WOMEN TALK SPORTS

 When I was around 10 years old, I decided that I was going to play basketball in college. That was my big dream, a goal that, in my young mind, was completely achievable. I grew up in a college town, the same college my parents happened to be alumni of, which means that I went to pretty much every college football and basketball game, often willingly, sometimes not. I remember watching those games and having this dream that one day I was going to be the one out there playing on the court. I would have a whole stadium of fans watching me do what I love, and I was going to make them proud.

Update: I am not a college basketball player, and I quit basketball once I got to high school. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I actually just didn’t grow and a 5ft basketball player was not something I, personally, was about to subject myself to. 

Anyway, all this is to say that I have loved sports my whole life. Watching them, playing them, talking about them. I grew up in a football family, and once I learned and understood the game, it became my favorite thing. I remember watching the NFL playoffs one year and waking up the day after my team lost and having this strange existential dread. That's when I realized how much I really did look forward to gameday and just how into the sport I had gotten.

My freshman year of college I started watching hockey, and I immediately fell in love with the intensity of the game. I taught myself the rules, looking up what certain calls meant and just watching game after game till I understood. Unlike football, I could practically watch hockey every night while it was in season and I became obsessed. 

I started to realize that whenever I would start talking passionately about my football or hockey team, the first thing I am asked is “Oh so which player do you think is cute” like there is no other reason that I could enjoy the game than to stare at a pretty face. So, my question for everyone today is why is it that girls liking sports is not assumed to be normal or real until they can “prove” it? When on the other hand it’s just universally accepted that guys like sports, no questions asked.

Why is it that when a man gets animated and loud during a game that it’s normal but the minute a woman does she’s “trying too hard.” I don’t think that men are the problem here either and that’s not the point I am trying to get at. I am just simply stating that the rulebook is different when it comes to women and sports. Quite honestly, I am really over having to explain myself. At the end of the day, I know it doesn't really matter what anyone thinks. I can go about watching and supporting my teams all the same. However, the moment it gets brought up in conversation it's like I am doing all I can to convince others that I do know what I am talking, and I am over it.

I will also acknowledge the fact that this doesn’t go for all women either because a stigma and stereotype do stem from some semblance of truth. I know there are some people that do just use sports as a form of validation and play into one of the classic “pick-me” tropes. However, that doesn’t mean every woman who likes sports does it only for attention. I will mention that women are not the only ones to do this either. I think often people will say and do almost anything to feel included or wanted and that is its own separate phenomenon entirely.

Liking sports doesn’t decrease femininity.

It’s an interest, not a performance.

I mean come on, even women in sports are questioned about this. Female analysts are questioned of the validity of what they are speaking on. Female athletes are often asked about things that have nothing to do with their sport. Women in a sport-centered field are seen as accessories instead of participants in the event. 

At the end of the day girls, you don’t have to explain yourself to anyone. Love what you love loudly and unapologetically. Attend the games and events. Talk about them. Give your opinion. It will always be valid.

From the heart of the huddle,

xo, B