In the 1960s, baseball, football, soccer, basketball, track and any other sports were only for boys. Girls could jump rope, roller skate, twirl batons, play backyard badminton, and become cheerleaders.
I was 9-years-old when my brother Bernie taught me to throw a football. I remember my mother yelling to me and my brother that catching the football near my chest was going to ruin my bosom. I could have died.
When I was 16, they finally allowed girls to participate in track in my high school. That was only a few years after finally letting girls wear pants to school, which was a huge victory.
So, when I go out for my daily walk, I feel so proud as I pass little girls on the softball field playing their guts out. I love that their dads and moms are out there with them, fully supporting their participation.
Those girls, and maybe even their moms and dads, have no idea how hard women had to fight just so they could enjoy a sport. Katherine Switzer was one of the first to break barriers in sports. In 1967 she signed up to run in the Boston Marathon and was physically attacked by one of the members of the Boston Athletic Association, the group putting on the race. The man, Jock Semple, yelled at her and swiped at the numbers she was wearing on her shirt in an attempt to force her out of the race. Her then boyfriend threw a cross body block at Semple and knocked him away. All Switzer wanted to do was finish the race, which she did.
When I was a freshman in college Billie Jean King famously took on Bobby Riggs, who said women’s tennis was so inferior that even he, a 55-year old could beat a woman. 90 million viewers watched what was called, “The Battle of the Sexes,” on September 20, 1973 and saw 29-year-old Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in three straight sets in the Houston Astrodome.
There have been many, many more, but that’s how sexist it was when I was young, so I can’t help but smile every time I see those little girls playing in their team shirts. This post is my thank you to the women who fought to tear down barriers so girls could finally participate like boys. There’s still more work to do, but I savor the moment every time I walk past.
P.S. Sorry I’ve been away so long. My website had a problem, but it’s all better now.
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