When you think about the major professional sports in America, your mind automatically goes to the men. All the major leagues that pay their athletes millions of dollars a year (the MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA, and MLS) are men’s leagues. The most famous of these athletes (LeBron James, Mike Trout, etc.) are men. A good chunk of our more recognized Olympic athletes (Michael Phelps, Shaun White, etc.) are men. A majority of sports covered in the media are men’s sports, and a majority of sports media is made up of men. Even most college sports given coverage are men’s sports. Sports is too male-dominated, and that needs to change.

Women’s sports are just as important as men’s sports. Women’s sports are just as good, and better, in many cases, but they don’t get near the equal treatment. Women’s sports don’t get anywhere near the coverage or press of men’s sports, and players don’t get paid nearly as much, despite playing at a level similar to that of professional male athletes. The WNBA (basketball) and NWHL (hockey), and other leagues exist, but you never hear about them. A lot of female athletes have to get secondary jobs just to be able to support themselves. Meanwhile, most minimum salaries for the male professional leagues are around half a million dollars a year.

Female athletes are some of the best in the world, and they deserve more attention and recognition. Serena Williams is the most decorated tennis player of all time. Katie Ledecky has won five Olympic gold medals and fourteen world championships, and she did it while making her competition look bad. Chloe Kim completely smoked her competition on the snowboarding halfpipe in the Winter Olympics, winning the gold medal in one run at age seventeen. The US women’s soccer team has won three world cups and four Olympic gold medals. The US women’s hockey team has won eight world championships and has been in the gold medal game five of the last six Olympics.

Women are the best in the world, and they deserve to be recognized and given what they’re worth.

It’s not just on the national level, it’s ingrained in society. At the University of Virginia, our women’s teams have been taking titles in Soccer, Lacrosse, Field Hockey, Rowing, and more over the past decade, and I, a UVA student, have not been to any games, nor do I really hear about them in the local media. All I hear about it men’s basketball and football. Now, admittedly, our basketball team is the best in the nation and deserves the time they get, but there’s no excuse for football. We’re terrible, and we’re not fun to watch. Less football, more successful women’s teams.

We need more of what I see in local communities. My sister has been playing travel softball for over six years, and she and some of her teammates are very good. My family has been up and down the east coast for my sister to play in all these softball tournaments. And what strikes me most is the intensity with which families and fans cheer for high school-aged girls playing softball. Watching the dad of Danielle behind the plate or Maggie at shortstop stress out like this is game seven of the World Series is really a sight to see. And I know these are their children, but a lot of these people are fans of sports in general, so if you can cheer for your girls now, why can’t you cheer for the professional women down the line?

Push your girls to pursue their athletic dreams, if that’s what they want. But more importantly, don’t push female athletes under the rug.

Don’t cry that there’s no good hockey at the Olympics because the NHL isn’t there because the best women in the world are there playing amazing hockey. Don’t ignore Serena Williams’s accomplishments. Don’t compare Katie Ledecky to Michael Phelps. Female athletes are some of the best in the world, and we need to give them their credit where credit is due.