The year of 2015 has ushered in what I, and I suspect many others also, would hope is the golden age for women in sports. It has been several years since ladies like Jeanie Buss, Christina Lurie and Gayle Benson have smashed the glass ceiling in the front offices of the sports teams and leagues. Leslie Visser, Jayne Kennedy, Phyllis George and Gayle Sierens are a few pioneers of women who excelled at sports journalism. Yet, there is a new phenomenon happening in the predominantly boys club . . . women are joining their male counterparts on the field of play.
This past spring, Becky Hammon became the first female assistant basketball coach for the San Antonio Spurs–the first in NBA history. Then, a few months ago, the NFL hired the first female referee, Sarah Thomas, in its history. And now, also in the NFL, the always trailblazing Arizona Cardinals have hired Jen Welters as the first female assistant coach to teach guys the position of running back.
Welters, Hammon, and Thomas are not just relishing in their current success as glass ceiling breakers. These ladies are taking full advantage to show the world what women have known for centuries which is they can compete with the men if given the chance. Hammond demonstrated this by winning the NBA Summer League in her first season–a feat very few men have accomplished in their rookie year of coaching in the NBA.
For decades, actually centuries, people have said athletics were something women could not handle. Women were too weak and not competitive enough. A woman’s place was in the kitchen, or being a mom, or some other feminine notion created by society. But women excel as athletes. In soccer, or as referred in many parts of the world–futbol or football, the 1999 U.S. National Women’s Team won the World Cup which is something the National Men’s Team did not accomplish until this year.
While there are still strides to be made, women have come a long way. Billie Jean King beat a man in tennis over 3 decades ago. Women compete on the football field in high school and college. Women compete and beat men in wrestling, tennis, soccer, baseball, softball and I dare to say the ladies who play hockey could probably beat some of the male teams. And in the future, a few women may find themselves playing on the fields in the NFL (I didn’t say the near future but I can think of a former teammate who could’ve given a few players on the Bengals a run for their money.
The point is women athletes are here to compete seriously, and it’s time they be taken seriously and not just as objects to be admired for their beauty. While attractiveness can be nice, a female athlete should be admired for her talent not her sexiness. If a female has both beauty and brawns, then she should thank God. However, most don’t according to the fashion industry (and therefore quite a bit of society), and they should be respected for their competitiveness.
Think about it . . . on the field of battle, would you want the pretty, female athlete with some talent or the completely talented but unattractive female? When I’m on that field, I’ll take the warrior and you can keep the beauty queen.
Source: Superfit Hero