Boston, MA ·Friday, February 27, 2026·☀️34°

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Ohrenberger celebrates Girls in Sports Day

Programs emphasize full-contact participation

By Jeff Sullivan · February 26, 2026
Ohrenberger celebrates Girls in Sports Day
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While the three-inch snowfall of last Friday might seem like a fond memory this week, it did not deter the dozens and dozens of young girls who came to the Girls in Sports clinics at the Boston Centers for Youth and Family Ohrenberger Community Center.

The day was set up to be a celebration of girls in sports with several clinics in basketball, wrestling, rugby, lacrosse and boxing. The Boston Banshees came around for the rugby portion, the Suffolk Women’s Lacrosse team came for their sport, and the UMass Boston Women’s Basketball team came to run through fundamentals with patrons as well.

Ohrenberger Center Director Susan Young said the day is simply to get girls familiar with certain sports in a relaxed setting.

“It seems like girls shied away and now we’re trying to bring them in and let them have their own time,” she said. “There are only females in here enjoying one another and learning the games. It’s also about connecting with one another, because many of these girls are from different neighborhoods and don’t know each other.”

Ohrenberger Athletics Director Rosa Moriello said everybody at the clinics was still a bit excited after the United States’ gold wins in Women’s Hockey and Women’s Figure Skating. She was herself very enthusiastic, as she had just returned from Milan working as an athlete assistant.

“We’re on highs right now winning golds!” she said.

Moriello said she played hockey growing up, first on boys’ teams and then in high school on a girls team.

“This is my first time running a clinic here, and for me I grew up playing on men’s teams as a girl and I feel like this is the opportunity, especially with women’s sports in Boston kicking off, this is the time,” she said.

Moriello actually used to work for the Boston Fleet, the Boston Women’s Ice Hockey team, and followed several of Boston’s own to the Olympics. She said she really enjoys working at the Ohrenberger now.

“I took that passion for hockey throughout my life and now I’m here just trying to let other girls know they can play too,” she said.

Moriello said the programs at the Ohrenberger on Friday were aimed at the more full-contact sports that, at least traditionally, women have been steered away from. Her response was initially drowned out by three dozen or so girls at the Ohrenberger Gym shouting out their passion during the Lacrosse clinic.

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“I kind took a look at what we offered and it seemed to be a piece missing,” she said. “I just want girls to know that they can do it too.”

UMass Boston Player Yalitza Orozco said they have done a lot of these kinds of programs before and she was happy to come down to West Roxbury.

“We have done many of these kinds of things before,” she said. “Our school helps a lot of local clinics and schools out, and we get to entertain the kids for a little bit showing them some basketball.”

Orozco said one of the things she really liked was getting out and sharing the sports culture and community at UMass.

“I do enjoy it; you know giving back to the community is great and very helpful,” she said. “It also kind of shows what our environment is about at UMass Boston. Our program is about community and culture, and so I think this also shows what we’re about and what we do.”

Though it was their first time out there, Orozco said the Ohrenberger was a welcome change.

“This is our first time coming out here, but it’s pretty cool and there are a lot of hoops here and I think we’re going to give them some good drills to do,” she said.

The BCYF will be hosting three more clinics throughout the system over April vacation. While nothing has been scheduled yet, the programs will mirror the 2025 iterations, which can be found at https://tinyurl.com/36xuaa2z

About the author

Jeff Sullivan Covers local news and community stories.

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The Boston Centers for Youth and Families held an impromptu sports clinic last Friday to get more girls involved in sports. · Jeff Sullivan

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