WATCH WOMEN'S SPORTS

In 1891, James Naismith was challenged to create an indoor sport that would keep students entertained and active during the winter months. This sport would eventually be called basketball and would quickly become a staple of athletic departments in high schools and colleges/universities across the country. 133 years later, basketball has become one of the most popular sports to watch and play in the world. 

Although women have been playing basketball for much of its 100+ year history, it wasn’t until the passing of Title IX in 1972, that they would have legal protections to play the sport(s) they love. In its 52 year history, Title IX has provided many opportunities to female athletes and helped women’s hoops become the international phenomenon that it is today. 

I grew up playing basketball. Although I had a very love/hate relationship with the sport, it has always been the sport I enjoy the most and I miss it more than I thought I would. It taught me many lessons, helped me understand hard work, and brought me many lifelong memories, including making it to state my senior year of high school. 

I also grew up going to many Iowa Women’s basketball games. Having two sisters, I was lucky enough to have a family that understood the importance of watching women’s sports. I can remember very vividly sitting in Carver Hawkeye Arena, a place with a very distinct smell and delicious ice cream cones, and watching Lisa Bluder coach people like Kachine Alexander, Jaime Printy, and Ally Disterhoft, often to a satisfying victory. 

There is a major difference between watching those games when I was 10, versus now, and it's the lack of the big, black curtains. For those unfamiliar, CHA has curtains that come down about halfway up the stands in an effort to make the small crowds look bigger and feel more intimate. Growing up, those curtains were down at almost every women’s basketball game I went to. No longer are those curtains needed. No longer are the crowds small. No longer does the intimacy need to be created. The game has been changed. 

A legacy built by Bluder and many other Iowa and non-Iowa players before, the rise in Iowa Women’s hoops in recent years began with Megan Gustafson and soared with Caitlin Clark. The team that I have been watching for most of my life has become a national name, making it to multiple Big Ten championships, Elite Eights, Final Fours, and national championships. 

I would be remiss to not mention that there are many other dynasty programs built by legendary coaches including Geno Auriemma (UConn), Dawn Staley (South Carolina), Tara VanDerveer (Stanford), and many others that deserve equal recognition for their contributions to women’s sports. Iowa just holds a soft spot in my heart because it’s my home. 

The year is 2024 and March Madness (the women’s tournament was not even allowed to use the term March Madness until 2022 when Sedona Prince exposed the inequality among the two tournaments) ended just a few days ago and for the first time the women’s national championship drew more viewers than the men. Was it Caitlin Clark’s logo threes, Dawn Staley’s impeccable coaching, the crazy talent among other Elite Eight teams? Likely a combination of all of those, and one more thing, joy. 

I am not a sports analyst or a statistician so I can’t comment much more on the viewership numbers, but as a lifelong fan of the sport, I can almost guarantee the women’s tournament is more enjoyable because of joy. The women’s players are more fundamental. They pass when they could shoot, just in case the chances are better. They celebrate their teammates' wins like they do their own. They bring families together and inspire little boys and girls to dream big. 

I’m not saying men’s sports are boring or overrated or not joyful, but I am suggesting that people give women’s sports just as much love as they do the men. This goes beyond college basketball. Watch the WNBA, volleyball, soccer (the US women’s national team has been crucial in the fight for equal pay for professional female athletes), gymnastics, and softball because shutting yourself off to a whole side of sports is only doing you and your loved ones a disservice. 

Women’s athletics are not all of a sudden good because of Paige Bueckers, Caitlin Clark, Cameron Brink, Angel Reese, Juju Watkins, Hannah Hidalgo, Kamilla Cardoso, and Audi Crooks. They have always been good and always will be. So encourage young girls to play sports, they might just change the game someday. 

But most importantly, WATCH WOMEN’S SPORTS. 

Always

~ 

authentic, ambitious, & aptly adventurous

My mom and I at one of the last Iowa home games of the 2023-2024 season.