It’s Past Time to Celebrate Female Athletes
Okay. It’s time for me to speak up about something I’ve been noticing since I was a college athlete.
I work directly with an athlete with an impeccable character, who is international, recently broke the NCAA record in kills per match, has received many local and regional awards, has received a post-graduate scholarship, and is doing great things for the volleyball community. And yet we don’t hear about those things? We should hear about these things.
Why don’t we celebrate the major accomplishments of female athletes? When a woman breaks a NCAA record for a certain sport, why does it only get a tiny mention in the university’s email newsletter (if she’s lucky!) while male athletes get all kinds of media attention, press, visibility, press conferences, and more?
I see this happen over and over again on all levels of competition--not just college athletics--and it’s very frustrating.
Why can’t we celebrate the victories of all athletes? Why can’t I trust that my kids (my daughter AND my son) will be exposed to talented female athletes and their stories about how they worked really hard to accomplish a goal and ended up literally BEING THE BEST?
The NCAA, high school and college coaches, and athletic directors at all levels need to push this. They know the value of women’s sports and how hard we work to compete and excel. They need to pressure the media, local news outlets, and even national publications to give more attention to the accomplishments of female athletes.
Here’s something you probably don’t know. This year alone, three volleyball players from the Birmingham area are going to top Power Five colleges. Countless others are going on to play at the next level with a full ride. Others are going to schools on partial scholarships or as walk-ons. Volleyball players from Hoover are going to the University of Florida and the University of Louisville. A player from Gardendale is also going to the University of Florida. In addition, several former Birmingham-area volleyball players have received graduate school scholarships to serve as coaching assistants over the years. If local football players have these sort of next-level plans for college, it’s all over the news. It’s discussed at dinner parties and around the office water cooler. There would be press conferences and people lining up for autographs.
Right now, while I’m typing this post, I am receiving a notification that Rya Sky McKinnon, a volleyball athlete at Hoover High School, was just named a Gatorade Player of the Year. This is huge. People need to know this!
I know women’s volleyball doesn’t bring in a lot of money to high school and college athletic departments. But our local female (and male!)athletes need to know this information. We need to celebrate those accomplishments! Those athletes and their families have poured blood, sweat, and tears in order for those opportunities to be presented! All residents need to know this information. They need to know what the possibilities are even for volleyball athletes who play and compete in the Birmingham area and in the state of Alabama which aren’t necessarily known as volleyball hot spots.
But as it stands, people don’t know this information. The athletes I work with can’t find it online. Heck, the athletes I work with don’t even know when the NCAA volleyball Final Four is, but they fill out brackets every year for the NCAA men’s basketball division one tournament, which has its own fun branding as “March Madness.”
I came to the United States because of my volleyball skills and talent. I received a full college scholarship to the University of Alabama at Birmingham--a D1 program. I am now literally making a living on my experience as a volleyball player and college athlete. There are so many educational and career opportunities for female athletes that just aren’t talked about or acknowledged.
But I don’t want to wallow in my frustration. You know that’s not my style. So I want to think about some ways WE can celebrate female athletes who break records, win championships, and excel in all kinds of other ways with very little fanfare.
Here are some ideas:
When we hear about a female athlete’s success, we can spread the word! We can share it on social media. We can tell our friends, family members, children, and the athletes we coach. We can write it on the walls in public restrooms. (Just kidding. Don’t write anything on public restroom walls.)
We can congratulate them. We can track down their Instagram account or email address and send them an encouraging message. We can let them know their win hasn’t gone unnoticed.
If the athlete is in college, we can reach out to the communications department for the athlete’s university and ask if they can send out a press release and create a bit more of a buzz about their student athlete’s success. But let’s be kind when we bring this up. Our goal isn’t to shame and blame. Our goal is to celebrate.
We can keep talking about this issue and hope for improvement in this area.
What else can we do to help make positive changes? What are some other ideas for ways to fill in the celebratory gaps? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
And please tell us about any athletes who have excelled lately. It’s time to celebrate.