The US has a Women's Rugby League, too!!

This is a .gif that I made of the images on the front of the USA Rugby Women's National Team homepage.
The team runs almost exclusively off of donations and team fund raisers (the men's does not).

From their website:

• The road to the World Cup 2010 will take determination, sweat, lots of ice baths, and $850,000 in travel, lodging, meals and other expenses.  
• It’s an uphill and overseas battle. Good thing we have each other to lean on. Including you, too, of course. To help send us off, make a donation.
• In rugby we sprint, we tackle, we maul, we ruck, we kick, we pass, we scrum. We do this in cycles of continuous play lasting from 5-63 seconds of intensity separated by periods of rest lasting 5-30 seconds.
• During an 80 minute match, an international flanker may make 25 tackles, hit 46 rucks, drive 22 scrums, and jump in 24 lineouts.
• The first ever Women’s Rugby World Cup was held in 1991. That year, the USA WNT took its first and only World Cup. Now we WaNT it back.   

UK Women's Sports in a Sorry State

Where are the women in the BBC Sports Personality of the year 2011 shortlist?

"The top 10 contenders for BBC sports personality of the Year are all male. It's hardly surprising, given the sorry state of women's sports coverage in the UK."

In an article written by Jane Martinson for the Guardian, a British news publication, an editorial is made about the lack of presence women have in sports coverage in the United Kingdom. Though, I'm glad this is not an issue occurring in only the United States, it is an equally disappointing discovery to find that women's sports are relegated to side notes in history. 

According to her editorial, women in English sports make up only 5% of sports media coverage. What's worse, is professional sports aside, in England only 1 in 10 girls aged 14 do enough exercise to maintain their health compared to 1 in 5 boys. In the United States it seems that girls are actively taking an interest in exercise and sport, but in the UK it seems the opposite.

Could there be a correlation between women's sport coverage in the media and how interested girls are in playing sports and being active? If we increased the amount of coverage of women's sports and activities, would more girls become engaged in athletics? Its an interesting idea to think about -- maybe when I have kids, instead of taking my daughters to girly movies or tea parties, she'll be going to hockey games and softball games instead.

PS - Did you know England as a professional female Rugby league? RFUW! How awesome is that?!

Little Girls in Pretty Boxes

Little Girls in Pretty Boxes is a book written by Joan Ryan discussing the issues of overconformity within the realms of elite female gymnastics and figure skating. The book, written in 1995, details the rigorous emotional and physical training endured by such young female athletes in order to be the best in the world. Ryan states, "... that the image of these athletes’ beauty, glamour, class and sophistication conceals a troubled reality, with physical problems of eating disorders, weakened bones, stunted growth, debilitating and fatal injuries, psychological issues such as depression and low self-esteem, and life sacrifices of dropping out of school, losing the chance to "be a child", and becoming isolated from their peers and families."

The book description on Amazon.com states, "From starvation diets and debilitating injuries to the brutal tactics of tyrannical gymnastics guru Bela Karolyi, "Little Girls in Pretty Boxes" portrays the horrors endured by girls at the hands of their coaches and sometimes their own families. An acclaimed expose that has already helped reform Olympic sports -- now updated to reflect the latest developments in women's gymnastics and figure skating -- it continues to plead for sanity, safety, and an end to our national obsession: winning at any cost."

“You can talk a kid into being healthy for 

as long as you need her. 

Once the meet is over, you can let her be hurt.”

- Steve Nunno, former coach of 

US Olympic Gold Medalist, Shannon Miller

I think that these sports portray an excellent example of how dangerous overconformity in sports can be. As I am in the middle of reading this book, I can't help but think about whether or not this is an issue that is more prevalent among female athletes or not. I feel that most female athletes probably have accepted the notion that if they want respect and fame for their accomplishments, they have to go above and beyond what it is that male athletes do (in comparison).

This book is excellent so far and I highly encourage anyone interested in sports psychology or just womens athletics in general to read it. The images of these girls participating in such grueling training regimines makes me think that they are working harder, at a younger age, than many famous male athletes do just to get less fame. Is the cost worth it? Their health? Their future? 

What do you think?

Ryan, J. (2000). Little Girls in Pretty Boxes. Chicago: Grand Central Publishing.