SHARING A LOVE AND LIFE IN SPORTS

Former U.S. Women’s Soccer team member and Olympic Gold Medalist Mia Hamm once said, “My coach said I run like a girl, and I said if he ran a little faster he could too.”

She couldn’t have given a more accurate description of athletics in 2014. The barriers for women in sports are breaking down thanks to the hard work put in by women in the past – and today’s athletes are ready to carry that torch. The San Antonio Spurs just signed former WNBA star Becky Hammon as an assistant coach – the first female coach in NBA history. In August, 13-year-old Mo’Ne Davis became the first girl to throw a shut out in the Little League World Series. Former Louisiana Tech University standout and Baylor University Women’s Basketball head coach Kim Mulkey is the only athlete in history to win an NCAA championship as a player, assistant coach and head coach.

Yet, we don’t even have to look nationally to find athletes who are training hard, making sacrifices and working to eliminate the “battle of the sexes.” Athletes and coaches in the community are competing and winning in all forms of sports from weightlifting to barrel racing, racing motorcycles and as sports anchors. The region’s very own champion Shreveport-Bossier Mavericks have a female assistant coach.

These women are the champions of the community setting a new example for the females of today.

–Mandy Byrd