Letter: Girls must ditch stereotypes to be successful players in sports and life
I coach girls soccer, and my team got pictures recently. I was taken aback by the girls’ pose: ball under arm, feet together, hand on hip and knee popped. I asked, “How did the boys stand?” and saw a stance with their feet apart, stepping forward a little, sort of aggressive.
Talk about promoting stereotypes. This is soccer!
Winning in sports requires smart, aggressive players — boys and girls. I’ve spent a year teaching my girls to quit saying “sorry” when they miss a pass, and to shoulder other girls out of the way to win the ball.
I stood there with a bruise on my face from softball practice two days prior and wondered how successful our daughters would be in sports — and life — if our first requirement for them is to look “girly?”
Girly meaning “cute and perky” doesn’t cut it in sports, and to promote that perpetuates “cute” as a priority for our daughters.
Girly must become synonymous with “strong, confident and aggressive” for our daughters to succeed.
It is to everyone’s benefit to shape our daughters into strong women who are successful players in life and sports, so let’s perpetuate that truth instead.
Yvonne Levardi, Richland
This story was originally published April 5, 2017 at 4:10 AM with the headline "Letter: Girls must ditch stereotypes to be successful players in sports and life."