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So, I guess it's National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Hell of a week to have this day. I always struggle with these days because it feels like there is performative support that goes away quickly. And right now, there are a lot of women in sports struggling.
When things come out about what men like Jared Porter and Mickey Callaway do, it affects all of us whether we know the guys or not because we've all been there. It triggers our own memories of the lewd texts and unwanted messages or the overt sexism.
It brings up memories that we have worked hard to forget. Sometimes it's one traumatic incident. Other times it feels like death by 1000 cuts. I'm not going to write about it anymore, I did it already, and it was difficult. It was hard for my family and non-sports friends to read
It's exhausting. We are SO TIRED. We are so tired of trying to justify our existence, trying to explain why this matters and why it's so tough to come forward. The culture is so widespread that it extends from the field to the front offices and yes, even to the newsrooms too.
So if you genuinely want to support girls and women in sports today, then be an ally every day. Do you think it's more important for Mickey Callaway to be fired because you want Trevor Bauer to go to the Angels? If so, then you're part of the problem.
I don't know how to keep this conversation going past today. The news cycle moves fast. I do know that I'm ready to move past it because I'm tired of my friends asking if I'm OK and I'm tired of asking them the same. But maybe we wouldn't have to do that if this culture changed.
By all means, please celebrate the girls who want to play in the NWHL, the girls who want to go to the Olympics, the girls who want to be GMs in the NFL and the girls who want to write about sports. But think about what you're doing to try and change this moving forward -30-
