'Women in Sports' returns to The Wharf

1043 this morning and women in sports is returning to DC's wharf on Saturday. It is a free event offering families and sports fans an afternoon full of activities to celebrate female athletes. We love it. And we've got a sneak peek for you this morning from the United States Tennis Association, Tyler Delaney from the wharf as well. Our friend Mary Catherine Cusack. Welcome to both of you. Glad to have you here with us. And I love the shirt. I've always loved the one that says everyone watches women's sports. We love it. Yes, because everyone should be watching women's sports. And thank you so much for having us back this morning. And yeah, we're gearing up at the wharf and UST as well. We're gearing up for women in sports at the wharf happening this Saturday, September 12. And all the fun will kick off at 2pm. And that's when we invite families to come out to you know, practice, you know, rallying the ball back and forth their tennis skills, their golf skills, as well as some soccer skills. So it'll be a really fun afternoon. Awesome. So really something for everybody out there. Exactly, totally. And we're also going to be showing the women's finals, tennis finals that afternoon as well. So it'd be like the grand finale for the day. Okay. What do you think as far as what the tennis world has been seeing right now? And a lot of people really paying attention, especially to women's tennis, women's sports as well. Yeah, I think that for us at the US team at Atlantic Foundation, our whole goal is to make tennis more accessible for people. So we have programs like girls rule the court, which like is focusing on empowering young girls to try this sport and getting together and being able to go out there and do it with everyone. And so events like this provide like a welcoming, safe environment to get people to just get a racket in their hand and give it a try. So we're super excited to be a part of it this weekend. What do you think makes tennis so attractive, especially for young girls? I would say that there have been studies that are shown that tennis helps with your social and emotional skills. And obviously, like growing up and being a girl, that's going to be something that's super important. And also like tennis itself is pretty easy to just pick up, which was why we're going to do it on Saturday with our red ball. Tennis is super easy to pick up, so they're able to see success really quickly as well. And what I love about the sport of tennis as well is that, right, it's something that you can start at a young age and it's something you can continue throughout the generations, even into your older age as well. It's not something where it's, you know, soccer, where there's a lot of running. And as you get older, that becomes a little bit more difficult, right? You know, tennis is something that really you can, the whole entire family can be a part of it and you can continue on throughout the years. Yeah, I think that is what has always connected me with tennis is being able to, like this weekend, you will potentially see a four-year-old playing on the red ball court. You could have somebody over with the Howard University women's team doing the fastest serve challenge. So maybe some players who are a little bit more seasoned in the sport, and that could really inspire a young girl, someone who's in their backyard playing in DC, to be able to maybe say, hey, I could do that and I could go play college tennis. Yeah. Admittedly, I was never great at tennis, I will say. So you're going to teach us a few things here. Yes, of course. What should we try here? Okay, so Maricel, are you going to join? You want to join too? I would tell you, like, did anything with tennis was, I think, in middle school. Okay, well, it's been a while. It's the same for me. And of course, everyone in my family plays tennis and I'm the outlier. Okay. It is super, super simple. So all you're going to do, so you want to hold the racquet in your dominant hand, so your right hand or your left hand, and all you're going to do is you're going to have your fingers pointed up. You'll have the ball, you're just going to drop it on the ground and then just tap it up and then just catch it. And then you just continue to do it. So you go here, and then you can just catch it. And then if you're feeling good, you can continue to do it. And we call this a self rally. So then once you're able to do it by yourself, then you're able to do it with others. If you want to give it a try, just a few hits, nothing too crazy, just drop it and then just tap it. That's it. You did it. Camera yet. Managers are like, please don't break the camera. That's fun. So this is kind of what the experience will be like when you're out there at the work this weekend. Exactly. And also our friends from National Women's Soccer League will also be joining us. And I know there's lots of, you know, rising soccer stars, you know, in the DMV. So we want everyone to come out. And also, if you're looking to just, you know, have a party and you just watch the watch the watch the open, we're going to be having plenty of Heineken as well. So if you want to sample and have, you know, a beverage or two for the adults, that's certainly welcome. Perfect. Lots of great restaurants as well out at the war. So it'll be a great time. Hopefully the weather will be good to look. It looks like it's going to be so far so good as we continue on, hopefully with this bit of summer stretch. All right, ladies, thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate it. That is where you can find more information out at the Wharf DC or with the US Tennis Association as well. Guy. That was awesome. I am very impressed. Your backhand a lot better than mine. And