This year’s Stampede for Women luncheon highlighted the recent success of USF’s female athletic programs and acknowledged its athletes, coaches, alumni and contributors.
Courtesy of USF
The University of South Florida announced the launch of its first ever NCAA Division I women’s beach volleyball team, set to begin in the 2024-2025 school year. The announcement was made at USF’s sold-out Stampede for Women luncheon on Feb. 2 at the Pam and Les Muma Basketball Center in Tampa.
Introduced in February of 2021, Stampede for Women is a fundraising initiative that aims at financially supporting USF’s female student-athletes and their respective programs, as well as shining light on their accomplishments.
“The goal of Stampede for Women is to raise awareness and empower female student-athletes to overcome challenges through gathering community support of USF women’s athletic programs,” according to the Stampede for Women’s website.
This year’s event, hosted on National Girls and Women in Sports Day, highlighted the recent success of USF’s female athletic programs and acknowledged its athletes, coaches, alumni and contributors. These programs are some of the top performing in the United States and are home to conference champions, top 25 ranked teams, Olympic medalists and Women’s National Basketball Association All-Star alumni.
Over $150,000 has been raised toward the Stampede for Women initiative since its introduction last year, including a $10,000 donation from Bulls football coach Jeff Scott, according to USF Athletics.
These funds are crucial for the development of female sports programs at USF, as they provide the means for scholarships, equipment, facilities, community morale and more.
“For 50 years, most of the donations have gone to men’s sports, so it’s high time we did something to make sure we have a focused approach on how to grow women’s athletics,” USF golf coach and alumni Sally Dee told USF Athletics.
“We want great programs and happy coaches who want to stay here. Money won’t necessarily make you happy, but it makes your life easier, it pays your bills and it will give the needed resources for USF women’s athletics. That’s what we want to accomplish,” Dee said.
These funds also allow USF to introduce new sports programs, such as a previously announced women’s lacrosse team set to begin in 2023-2024 and now a women’s beach volleyball team in 2024-2025. With these additions, USF now has a total of 12 female athletic programs.
“We’re so excited about [beach volleyball]. It obviously fits the brand of where we live and is a greatly emerging sport,” USF Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly said. “We fully expect to be highly competitive very quickly and are looking forward to that.”
The introduction of these new programs is vital in establishing Stampede for Women’s credibility because at an early stage in its development, contributors are already seeing their donations make an impact.
Follow the USF women’s beach volleyball team on social media!
Instagram: @usfbeachvb Twitter: @USF_BeachVB
