UW-Oshkosh To Hold Girls And Women In Sports Day
The UW-Oshkosh Athletics Department is sponsoring the Second Annual Girls and Women in Sports Day on Saturday, April 13 at noon in the Russ Young Building at the Oshkosh Sports Complex. The event will feature three speakers – Deb Blevons, M. Geneva Murray and Stephanie Housh – who will address “Preparing the Mind, Body and Soul Beyond Athletics.” The public is welcome to attend this free event.
The first 100 people will receive a free T-shirt. All attendees receive free admission to the UW-Oshkosh softball doubleheader at 2 p.m., along with a voucher for a free combo meal at the concession stand.
Blevons, discussing the “mind,” will explain how skills developed as an athlete translate to the working world. Murray will use her experience with roller derby to address the “soul” and how her friendships developed through sports. Finally, Housh will present on the “body,” discussing healthy training and living.
Blevons, of Northwestern Mutual, joined the company in 1988 after nine years in the banking business. She has distinguished herself as a successful Financial Representative, Northwestern Mutual's Corporate Office Employee and Field Director.
In 1993, Blevons began her management career with the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network and quickly established one of the top-producing new Financial Representative units as a Top-10 Field Director. She was appointed as the company’s second female Managing Partner in September of 1997.
Her network office has been awarded the company’s 100 Million Award in recognition of surpassing $100,000,000 in sales from 1997-2003. In addition, Blevons received the General Agents and Managers Award NMA-Silver for 1998-2002 and the Gold Award from 2003-05. She also qualified for the company Growth Award in 2001-2003. Blevons qualified for the TEAM Award during 2010.
Blevons is involved with many community organizations. She has always been interested in working with underprivileged youth and helping women in developing financial security. Blevons is on the Executive Committee for the Managing Partners Association of Northwestern Mutual.
Most recently, Blevons oversaw the joining of her General Agency with another General Agency, virtually doubling the Blevons Group presence overnight. Her years of leadership experience have allowed her to lead and direct this massive transition seamlessly, with total professionalism and without skipping a beat when it comes to providing world-class client service.
Murray became the Director of the Women's Center at UW-Oshkosh in November 2012. She previously worked as the Education Coordinator for the Sewall-Belmont House & Museum and as the Public Policy Assistant for the Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy & Action - both in Washington, D.C.
Murray has a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Texas Tech University, a master’s in Public Policy with a concentration in Women's Studies from George Washington University, and a Ph.D. in Women's Studies from the University of York in England.
During the course of her Ph.D., Murray became active in roller derby, both as a player and researcher. Her dissertation paid particular attention to the ways in which spectators perceive the players. She also looked more broadly at how roller derby aligns with or challenges assumptions of sexuality within sport.
During Murray’s study, she began to focus on female friendships within roller derby, called "derby wives."
Housh joined the University of Wisconsin strength and conditioning staff in 2007. She serves as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the school. Housh works with men’s and women’s soccer, softball and women’s crew. She previously worked with track and field, and the spirit squad. Housh is also head of the internship program for the strength and conditioning department.
Housh came to Wisconsin after spending two years as a sports performance coach and operations coordinator at Velocity Sports Performance in Warrenville, Ill. As a sports performance coach, Housh designed and implemented comprehensive strength and conditioning programs. She also monitored athlete progression through daily documentation and quarterly performance assessments. Her work at Velocity included research and implementing injury prevention and rehabilitation workshops and sessions.
Before working at Velocity Sports Performance, Housh was a performance training intern at Prosport Training and Rehabilitation in Rolling Meadows, Ill. She developed speed, strength and conditioning programs for clientele, while assisting athletes as they prepared for the NFL Draft.
Housh graduated from St. Norbert College in De Pere during 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in Natural Sciences. She earned her master’s in Human Service-Exercise Science from Concordia University in River Forest, Ill., during 2005.
A member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), Housh has a USA Weightlifting Certification (USAW), is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach (CSCS) and owns certification in CPR in Functional Movement Screening (FMS).