This blog was created in May 2018 for my senior project. The idea was first presented to me by Melissa Lanctot in a meeting for senior projects about a different idea. Yet the idea to talk to women in athletics was brought up during our meeting and we both got super excited about it, and this project was born! Special thanks to Sara Fischer for supporting me as my advisor through this project 🙂

Titled “The Woman’s Side of Athletics,” this project aims to educate all about the experience of being female in a traditionally, stereotypically male world. The struggles women face specifically can range from subtle comments to blatant discrimination. Personal stories can show exactly how common and aggravating the disparages between men and women in athletics can be. The other goal of this project is to empower young girls in their athletic pursuits. Often young girls are not pushed as much towards athletics as young boys, and hearing the successes and passions of female athletes who have grown up in athletics can be incredibly inspiring and motivating. If even one young girl feels inspired by my project, it’ll be a success.

Author Bio:
My name is Sophie, and I’m in the class of 2018 at the Bush School. I’ve been active for most of my life. I was born in Montreal, Quebec, where I was put in ballet. When we moved to Seattle, I stopped ballet but picked up soccer, tennis, and basketball in grade school. In 8th grade I was convinced to play ultimate frisbee, but now it’s my best sport! In high school I continued to play basketball and ultimate frisbee at the varsity level all four years. Athletics are a huge part of my life and is something I’m incredibly passionate about. When I was growing up, I did not have anyone or anything in my life pushing me to be a great athlete until high school. There was rarely any media encouraging young female athletes to continue on their path – I had no role models. Now, that’s changing and as I see the attention paid to female athletes growing, I want to make sure that all young girls are seeing the successes they can work towards in others and see themselves in their own role models. Boys shouldn’t be the only ones pushed towards being successful athletes – girls are just as strong, too.

Me (left) and Eleanor Hulse (right)