Where My Ladies At?

photo credit: Finizio via photopin cc

  

What do we know about women’s sports?

In the world of sports we all know who won the National Championship, Super Bowl, and whose ranked number one in the BSC NCAA pole in men’s sports. Who can tell me who won the WNBA championship in the 2010-2011 season or who is hot in the women’s world of track? I bet there are very few people, because we rarely pay attention to those girls that are putting in work in whatever field of sports they are in. We tend to overlook the accomplishment of women in the world of sports because they aren’t as athletic as the men and can’t stun the crowd as the men do. Why are women so underrated in the world of sports?

There are often times when that one amazing female athlete comes along and amazes the world. We tend to give them some attention, but not for her being a good athlete. We look at those female athlete with such abilities as freaks of nature and wonder what are they doing to excel in that particular sport. We rarely acknowledge these girls for their natural raw talent and great sportsmanship. Take Baylor’s 6’8 junior center Brittney Griner. An amazing basketball player, but the world also sees her as a freak of nature and people have made statement such as “this girl has to be a man”. Just because she excels in a male sport doesn’t make her a man. Maybe she put countless hours in at the gym to become great, but we don’t think about that when we make these careless statements.

Even the rules in sports are against women. A female has to stay in college and play for a full 4 years oppose to a male only having to do a minimum of two years and they can go off to the league if that is the road they choose to take. Even in the game there are differences, a male may play rough and get patted on the back while a few will be charged with a call for unnecessary roughness and can even be thrown out of the game. In some sports it’s almost like the women play handicap. According to the NCAA rules the women play with smaller balls and have no set amount time to make it across the backcourt line; men’s basketball is different because the ball is bigger and they have a set time of ten seconds to make it across the backcourt line. Baseball is another sports where women aren’t given the same rule criteria as men. The women’s ball is bigger, lighter, and the infield are more dusty while the men’s is the total opposite. So with rules and standards like these I don’t think we give women a chance to prove themselves.

Another young lady to shock the world would be none other than 2012 Olympic star and  according to the L.A.Times a 2x gold medalist, Gabrielle Douglas. Although the world is just learning this girls name she was a world class athlete before the Olympics. Gabby has been, doing gymnastics since she was a small girl and became very good. According to CBS Sports “She is the first American gymnast ever to win both the team and individual all-around gold at the same Olympics.” Liz Clarke, author from The Washington Post states “She won the gold medal in the individual all-around, becoming the first African-American woman, as well as the first woman of color of any nationality, to win the event.” She trained in and out of season to become as good as she is and to compete on the Olympics level. She is the youngest person to win an Olympic goal and She is the first all-around champion to not medal in an individual event since women's gymnastics was added to the Olympics in 1952. Had this been a male of her age and talent the world would have exploded to see such feats of athleticism and talent.

We should never let the  gender of a person take away from their accomplishments. Whether male or female we should see them equal although they don't play on the same level. We as people should take the time to pay more attention to the women who go out and train hard, long, and with the determination of any male. Just because a girl is a girl doesn't mean she can't be great and should not be recognized for their accomplishments made. Women are a force to be reckoned with and I know I couple women that could give any man a run for his money in any sport!