Posted on: 06/14/09(1 ratings) Author: TaraLConley
This week brought lots of inspiring, infuriating, and downright interesting
stories in the sports/social justice/political world. I compiled a
list of a few stories that I thought ya'll would like. So, without
further adu, check the certified links.
No surprise here: Girls in cities like Los Angeles and New York "are the left-behinds of the youth sports movement"
especially since a large majority of these young inner city girl are
depended on by their families to "tend to their siblings or clean
house." And since there isn't enough money and resources to go around
for girls' sports programs, these young female athletes wind up getting
"very little" support. Thankfully, there are cool organizations like
Cooperative, Healthy, Active, Motivated, Postive Students (CHAMPS) that work to provide after school resources for aspiring athletes. (NY Times, CHAMPS).
Apparently, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad thinks that those rioting and protesting against his Presidential "win" is like losing a "soccer match."
He says, "Some people are sentimental and become excited. As I said, I
compared it to a soccer match. Their team has not won in the match."
Eh, not really, Ahmadinejad. You ever think that these folks are angry
because they believe they're losing their freedoms? A classic example of
bad taste: using sports rhetoric to dismiss a country in, what appears
to be, utter turmoil. (CNN).
In
NBA news, excited crowds will gather outside of Amway Arena tonight for
Game 6 of the LA Lakers and Orlando Magic. Nope, these folks aren't
unlucky ticket holders, they're human rights activists.
Protesters plan to call out the multi-million dollar entity known as
the NBA (and its Commissioner David Stern) for its "links with a global
corporation that violates workers' rights and subjects them to
sweatshop conditions." Here's wondering what Sir Charles thinks. (Peter Dreier/Huffington Post).
On
a lighter note, and in tribute of this week's upcoming Skatepark
Dedication in Los Angeles, check out this awesome video entitled
"Motivational Longboarding."
And just because track and field is, like, the most awesomest sports ever, here's a cool pic for your viewing pleasure. Apparently, the sky is the limit. (Getty/Jezebel)
Awesome feature photo provided by Vramack's Flickr page.
Posted on: 10/20/08(0 ratings) Author: TaraLConley
The Women's Sports Foundation has made some significant waves recently, with their research on inner-city girls and sports, and now with growing national attention focusing on their funded program Go Girl Go!
Go Girl Go is a subsidiary program of the Women's Sports Foundation designed to "combat the alarming physical and psychological health hazards affecting America’s young girls." In order to encourage health and wellness in young girls, the program focuses on the following objectives:
Groundbreaking Research
Education and Awareness Initiative
Grant Program
Community Activation
GoGirlWolrd.org (a website designed that enables girls to connect with other girls who embrace sports and physical activity).
The Go Girl Go program also includes curriculum-based outreach for schools and communities.
Take a look at the YouTube videos below that feature GGG! curriculum and success stories as told by ESPN.
As kids, I’m sure we all heard this lovely insult:
“You throw like a girl.”
As a physically fit girl attending a one-room elementary schoolhouse of about 10-15 students, my usual response to this statement involved challenging the offender to an arm wrestling match or a race around the schoolyard. I would win the contest and kill the argument over inferior athletic ability.
But as the years passed, I entered larger schools and grew less confident in my athletic abilities. I hated the “throw like a girl” insult, but could never think of a clever comeback for it.
[Any ideas?]
Yes I am a girl, so I probably throw like one. I’m fine with that. But to hear guys make fun of each other by comparing their buddies to girls and women is just...ouch. It stings.
And it’s not just the throwing comments that bother me. It’s “Stop acting like a pussy” [translation: don’t act so weak or afraid] or “Quit being such a girl” [translation: don’t be so fussy or sensitive]. If you’re not supposed to act like a girl on the playing field, then where should girls play?
8-year-old Lizzie narrates in the 2008 documentary Kick Like a Girl. The film tells the story of a third grade girls’ soccer team that competes against the boys’ soccer team. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but the trailer looks fantastic.
You say I throw like a girl? I say wait until I rally my band of third-grade rebels together and we’ll throw you down.
8-year-old Lizzie narrates in the 2008 documentary 
