Historically, the term “Play Like a Girl'' held connotations of clumsiness, weakness, and lacking in athleticism or agility. The conventional wisdom was girls will never play sports as well as boys nor will they be valuable investments. Today, however, there is an entire generation of athletes that are flipping the script on what it means to play like a girl and they are sending a clear message to anyone who questions their abilities and capabilities.
This is an exciting time for girls athletics. There is unmistakable, global growth and adoption of coed and girls youth athletic programs but they are not without their challenges. Many continue to experience issues with accessibility–economically, geographically, and culturally–and typically female professional athletes are compensated at a fraction of their male counterparts. There is a lot of work that still needs to be done.
Young girls should confidently begin their sport journeys knowing that they will be coached, encouraged, and celebrated like the boys and take lessons from role models who continue to show up and carry the banner for girls in sports.
