According to society, there are three different types of female sports fans. There are the females who pretend that they know about and love sports to attract attention from male sports fans. Additionally, there are the girls who don’t care about sports but will attend or watch sporting events for fun. And last but not least, there are the girls who actually know more than the average male about sports. Abiding by societal ideals, the last category of female sports fans seems to be a rarity and those girls are hard to find.

Fortunately for me, I can proudly say I fall into that last, apparently rare caliber of girls (all thanks to my dad, of course). Growing up, I attended more sporting events than I could count and I learned about sports such as baseball, football and hockey through those different experiences.

The older I have gotten the further my sports knowledge has expanded. Unfortunately, nobody initially believes me when I claim to like sports until they actually talk to me and realize that I know what I am talking about.

If you are a girl who loves sports, when you are out at a game, you find yourself yelling out calls and penalties in football. You yell about the umpire who makes wrong calls in baseball. You even yell about the puck that hit the post and was so close to being a goal that it hurts in hockey. Then, you immediately see the multitude of stares creeping up on girls faces as they look at you as if you are speaking a foreign language. Guys, they stare out of shock and surprise. They cannot believe their ears: a girl, who knows sports?

Yes boys, girls like us do exist, and we are not figments of your imagination. No, we are not doing it to impress you.

That’s another thing, it is a struggle when females, and males alike claim, “You’re just putting on this act to get a guy’s attention.” Yes, you are right because me standing up and screaming at the top of my lungs about a play in a game is exactly what is going to land me a shot with every guy in the stadium/arena. Right. If these are not struggles, I don’t know what are. I am sure that there are many girls out there who feel my pain. Stay strong ladies, and keep rooting!

Though there are struggles that come along with being a female sports fan, it does not have to be this way. The negative stigma surrounding our reputation is insane and could easily be reversed if our fellow females and males alike would just listen.

I have come to realize that the fact that my passion for sports makes me different from other girls and that it is okay. Most girls remember their first dance competition or Barbie dolll, which is great. However, I remember my first jersey, my first tailgate, my first baseball, football, and hockey games. I remember who was playing in those games and the end result of each one.

I spent my Spring Break this year attending Spring Training baseball games while my friends were partying and living it up in tropical paradises. There is no doubt that I am my father's daughter and I am proud. I would not trade my interest in sports and all of the time I have spent at various sporting events for anything else in the world.