With the 2016 Rio Olympics finally here, athletes from all over the world are competing in their respective sports and doing their part to represent their country and themselves in the process. Medals are being handed out every single night to the athletes who score the most points, get the best time and go the furthest distance. It just so happens that a large amount of these athletes are women. Women's sports are still growing worldwide, but everything is going in the right direction. For these Olympics, out of the 555 American athletes present, female athletes outnumber the males 292 to 263. There are more women competing in these Olympics overall than ever before. Olympic coverage of female competitions in Rio has been pretty good and they've received just as much coverage as men's competition. But are all female athletes really getting the appropriate recognition they deserve all of the time?
During the Olympics our female athletes are appreciated more than they have ever been, but even now it is not nearly enough. We are still seeing that there is a struggle to effectively credit female athletes in the media. We still see headlines about Katinka Hosszu, the extremely successful Hungarian Olympic swimmer, that manage to credit her husband, and coach, for all of her recent Olympic success. What about the one from the Chicago Tribune that refers to a female Bronze medalist as "the wife of a Bears linebacker" instead of just using her name? Even though these women are the ones over in Rio winning numerous medals and putting in the work, the media still has to make the story about the men that had little to no part in their success.
And once the Olympics are over, our focus on women's athletics will drop once again as our focus shifts back onto the men. American society still struggles to give our domestic leagues in women's sports the attention, TV air-time and credit that they deserve. The NWSL or National Women's Soccer League, is growing, but not nearly enough. Just last month, we saw the unacceptable field size for a Chicago Red Stars match after the game was booted last minute from its regular venue to one of the baseball stadiums in which they tried to squeeze a full-size soccer field into the outfield of the stadium. The field size was barely regulation width and length and was simply a disservice to the already underpaid professional players who still put in the time and effort to be their best for their fans. Not enough effort was made to make sure the game was played at a more favorable location that was ready to host a soccer game. Then there's the WNBA that has been around for over 20 years now, but barely gets the coverage the NBA does with only a game or two aired each week during the season. The argument always is that women's professional sports are just not as exciting as men's, but when the US Women's National Team won the World Cup just over a year ago, the entire country watched and celebrated, smashing viewer records for ANY soccer game aired in the United States. So, why can't we give the NWSL that same chance when over half of the USWNT play for different clubs in that league? Why can't we support women's basketball during the WNBA season like we do when they play in the gold-medal game at the Olympics? We can't support women's sports only when it is convenient for us, or when it's all about our American pride. Without supporting the domestic league, it makes it that much harder for our national teams to take home the glory on the world stage.
The importance of supporting and growing women's sports doesn't end with the athletes and coaches who put in the time and effort for their sports. This also expands to all of the young girls and women out there who need role models to look up to and inspire them. How are little girls supposed to believe that they can be successful athletes when the only athletes they see on TV getting all of the attention are male? How are they supposed to decide that they want to be athletes when it seems as if our society doesn't support them in that decision? At the end of the day, treating women's sports and female athletes with more respect, and giving them more attention in the media will not only help our domestic leagues grow and become successful, but will also help little girls all over know that their hard work and dedication in their respective sport CAN and WILL pay off one day. We need to step up our game when it comes to women's sports because whether it be the Olympics or a domestic league game on a Wednesday night, these female athletes put in just as much time, effort, blood, sweat and tears as any male athlete, often for less fame and fortune, and deserve to be recognized and respected by the media and by fans. Amazing things happen in women's sports and people need to appreciate the players' dedication. We're progressing slowly, but with these things in mind we can make speedy progress and really allow our female athletes to excel.
