Jazz To Celebrate International Women’s Day Against Raptors

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz will celebrate International Women’s Day March 9 against the Toronto Raptors. The team is in the midst of a four-game road trip but will commemorate the occasion in front of a home crowd Monday night with several festivities throughout the game.

The Jazz will wear shooting shirts during pregame warmups donning the J-Note Logo with the words “International Women’s Day” written in traditional team colors.

The @UtahJazz will wear special #InternationalWomensDay shooting shirts Monday night during warmups against the Toronto Raptors. pic.twitter.com/p918j1R4wW

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 6, 2020

Players from both the Jazz and Raptors will be joined on the floor during the National Anthem by girls from the Junior Jazz youth basketball program. Additionally, the Color Guard ceremony will be presented by members of the Girl Scouts.

At halftime, the Jazz Dancers will be joined by girls from local high-school dancers for a special on-court routine. The Jazz Dance Team traveled to different high schools throughout January to teach the youth dance companies about personal growth, physical fitness and community service. The Jazz Dance team chose 14 dancers from the programs to perform with based on essays the students were asked to write reflecting on their time spent together.

Both Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell have made special arrangements to commemorate the evening.

Block ➡️ 3 pic.twitter.com/ZiCW7J3U3d

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 3, 2020

Gobert will be donating $1,000 to Girls on the Run for every blocked shot he records throughout the evening. Girls on the Run is a program designed to help girls from the third through eighth grade develop skills to appreciate health and fitness.

Mitchell, alongside sponsor Adidas will host 14 women to sit courtside during warmups to watch both teams as they prepare for the game. Each participant will receive signed  D.O.N. Issue #1 International Women’s Day shoes to commemorate the day.

The Jazz guard celebrated in similar fashion last season by wearing a shoe inspired by his sister Jordan, whom he gifted the sneaker after the game.

For #InternationalWomensDay, @spidadmitchell wore a special colorway of the Adidas Pro Vision inspired by his sister Jordan during warmups and then gifted them to her 💜
📸: Joe Murphy pic.twitter.com/Vm7tCToLlz

— SoleCollector.com (@SoleCollector) March 9, 2019

International Women’s Day was first recognized after the turn of the 20th century in New York City to recognize working women. The movement gained greater traction in 1975 when it was officially recognized by the United Nations.