‘It’s so important’: Kodiaks women’s volleyball coach on National Girls & Women in Sports Day

By Lethbridge Herald on February 4, 2026.

Nathan Reiter

Lethbridge Herald

The first Wednesday in February is always a special one. 

Every year, National Girls & Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) takes place to honour the achievement of female athletes, coaches and leaders in the world of sports. 

For Lethbridge Polytechnic Kodiaks women’s volleyball head coach Anna Schwark, the day provides a spotlight for those involved in sport. 

Schwark says she enjoys seeing younger girls attend Kodiaks games and look up to the team.

“It’s awesome after our matches to see the girls that want to come say hi and let us know when they’re playing so we can go watch them. It’s just a really cool way to connect. I say to the girls all the time that us competing and us being Kodiaks, it’s not about us. It’s about this program and the legacy that we leave ensuring that all those girls at age 11 when they’re just starting the sport that they see Kodiaks and they want to be one and that they are one in the future and that they’re just as passionate about being here at that point as we are right now.”

Women’s sports has really grown at the professional level in recent years. The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) was founded in August of 2023 and has seen major success in its early years. The league added two new expansion teams for this season with the Seattle Torrent and Vancouver Goldeneyes. According to an article published by the PWHL in January, the league averaged 8,726 fans per game up to Jan. 18.

The PWHL is not the only female sports league to get its feet off the ground. The Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL) is set to play its inaugural season later this summer. During the first ever draft held last November, 18 Canadians heard their names called.

With both leagues providing a chance for young girls and women to watch their role models in a female league, Schwark says it provides an important platform.

“I know when I was growing up, you’d ask a female volleyball team about their most inspirational athletes, and I think we all probably picked men. It’s just really cool that at all levels in all sports, there’s so much more media coverage of women. For even people my age, and for these college-aged girls, it’s cool that they’ve got role models.”

According to a report published by the Canadian Women’s Foundation in 2017, only 36 percent of girls in Grade 6 said they were self-confident. That number fell to 14 percent for girls in Grade 10.

The report also states that approximately 60 percent of Canadians who say they are “very confident” had a mentor during their youth.

Schwark says she hopes female athletes will be able to help empower and become role models for younger girls.

“For these young girls too, I want them to see these girls being positive. I want them to be seen being good teammates. I want them to be seen eating, being healthy and talking about their mental health. I want their bodies to grow and for them to be physically strong. I want to help these girls become the role models that I think a 13, 14 year old girl needs when they’re super self-conscious, they have trouble making friends and they’re just experiencing so many new things. I think to see a woman at any age just be really confident in her body and take up space and be loud and be powerful in sports. I think that’s really important for all women to see whether you’re sports inclined or not.”

The Kodiaks women’s volleyball team is back in action on Friday night when they host the Olds College Broncos. See Friday’s Herald for a full preview.