSI) to cap off the academic year and head into summer.

At the Easter Eggstravaganza, the Urban Knights participated in a variety of roles at the event that featured carnival rides and games, egg hunts, live entertainment, and a barbecue competition. Junior Hannah Emmett and sophomore Sophie Meneses were among those present for the Knights, and both found themselves at the Arts & Crafts station. Freshman Kapua Tong had the honor of providing live entertainment while dressed as a gigantic frog. 
  "It was really fun helping out at this event," said Emmett. "Golden Gate Park is the perfect place to bring the community together for food, and rides, and an all-around good time. They had us help the kids with the arts & crafts, which was a really fun environment to be in."

"The Eggstravaganza Carnival was really fun," said Meneses. "I was at the Arts & Crafts station so I had fun playing with glitter and the kids. It was a nice event."

"Even though I was sweating in a frog costume, I had the most fun," said Tong. "I could see that I was making kids happy. It was a really great experience!"

Meanwhile, last week at Garfield Elementary school in Menlo Park, a contingent of women's soccer players worked with BAWSI for the fourth consecutive year. BAWSI runs an eight-week program in local elementary schools to work with females in Grades 2-5, and is a public benefit, nonprofit corporation with a mission to create programs and partnerships through which women athletes bring health, hope and wholeness to the community. Founded in 2005 by Olympic and World Cup soccer stars Brandi Chastain and Julie Foudy and Marlene Bjornsrud, former general manager of the San Jose CyberRays women's professional soccer team, BAWSI provides a meaningful path for women athletes to become a more visible and valued part of the Bay Area sports culture.
  "The BASWI event was so much fun," said freshman Makayla Hickman. "I'm so happy I got to be a part of it and help coach such wonderful girls."

"I enjoyed working with the girls today," said Kapua Tong. "You could tell they looked up to us and I like knowing I can be a role model for them. Plus, it was just good fun."

The Academy of Art is coming off of a year where they shared the PacWest Community Engagement Award, exemplifying the commitment to the student-athlete experience as a whole. For the Urban Knights, it's all part of the package.