Gotta Love those Athletes

This is the second year that the Storm have been a part of the WNBA. I saw one game last year when I got back in Seattle. But it was not until this year that I began to fall in love with the Storm. I’m not in love with the Storm because they are the Mariners of Women’s basketball. They have lost far more games than they have won this year (although their record is improving from last year). But on a good night they have some definite Storm magic going on. When Lauren Jackson is on fire and nailing every shot or Michelle Marciniak annoys her opponents with her pesky defense and creates scoring opportunities with her incredible mind for the court or Jamie Redd is on and pulls an amazing fast break or Alessandra Santos de Oliveira plants her 6’7” self next to the basket and uses that height to score. Simone Edwards is ranked 12^th in the WNBA for her field-goal percentage shooting and Semeka Randall and Kamila Vodichkova and so many other players contribute to the team that is young and is building up experience and players to form a team that will be one to watch out for next season.

However it is not the potential that the Storm has or all the excellent players that has made me fall in love with the Storm, I am in love with the Storm because for the first time in my life, when I’m out there shooting hoops I can picture myself as a professional ball player and that the shot I am about to fire off is going to be the one that wins the game. Now it’s not that I think that at 5’4” when I have not played organized basketball since I was in middle school that I think that I am anywhere near as talented as the Storm or any other WNBA players. There’s just something about seeing a woman playing professional basketball that makes it easier to fantasize about. And it kind of makes me wonder if the Storm existed when I was in high school if I would have been more inclined to pursue basketball longer. There’s something about seeing other women playing sports that gets me energized and makes me want to play more basketball. I’ve even started looking into any recreational teams that exist for women’s basketball in Seattle.

However it’s not just for me that I’m excited about having female role models in athletics, the importance of women participating in athletics is frequently overlooked. Studies have shown exercise plays an important role in decreasing the risk of heart attacks, stokes, back problems, osteoporosis and other health problems. Participating in sports has also been found to increase young women’s self-esteem. So if I’m encouraged to play more ball there’s a likelihood that many others are too and that the representation of women in athletics could have a limitless impact on improving the lives and health of girls and women.

Having a professional basketball team also encourages me that change can happen. Title IX, the initiative that banned sex discrimination in education, which extended to was passed in 1972 and the regulations were implemented in 1975. This means that women in their late 20s and early 30s are the first ones to have entered an education system where athletic opportunities were expected to be equal to that of their male counterparts for their entire academic careers. Granted you would be hard pressed to ever find a school that actually does provide equal funding and opportunities for female athletes, but the situation in athletics for girls and women has dramatically improved. It seems like no coincidence to me that as the first generations of women having lived through Title IX are emerging into adulthood that we are seeing the creation of professional women’s basketball, football and softball and that we recently witnessed the women’s soccer team win the World Cup. Slowly but surely the days of equating poor athleticism to being girlish are coming to an end and before long, “throwing like a girl” will be a complement.

The Storm may not be the best team in the WNBA, but they are my favorite team in the WNBA. Not only do they provide role models but they give back to the community and more specifically the WNBA gives to the gay community. The Storm sponsored a gay night and while at every game I have gone to I have seen plenty of “family” cheering on the Storm the acknowledgment that dykes support the storm in large numbers encourages me to continue to support them. The Storm is also giving back to our community. I’m sure that they do plenty of things I know nothing about, but I do know that about halfway through the season the Storm and head coach Lin Dunn promised that for every game they won they would sponsor a kid to go to Camp Ten Trees, a camp for queer youth and children of queer parents. And if I wasn’t already in love with the Storm because they are a team of excellent ballplayers, I would have fallen in love with them for being a team that is not afraid to recognize that queer women are a major part of their following and to be supportive of our organizations. After all, we all know that one of the biggest tools society uses to attack women for being athletic and taking control of their bodies is to declare them unfeminine or claim that they are lesbians. According the Feminist Majority Foundation almost half of female coaches and women athletes believe that their involvement in sports has led others to believe they are gay (gotta admit too am slightly guilty, but its more like wow, here’s a powerful and skillful woman wouldn’t it be cool if she were a lesbian).

While the Storm is a great symbol that times are changing, all one has to do is listen to KMPS when they had Lin Dunn, Sameka Randall and Michelle Marciniak co-hosting to know that society is still far from recognizing women athletes as athletes. Every other word used to describe them seemed to be that they are attractive women. Now don’t get me wrong, Randall and Marciniak are attractive women, but they are on the radio station for being athletes not models and having seen them play, attractive is not a word I would ever use to describe them. I would use more action oriented adjectives come to mind like powerful, in control, tough, great defenders, etc.. Now I’m not going to complain too much because I did win tickets for knowing Marciniak’s name and KMPS did provide a publicity opportunity for the Storm, but when the Storm can attend a general radio show and not have the D.J.’s take every chance they can to remind us that they are women first and athletes second then maybe I’ll truly believe a remarkable change in society has occurred. Until then I will continue to support and love a team full of amazing athletes and a symbol that while progress may be slow, it is happening.

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