Just recently, Michigan State University celebrated National Women and Girls in Sports Day. This day is meant to celebrate the achievements and struggles of women athletes around the world. This day and worldwide effort are sponsored by the organization: Women's Sports Foundation. The Women Sports Foundation is committed to providing athletes with the skills and exposure needed to advance in their sports, or to transition to successful careers after competing.
Being a former athlete myself, I have experienced the inequalities between women and men's sports first hand. Throughout high school, I played basketball and softball for numerous seasons. When buying new gear and warmups our team had to pay for them individually, while the boys got the majority of their gear for free. The boy's team would get free team dinners at nice restaurants while our team dinners consisted of homemade meals from generous parents in the basements of our homes. A very specific memory I have is walking into the athletic training room and seeing a large tray of Gatorade. There was no sign and no reason for the athletic trainer's reaction. When I went to reach for a Gatorade the trainer yelled, "Hey! Those are only for the boys!" Confused, I didn't say a thing and walked out, wondering why I wasn't allowed to have just ONE Gatorade. Yes, the boy's team obviously brought in almost double the money that we did, but the school acted like not a single human being came to our games. We were able to fill half a gym with curious spectators and supportive family members and worked just as hard if not harder during our practices almost seven days a week.
My experiences never went farther than the high school level but I've heard numerous stories from women athletes who competed at the collegiate level. A close friend of mine who was a student-athlete at Central Michigan University along with her husband experienced blatant differences between the treatment of female and male athletes. Although she had competed on varsity as a freshman she did not receive a tangible letter or jacket although she played regularly. She only received a gold-plated charm that said CMU. Her husband was on the football team and redshirted as a freshman. Although he never touched the field he received recognition and a jacket.
Although equality in sports has come a long way there are still numerous areas that need improvement. Days like National Women and Girls in Sports Day are important for recognizing women's successes in male-dominated fields such as the sports arena. Inspiring little girls to still play sports and compete doing what they love can only help their confidence creating a generation of strong women.
