3. Sense of achievement You won’t win all the matches, games and competitions, but man, it’s a darn good feeling when you do. Even when you lose, you still achieved at least something – whether that be learning what you can do better next time, knowing you at least got your butt off the couch for an hour and got active, or even just strengthening relationships with teammates. Earning a sense of achievement -- or even just the thought of it -- is what keeps us motivated and inspired to keep achieving. We know how good it feels when hard work pays off, so therefore, in any aspect of life, we’re more likely to push harder through the pain, discouragement and barriers that life throws in our way. 4. Healthy lifestyle Sports provide a healthy, balanced lifestyle. This time meaning structurally, not just physically. Building your life around sport increases balance, productivity and good morals. For example, partying can be fun and healthy, but it can put our priorities out of line when it’s happening more than two nights a week. Sports keeps us away from too much drugs and alcohol, and gives a healthy slice of both discipline and a social life. Some nights you have to give up going to a party because you have a game or competition that night or the very next morning. But, other nights you’re free, so go out and have a good time while you can! Another example is that more gets done. Being involved in a sport takes time up in your schedule. With that being the case, you're more likely to use the time you do have in order to complete errands and chores. When I have all day to get something done, I’m less likely to do it 'cause my mind is all like, “Nah, you don’t have to do it right now, you’ve got all day.” ...And then it just never gets done. 5. Develops important characteristics Hard work, perseverance, dealing with disappointment . . . it all sprouts from participating in sport, and it’s all essential to surviving the real world in everyday life. I wouldn’t be so dedicated to my jobs, volunteer commitments, and group projects if it weren’t for growing up with a coach who threatened to make my team do suicides and push-ups if any of us ever missed a practice for an invalid reason. Without sports I wouldn’t be so motivated to reach my goals and sacrifice things along the way in order to reach them.
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Kyle and I went to a Furies game back in January. This past week we decided to go again . . . only this time, WE BROUGHT FRIENDS!! It was a great time meeting two Olympians, getting a picture with the team and watching a great game of hockey between Toronto and Boston. Click
here
to see our first Furies vlog.
during an NFL game, BUT DO NOT – FOR THE LOVE OF GOD – LET THAT DISCOURAGE YOU. Through your work on the sidelines you are shaping a team and changing lives. Don’t let anyone doubt your knowledge or your ability to strengthen the skill of our squad just because you are the unlikely gender to be coaching. With every practice you lead and every competition you coach, you make an incredibly positive change in the world.
Happy women’s day to the female officials who referee my soccer games. The match wouldn’t even happen if it weren’t for you. Yes, you will make wrong calls, and I’ll definitely argue with you, but every referee makes a bad call at one point or another. Just remember that for every wrong whistle, there are an abundance of times your call is right. When the parent on the sideline screams at you and says that foul call should not have happened, turn and remind them it’s not your fault their kid just pushed someone over. Happy women’s day to my mom who introduced me to the game I love. I realize my success began with your decisions to play soccer with me in our front yard, to sign me up with a league, to dish out the money I needed to play and to drive my friends and me to every practice in your soccer mom van. To all the sporty moms out there: She Scores would not have female athletes to celebrate if it weren’t for all the time and money you put into creating them. Happy International Women's Day to all the dedicated females who help the world of women in sport go 'round.
high as $10,000. As a result, the players have to work day jobs on top of all their team commitments, film sessions, training, conditioning sessions and games. Working a full-time job
in addition to
being on a
professional
sports team is insane. It’s exhausting, and there’s no time for the players to see their families, conduct self-care, etcetera. So, every dollar counts. Ordering tickets online is no harder than purchasing tickets to the men’s games you and your peers go to all the time.
Secondly: your presence. Just sitting there in your seat shows the world your interest. That interest encourages the media to cover games, it urges large companies to pay the league and put up advertisements, and it sets an example for other people to come on out and support. Yes, going to a professional women’s sporting event definitely does the league, teams and players a huge favour and yahdee, yahdee, yah. But . . . what’s in it for you ? WELL…. IT’S CHEAP! Okay let’s compare the pricing of Toronto’s professional men’s hockey team, the Maple Leafs, to their professional women’s hockey team, the Furies. If Kyle and I had sat in the exact same kind of seating at a regular season Leafs game as we did at the Furies game, we would be paying as low as $252. Kyle and I paid $15 for our Furies tickets . . . and we got the best seats in the house. Even the worst seats at a Leafs game go as low as $100. That’s more than five times the amount we got our sick, bomb.com tickets for. It’s hard to find tickets to professional women’s games that are more than $50. The average pricing is around $20 for most teams. YOU GET GOOD SEATS NO MATTER WHAT! Professional women’s sports games don’t take place in huge facilities. Therefore no matter where you sit, you’re pretty much guaranteed to be right beside the playing surface. You can see in the video just how close all the fans are to the ice. Kyle and I are in the back row, so there’s no one behind us. We were the furthest from the ice as it was possible to be. Some games, like the one we were at, are even general sitting, so if you arrive early enough you can choose to sit anywhere you want. FAMILY-FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT! Nope, no there are not any drunken crazies sitting behind you, shaking their beer in the air and spilling it all over your head while yelling their brains out at a call a referee made that was actually a good call. Obviously people yell and some get a little into it, but nobody’s sloshed and saying questionable things that make you wonder if you should cover your kids’ ears. Most of the fans are friendly, humble fellows who just want to support the players and watch a good game of hockey. THERE’S NO FIGHTING! Although some people appreciate the fighting aspect in men’s hockey, I appreciate that at a women’s hockey game, you get a hockey game. The players don’t give you a side dish of boxing. It’s a clean, civil match and the helmets stay on. It’s hockey. ZERO TRAFFIC AFTERWARDS! What?! Yeah, that’s right. You know exactly where you parked, you get in your car, and you’re out of the parking lot and on the highway towards home all within five minutes. There aren’t enough people to generate oodles of traffic and cause you to waste an hour just trying to get out of the general area. It’s a PROFESSIONAL Sporting Event You get all these advantages and you think hmmm . . . this is fishy, how can a professional sports game provide this flawless of an experience? But that’s the beauty of it, my friends. These gals are the female counterparts of the male athletes you pay your week’s earnings to go and watch at huge stadiums. The ladies before your eyes have trained for this their whole lives. Take in the fact that you’re watching some of the best athletes in the continent . . . for a cheap price and in stellar seats. Who in their right mind doesn’t want to take advantage of that?
Adam, I now speak directly to you. You have a lot to learn, young grasshopper. The rest of this blog post is dedicated to you, spoken in your language of soccer. 1. If men’s soccer is more interesting than women’s, then why was the women’s 2015 World Cup final the most watched game in United States history? 2. Real athletes and sports fans appreciate all aspects of the game. Women’s soccer is called soccer. If you really love the footy world, you’ll appreciate any game you’re given the opportunity to watch. Even if the strategies and styles of athleticism are different than what you grew up used to, there’s still much that can be learned and taken away from watching a women’s game. Good ballers are eager to learn and they soak up as much knowledge as they possibly can. Seeing all the different ways things are done makes you a more well-rounded, educated player and sports fan. 3. Women aren’t supposed to be compared to men. Professional female soccer players should be compared to other female players. Why do you think soccer always has separate divisions for men and women? If we were supposed to compare male soccer players to female soccer players, there wouldn’t be two different World Cups – there would be one co-ed World Cup. 4. Please watch some highlights from professional women's soccer, such as the top ten goals from the women’s 2015 World Cup . These women are athletic BEASTS. I fully believe with all my heart they would absolutely destroy you in a game of soccer, Adam. Please take a seat.
While most sports face gender equity issues, some sports barely even know what a female face looks like. Sports that have to do with cars or being muscular are typically stereotyped as “men’s” sports. But, truth is there are women playing these sports too. That means these are not “men’s” sports anymore. These are sports.
Girls, it’s okay to participate in male-dominated sports. If skateboarding is what you want to spend your spare time doing, do it. If you have an interest in weightlifting, pursue it. Don’t worry about the guys who find your athleticism threatening to their masculinity. That’s their problem. Not yours. It’s time to break the stereotypes. In fact, they’re already being broken. So, hello world, may the She Scores community introduce you to some of the leading women in your so-called “masculine” sports. DANICA PATRICK (AUTO RACING)
JEN WELTER (AMERICAN FOOTBALL)
ELISSA STEAMER (SKATEBOARDING)
ZHOU LULU (WEIGHTLIFTING)
TRISH STRATUS (WRESTLING)
GINNY THRASHER (SHOOTING)
Fighting for gender equity in sports seems to lie mainly in the interest of females who are athletes and sports fans. While it’s understandable why sporty-minded people are more drawn to the topic,
all
feminists can be encouraged to stay engaged in gender equity in sports. Sports have a lot to offer the general female population and the general female population has a lot to offer sports.
When I say “engaged,” that doesn’t mean every feminist has to be a loyal fan to women’s sports. It can mean simple actions such as being aware of the issues female athletes face or following feminist sports accounts like the Women’s Sports Foundation, Fast and Female, or She Scores. Some people don't enjoy spending their time watching or playing sports, and that's why they don't feel the need to support women's athletics. However, there are many ways the general public can feel more open to the idea of supporting female athletes. Here are five reasons to support women's athletics that can be appealing to non-sporty feminists: Wage Gap Playing a professional sport is a paid job. Therefore anyone who is passionate in fighting the wage gap women face in the workplace should also be concerned about the gap women see in sports. Professional female basketball players make one percent of what professional male basketball players make (1) . This is no less important than women receiving low wages in a business environment or any other kind of everyday career. If we are fired up about wage gaps in an office, we need to be fired up about wage gaps on the court. Hiring of Other Female Roles Professional women’s sports are about the athletes, but the athletes only make up a fraction of the people involved in the leagues. There are coaches, referees, commentators, scouts, managers, journalists, physiotherapists, psychiatrists, dieticians, and other team staff. In men’s professional leagues, it’s difficult for women to get themselves hired. There are a total of two referees in Major League Soccer, Felisha Mariscal and Kathryn Nesbitt. Not only are there just two of them, but they’re both merely assistant referees. The year 2000 was the last time a female was the centre referee in a Major League Soccer game. However, it is common in women’s leagues to see a rapidly growing female staff. The 2015 women’s World Cup had a total of 73 referees, all of them female ( 2) . Furthermore, in the Women’s National Basketball Association, six of the twelve head coaches are women. Women’s sports open up more employment opportunities for females in all aspects of the league. Supporting women’s sports doesn’t only support the athletes; it helps females behind the scenes and on the sidelines obtain jobs as well. Inspiration and Empowerment Watching women achieve greatness is always inspiring; whether their area of expertise is something I’m interested in or not. I feel more empowered as a woman because that individual is, in a way, representing the entire female population. Her actions show that women have the opportunities men have. Doors are open wide. The world is ours. An example of this is the new Wonder Woman movie. The movie was incredibly empowering to me because Wonder Woman saves the world and battles on horseback and with a sword and shield. I’m not a warrior and I have never done martial arts, but I was inspired because Wonder Woman destroys not only her enemies but also the mask of restriction and delicacy females are expected to wear. She breaks that stigma and puts females, as an entire population, in a positive light. Shows Character That mask I just mentioned? You can’t play sports with that on; it’ll just keep trying to fall off anyways. With sports removing that “mask of restriction and delicacy,” females show a different side of their personalities. Athletes want to wear their baggy shorts. They’re not afraid to be covered in mud. They put their dreams before boys. They possess well rounded and carefree qualities that any female can look up to and carry through any aspect of life. Nurturing Young Girls Supporting women’s sports is crucial for the nurturing of young and growing females. If we don’t give women’s sports our attention, the leagues won’t gain popularity and young girls won’t be exposed to them. The media has a huge impact on young girls, which is why they need good role models and positive exposure to media. Sports give them this. My previous post, Be More Than the Media , expands on this topic further. References
I was slothin' around watching YouTube videos about girls and sports when I stumbled across Gatorade's clip, "Keep Her in the Game." (The video is posted below). This clip spoke loudly to me and inspired me to write this piece about the toxic relationship between young female athletes and the media.
According to Women’s Sports Foundation, girls are quitting sports at two times the rate of boys by age 14. Unfortunately there are many reasons as to why young and teenaged girls drop out of sports. Six reasons talked about by Women’s Sports Foundation can be found here . Two reasons, inspired by WSF's list, that we expand on in this post are girls' lack of exposure to female athlete role models, and the pressure from advertisements to be society’s idea of “feminine.” We talk about these reasons because they are factors that children and teenagers can learn to control, and parents and mentors can help solve. Lack of Exposure to Professional Female Athletics With the lack of women's sports on television, on the Internet, in the news, and in other forms of media, girls are not exposed to the powerful athletic role models. Girls see the actresses on television, the models on Instagram, the latest gossip on Buzzfeed about the Kardashians. Celebrities, models and YouTube sensations are who girls are exposed to and look up to the most. These icons are often in with the latest fashions and trends, and present themselves in a delicate way that girls watching try to replicate. Non-athletic role models can of course be a positive influence, but without the exposure to female athletes, girls aren't seeing the well-rounded picture of what a woman can be. Their minds aren't enlightened with the fact that yes, women can indeed get down and dirty and still be "#goals." So, expose girls to professional female athletes and their games. You may recall I talked about this in It Takes a Village to Raise an Athlete . Girls need to know professional women's sports is a thing. The world of pro sports isn't just the men's games she sees on TV every day. Make watching women's games a household routine. Bring the female athletes' accomplishments up in conversation. Do whatever you need to in order to make girls aware of female athletes and just how "cool" sporty women can be. Pressure from Advertisements In addition to having external positive role models, girls need to learn how to be their own role model. If they don't, the media will take over. Advertisements will tell our girls they're not good enough and show them what they need to have to make themselves "better." Most times, this includes how to be delicate and a "real and attractive" girl. This results in girls walking off the sports field, as shown in the powerful video below (please watch it).
something wrong with us. He made it clear that advertisements have to be around in order for certain companies, such as news organizations, to make money. However, what we
can
do is learn to think about advertisements critically.
When watching TV or flipping through a magazine with your daughter, niece, girl you're babysitting, etc., make verbal, critical comments about the advertisements. Explain how it's all photoshopped, how the ad is trying to be manipulative, how no healthy human looks like the Barbie in the advertisement (even the photoshopped model in the ad). Make sure you do as much as you can to make her feel comfortable in her own skin. She is fine just the way she is. Those advertisements will do everything they can to make her feel like she's not good enough and that she needs to buy their product. But she's so awesome she doesn't need that product. Or that stick skinny body. Ever. As mentors (which can be parents, older siblings, coaches, teachers, etc.), we have a role to play in keeping girls in sports. If sports aren't her thing and other interests, such as music or art, flow through her blood, then that's fine; let her find her calling. But if sports are what she loves, do everything you can to prevent her someday abandoning athletics to be more like a "girl."
To
solve the problem, we have to know the problem. If we want the world to watch women’s sports, we need to know why people currently don’t. Here are a few contributing factors and some ways we can try to change.
1. We’re conditioned to watch men’s sports. Society shouldn’t be harshly blamed right off the bat for not watching women’s sports – female athletics are barely ever on TV. We’re humans; humans are lazy . . . we watch what’s on TV at the time. We don’t unconsciously go digging deep into the Internet looking for the next women’s game that’s going to be live streamed, which, realistically, probably isn’t streaming anyways for another day at the very least. With males’ athletics being the only entertainment that’s ever been on sports channels, we as an audience are conditioned to automatically think of watching only men’s sports. SOLVE IT: Enlighten yourself and be more aware about the sports that aren’t right under your nose. If you’re into watching sports, find out when the next professional women’s game is being shown on the Internet and plan to tune in. 2. The media doesn’t cover women’s sports. According to the Tucker Center, women’s sports receive only four percent of sports media coverage. How are women’s sports supposed to hold our attention if the media isn’t pushing the news and features at us? There's no news, interviews, statistics, highlight videos, etc. circulating the Internet. Again, like watching the games, we have to go looking for it, and most times it's not even there. SOLVE IT: Go looking for it. Search YouTube and the league websites. Watch women’s sports, read the news on their websites regularly, visit their Instagram page, keep up with the stats. The websites can see the traffic through their site administration. Nowadays, and unfortunately, the media only covers what the public deems newsworthy. If the public is showing interest in women’s sports platforms, the media will be more willing to cover what’s going on in the leagues and eventually there will be more material at the ready. 3. Society isn’t as accepting of females as athletes. As angering as it is, females who play sports -- where the uniform is a roomy top and long shorts -- don't get a very big audience. The 2017 National Pro Softball championship had just over 1,000 fans in attendance while an average tennis match is usually no less than 20,000. People watch tennis, where many of the players dress in short little skirts and tight tops. Because that’s every woman’s place, right? My gosh, shoot me. This is why general feminist movements are important. The day when women are seen less as sex objects and more as equals will be the day women will be more accepted in a baggy basketball jersey. SOLVE IT: Continue being a feminist. Join feminist movements. Challenge the oppressors. Let the concept of rape infuriate you. Support consent. Anything you need to do to fight for women’s rights. 4. “Women are boring to watch – they can’t jump as high or run as fast as men.” This is what I’ve heard a lot of. I won’t deny that professional women aren’t able to reach the same speed and other forms of athleticism as professional men can -- men are born with more red blood cells and there's not much we can do to change that. But . . . "boring"? Really? Nah, man. Professional female athletes’ strength is absolutely ridiculous compared to the average male and female athlete. The Olympic women in Rio were running a four minute 1500m. No average male athlete is coming close to that. The women's world high jump record is 2.09m, which is 6.25 feet, WHICH IS TALLER THAN MOST HUMANS. Yo, women are darn good at what they do. SOLVE IT: Watch women’s sports and appreciate what the players can do rather than what they can’t. When you see a player make a good play, acknowledge that it was a good play. If you find yourself daydreaming how the men would have done it "better," replace the word "better" with "differently."
You know what they say: it takes a village to raise a child. It’s especially true when it comes to raising young athletes. Whether you’re a coach, teacher, parent, friend or family member, these are some things I personally believe we should keep in mind as a society when raising a young, female athlete.
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AuthorJessa Braun is a soccer-loving ENFP who works as a sports journalist for her university. She is obsessed with the Harry Potter series and "Club Can't Handle Me" by Flo Rida. Archives
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