Sports benefit girls of all ages
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
I’d have a lot more time to write if I didn’t play so much tennis. I play 3 times a week and I’d play more if I could. I love it! If you think that means I’m some vapid, country club housewife you can kiss my racquet.
Oops, that was kind of aggressive of me.
The reason I have the confidence to state my opinion so definitively is that I’m fresh off the court and my partner and I blew away our opponents, helping our team move into 1st place. Man, am I pumped for the playoffs!
Competitiveness is something I discovered late in life. My high school athletic career consisted of cheerleading and a few step-kicks in the chorus of Mame. I didn’t experience the fun and fulfillment of being on a sports team until I turned 40 and took up tennis.
Now I see how much I missed. As the Women’s Sports Foundation reports, participating in sports delivers lifelong benefits to girls and women. Here are just a few:
- Girls who play sports get better grades and are less likely to get pregnant than girls that don’t.
- Girls and women who play sports are more confident, have higher self esteem ,and are less likely to suffer from depression.
- Females of all ages who play sports have a more positive body image than women who don’t. (They value their bodies for what they can do, not only how they look.)
- Sports and exercise reduce the risk of breast cancer, osteoporosis and other diseases.
Not only does playing sports keep girls and women healthier and happier, it prepares them to understand the dynamics of the workplace, which are often based on sports team models. Young women need to understand the unwritten rules of how to handle pressure, not take things personally, support the overall goal, and project confidence. They also need to accept that promotions and responsibilities will be awarded based on people’s strengths and competencies; girls often judge one another on who is nicest or most likable.
So you see, my tennis is not just some frivolous pastime – it’s a good career move. Kudos to Vice President Joe Biden and the Obama administration for announcing changes in policies to strengthen Title IX earlier this week. Since the law, which requires gender equity in federally funded educational programs, passed in 1972, the number of women participating in college sports has grown from 32,000 to 150,000.
In just one generation, Title IX’s impact has been huge. Girls today grow up playing all kinds of sports that didn’t exist when I was in school – soccer, hockey, water polo, lacrosse. Girls expect to be on the playing field, not cheering for the boys from the sidelines. In fact, there isn’t even a cheerleading squad at our local high school, New Trier. There’s just not enough interest.
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My daughter just made the cheerleading squad at her high school and at first I had mixed feelings about it. I wanted her to be competing against others, not just cheering for someone else to do well.
But it’s not like when we were in high school; I soon found out that these days, cheerleading is a very competitive sport in and of itself and the team — girls AND boys — compete against other cheerleading teams at a very high level of athleticism.
Go team!
Hilary – I didn’t mean to diss cheerleading, especially a team that competes on it’s own merits. I’m sure you’re daughter will experience all the benefits mentioned above. Ready? OK!
In response to another comment. See in context »Being athletic has been a huge part of my identity since childhood and has very much shaped my confidence and ability to get through all sorts of situations. I feel sorry for girls and women who dislike sports as, you write, you learn so many invaluable lessons through it and have a lot of fun. In most very worst moments, when I thought I couldn’t get through another week, knowing I could hit the squash court and take a game or two was enough. Becoming nationally ranked still is one of my greatest thrills and learning a totally new sports in my mid 30s was a terrific challenge on every level.
Caitlin, you are lucky you discovered sports as a kid. From your writing, it’s obvious you possess great confidence and high self-esteem.You were a nationally ranked squash player?! Impressive!
In response to another comment. See in context »No doubt you are right. There are many benefits to participation in sports.
But I was just born wired differently. While I was an active child and good swimmer–and have been an active gardener (like, ruining my knees) all of my adult life, I could never take competitive sports seriously. In fact, I think they are silly. So do all the men in my life, in fact. Not a bunch of couch potatoes, either. They all testify to anger at the athletic pressure put on boys and the frequent ridicule of the handicapped.
I am thinking that girls may not be treated that way, but then if the coaches of girls’ sports see their jobs linked to winning, all bets are off.
I once had a pair of female university students who had been high school basketball stars. But they would not participate in the school’s basketball program, or indeed any student activities. Here’s why, as they told it: in their junior year, they won the state in their division. Their coach was like a family member. They were like his daughters. But in their senior year they lost the championship game by two points. He went beserk, cursed them, carried on like a madman. They were disowned–they had dishonored him! The team was crushed; and he never consoled them, never even treated them in a friendly way again.
I hope this is not typical, as it frequently is with male sports. But I don’t count on it.
My idea of competition was, as you might guess, academic.
Keuka56 – You make some good points about the pressure sports puts on kids and the risk of ending up with some crazy coach like the one you describe. But the same might be said of academics and teachers – or work and bosses. Hopefully, the overall experience of playing basketball was worth it for those two mistreated young women.
I know sports aren’t for everyone. Many of the women I started playing tennis with liked hitting the ball but hated playing matches. They much prefer activities like running and yoga. But for me, the stakes of winning or losing makes the whole endeavor more exciting. And I’ve learned a lot of lessons that translate off the court.
In response to another comment. See in context »[...] Sports benefit girls οf аƖƖ ages – Marjie Killeen – North Shore & N… [...]
Hi Marjie,
Lovely post!
In school, I loved playing but never made it to teams.
But what I learnt then helped me tremendously right through my climb up the corporate ladder in India.
If there is one reason I recommend women should play regularly, it is this: Sport makes you confident as a person and comfortable with your body. Leads to women reacting from a position of confidence rather than defense.
This one reason creates powerful life-long impact and demonstrates the value of sport for women.
Cheers,
Anita
Thanks Anita,
In response to another comment. See in context »It’s never fun to get beat or get cut. But those situations can be powerfully motivating and provide opportunities for growth that we’d never get if we didn’t put ourselves out there. Good to know you’ve seen the benefits in your career in India.
Marjie, I blew out both knees paying squash (two surgeries later I am no longer able to play it); I was a nationally ranked saber fencer, a sport I only took up for fun in my 30s when I moved to NYC and had no job or friends. I had been a dance students for years and fencing looked (as it is) like a perfect combination of athletic ferocity, elegance and cunning. I was very lucky to have found a two-time Olympian as my coach and I’d never had access to that level of attention or skill. It was amazing.
It really fundamentally changed how I thought about myself and my abilities. I agree that competition ran ruin the pleasure for many, but if you are a competitive woman, it’s a great outlet and forces you to see that losing to an excellent competitor — which happens all through life — is something to learn from, not freak out over. Losing, oddly, can give you more confidence. I think women, especially, need to find many ways to be powerful and strong and confident that are NOT about being thin or beautiful or (only) someone’s wife or mother.
I love sports dearly and wish more women were as passionate as we are. I have also crewed on many racing sailboats (very, very male environment) and it’s great fun — as long as you can handle being yelled at. For that reason alone, many women stay away from what is an amazingly fun, demanding sport; once people know you’re strong, sober and skilled, you will never lack for chances to crew.