BERKELEY - California Athletics is hosting the third year of its Go Girls, Go Bears, Go Play! event at Edwards Stadium on March 1. Youths of all genders, backgrounds and abilities from ages 6-13 are invited to learn about a variety of sports from Cal student-athletes and local community partners at the free event, which is slated to run from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. PT. Attendees can register at this Eventbrite page.
 
All youth participants earn free admission to the Cal women's basketball game vs. SMU at 2 p.m. at Haas Pavilion.
 
Go Girls, Go Bears, Go Play is a product of the Cameron Institute for Student-Athlete Development, which hosted the first two iterations of the event in 2024 and 2025. The inaugural event was slated to take place at Edwards Stadium, but Go Girls, Go Bears, Go Play had to move indoors at Haas Pavilion due to rain.  The event still drew 1,000 people, and last year there were 2,000 attendees at Edwards.
 
"We saw a need for opportunities for our student-athletes and our community to come together with local partners to give kids a space to access sports and be able to show them the joy and benefits that come from playing sports," said Tayler Perez, the Cameron Institute's Director of Community Engagement & Partnerships. "There are a lot of barriers to entry and access for girls, women and those female identifying who want to get involved in sports. We're excited to build upon the success of the past two years and be able to invite more and more youth from our community to Cal to interact with our Cal student-athletes."
 
Several Cal men's and women's teams – including field hockey, men's and women's soccer, rugby, women's rowing, volleyball, men's water polo and football – as well as the Cal women's rugby club team are expected to participate. The Bears and their community partners – including Bay FC, the Oakland Strokes, Albany Berkeley Girls Softball League, Albany Berkeley Soccer Club, Female Footballers, Special Olympics NorCal and many more – will provide hands-on experience about numerous sports at approximately 35 stations located around Edwards Stadium.
 
"All of the teams have jumped at the opportunity to participate in an event like this," Cal field hockey goalkeeper Audrey Post said. "Even the male teams identify with the goals of this event, of exposing kids to the benefits of athletics."
 
The event highlights the participation of women and girls in sports. Some of the other community partners that the Cameron Institute works with to put on Go Girls, Go Bears, Go Play include the Positive Coaching Alliance, which is hosting a booth at Edwards; Sutter Health, which will give out T-shirts and menstruation kits; Bras for Girls, which will pass out sports bras; along with the Berkeley Unified School District, Oakland Unified School District, Oakland Athletic League and West Contra Costa Unified School District.
 
A member of the student-athlete planning committee who also took part in the event in 2024, Post has enjoyed how Go Girls, Go Bears, Go Play has benefited the many kids who have attended and has been a boon to Cal field hockey as well.
 
"It's incredibly fulfilling," she said. "It's been wonderful for my team. One of our team values is community engagement, and this event aligns so well with that value and shares what a positive experience sports has been now and growing up. To share that and empower young girls with this event has been amazing."

For more information, please visit the Go Girls, Go Bears, Go Play website by clicking here.