For years women have been fighting for equal rights and thanks to yesterday’s event, they are one step closer.
This past Monday the Arizona Cardinals announced Jen Welter as their new coach. The first female coach in NFL history won gold medals with Team USA in the international Federation of American Football Women’s World Championships in 2010 and 2013, and has a master’s degree in sports psychology and a Ph.D. in psychology.
Her professional football experience goes back 14 years, mostly with the Da;;as Diamonds; however, she is also a former rugby player at Boston College and was the first women to play a non-kicking position in a men’s pro league - as a running back for the Texas Revolution of Indoor Football League.
Although it might seem obvious as to why she has been granted the position, some have still questioned the decision, to which Arians has said, “I wanted to open that door,” he stated. “Coaching is nothing more than teaching. The one thing I’ve learned from players: all they want to know is ‘How you going to make me better? If you can make me better, I don’t (care) if you’re the Green Hornet. I’ll listen.’
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In April it announced that Sarah Thomas would be the first woman to be a full-time NFL official. “The minute they can prove they can make a player better, they’ll be hired,” Arians
Turn on ESPN, and there are many female sports reporters, and many reports on female athletes. Flip through Sports Illustrated, and female athletes are dotted throughout the magazine. Female athletes star in the commercials. Female athletes are on the cover of newspapers. Millions of books have been sold about hundreds of female athletes. However, this has not always been the case. The number of females playing sports nowadays compared to even twenty years ago is staggering, and the number just keeps rising. All the women athletes of today have people and events from past generations that inspired them, like Babe Didrikson Zaharias, the All-American Professional Girls Baseball League, Billie Jean King, and the 1999 United States Women’s World
Jen Welter got a six-week coaching internship with the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL, working with linebackers and also becoming a trailblazer in the field. The organization has always been known for hiring minorities for their management positions. Known as Dr. Jen back in Texas, for her Ph.d in psychology, she became the first woman to coach for a men’s professional team last February. She was a linebacker for 14 years, most of which being with the Dallas Diamonds of the Women’s Football Alliance. She has also won two gold medals for the United States at the International Federation of American Football women’s world championships. She has always loved football and has been encouraging girls to follow their dreams, sports-related or otherwise.
Kathrine Switzer is not a name you as often as Susan B. Anthony or Sojourner Truth in the fight towards women's equality, but in 1967 she made a stand for all women and proved that she was and still is strong enough to do anything a man can do. Run the Boston Marathon, this little task to some now was a huge step for her, she had to push against everything almost every man most of her life except or few, including one of the men's coaches “A woman can't run the Boston Marathon. Women are too weak and too fragile for 26.2 miles. No dame ever ran no marathon.”(ESPN). During a time period where women in the United States were fighting for equality in the world, Kathrine Switzer battled her way for equality in the world of sports. In 1967 she
Hightower, Kyle. "Female Athletes Pushing the Boundaries of Sports." Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, FL). 02 Jul. 2005: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
Remember the Titans was set in the seventies, and the female characters were appropriately demure. Coach's daughter was a football fan, but never actually played football. She was, at best, a well-informed cheerleader. She could follow the plays--more than I myself can do--and would probably have made some quarterback a great girlfriend some day. While the ideal here is not of a female athlete, it is still relevant to the course. The ideal is of the female spectator--the athletic support. She went to the games and cheered on her father and the team. As a young girl s...
Women sports have come a long way, since the days when women were only allowed to watch. “The past three decades have witnessed a steady growth in women's sports programs in America along with a remarkable increase in the number of women athletes (Daniel Frankl 2)” From an early age women were thought to be “Lady Like”; they are told not to get all sweaty and dirty. Over 200 years later since Maud Watson stepped on the tennis courts of Wimbledon (Sports Media digest 3); women now compete in all types and levels of sports from softball to National racing. Soccer fans saw Mia Hamm become the face of Women’s soccer around the world , Venus and Serena Williams are two of the most popular figures in tennis, and Indy car racing had their first woman racer, Danika Patrick. With all the fame generated by these women in their respective sports, they still don’t receive the same compensation as the men in their respective sports fields. Venus Williams, net worth is 60 million dollars; 27 million came from playing tennis (celebritynetworth 4). Her sister, Serena Williams has a tennis...
Through the evolution of associations and legislation, the restrictions of women’s athletics lifted and created equality in athletics between the sexes. In addition, Dr Ruth H. Alexander, Weiss, and Lawler are responsible for the establishment and success of Lady Gator athletics, specifically volleyball. Marilyn McReavy, with a career of 156-100 at UF, and Mary Wise whose reign includes 58 straight home wins lead Lady Gator’s volleyball to a prominent standing not only in the SEC, but also in the nation.
Women are becoming a bigger part of the professional sports world. The number of professional sports for women is growing at a very fast rate. Right now though, the comparison of women's professional sports to men's professional sports still varies greatly. For example, men's professional sports range from wrestling to football to skateboarding. Women on the other hand, do not have the opportunity to participate in these professional sports. But this is changing quickly. Women are beginning to receive the same opportunities in sports as men.
Donna A. Lopiano “Modern Hisory of Women In Sports” Clinics in Sports Medicine19.2 (2000): 163-173. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 April. 2000.
Professional women's sports haven't been around too long, although it does have an extensive history and root system. In 1865, Vasser became one of the first women colleges in the United States. Within the safe boundaries of campus and away from the curious eyes of men, w...
Women in sports is relatively a new thing in the U.S. Until 1972, discrimination in sports on the basis of sex was very prevalent. Title IX established fairness in regards to sex discrimination for women in federally funded schools and programs. I had the ability to interview a woman who lived and went to school during this era.
Williams, Jean. A Game for Rough Girls? A History of Women's Football in Britian.. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2013.
From the beginning of time, females have played a powerful role in the shaping of this world. They have stood by idly and watched as this country moved on without them, and yet they have demanded equal rights as the nation rolls along. Through the years the common belief has been that women could not perform as well as men in anything, but over the years that belief has been proven wrong time and time again. So as time marches on, women have clawed and fought their way up the ladder to gain much needed equal respect from the opposite sex. However, after many years of pain and suffering, the battle for equal rights has not yet been won. Since women have fought for a long time and proven their importance in society, they deserve the same rights as men.
Life has never been easy for women in any field since forever. Woman Football are still suffering from the inequality and discrimination.
...d to secondary positions and now women’s athletics was controlled by men where as in the past decade it was controlled by women (Antunovic & Hardin, 2013).