Lessons from Quinnipiac: Cheer should be an NCAA sport (with a different name), think fresh (don’t whine like the male wrestlers) — and, yes, we still need Title IX

By Laura Pappano

When District Judge Stefan Underhill ruled against Quinnipiac University – last year they sought to cut women’s volleyball and add competitive cheer to fulfill Title IX requirements – the 95-page ruling ironically did more to boost competitive cheer than it did for the future of the university women’s volleyball team.

Yes, the university must reinstate volleyball for 2010-2011, but Judge Underhill’s ruling also states that “Quinnipiac is not obligated to continue sponsoring the team beyond that point, however, so long as any decision to eliminate women’s volleyball is accompanied by other changes that will bring the University into compliance with Title IX.”

The crux of his decision – after sifting through problems with how the school counts athletes for Title IX purposes – was that Quinnipiac’s switcheroo of cheer for volleyball didn’t work because cheer was missing key elements of a bona-fide varsity sport.

On the surface, this looks like yet another scenario pitting female athletes against one another. In fact, it offers women’s sport advocates a reminder: Don’t lean on Title IX to keep things how they have been – use it as a tool to build the future. What to take away:

1. Competitive cheer should be an NCAA sport – but with a different name. There is a reason that the University of Oregon calls it the “competitive stunt and tumbling team.” There is clear divide between cheerleading — that is waving pom-poms on the sidelines and getting the crowd revved up and behind the (usually male) home team – and competitive cheer, which could care less what an audience thinks. Competitive teams have four positions – flyers, back spots and main and support bases – perform six events and don’t use props like pom-poms and megaphones. They don’t wear cute skirts, either. The problem: Cheer right now is a hybrid sport that has some serious teams with group gymnastics-like scoring and competition – and then others that enter competitions in which you are scored on pumping up the crowd and how many Varsity Brand props you cram into a routine. Quinnipiac may be on the serious side, but by entering 10 competitions with five different scoring schemes during the 2009-2010 year, the enterprise lacks varsity-level structure. (For the record, starting the team in March, not recruiting off campus, and adding 16 members of the sideline cheerleading squad to the competitive cheer team just as volleyball was cut doesn’t work, the judge said).
2. Be willing to change up women’s sport offerings. The viability of Title IX (some argue it’s no longer needed; I think it hasn’t gone far enough) rests partly with the willingness to admit when one sport becomes more popular than another. Male wrestlers love to blame Title IX for their fading sport. Reality is that popularity of sports waxes and wanes. When a sport isn’t attracting participants – whether across the board or in a particular region – be willing to add something else instead. (This is not to say volleyball is a waning sport — actually it’s not and participation is up 17.2 percent since 2007 — but whether Quinnipiac can run a strong program is a separate question. If they wanted to switch, they didn’t do it properly or effectively.)
3. Think out of the box about sports. This case reminds us of the value of considering new sport opportunities for female athletes – even if they look different than what we are used to. That may be the key to increasing participation. Yes, cultural and familial barriers that keep inner city girls from playing traditional sports must be challenged. But so must strict notions of what counts. New York City schools recently made double Dutch a varsity sport. Who says the high-speed jumping, twisting, and spinning – and between two moving ropes – is any less valid than chucking a ball in a basket?
4. We still need Title IX. Yes, the law was passed at a time when females had trouble even getting access to top math and physics classes, let alone sports teams. The law has flaws. It’s not well enforced. It’s complicated and hard to spot violations. Big disparities get missed by its particular area of emphasis. But right now it’s all we’ve got and what some think is a ridiculous counting of roster spots is simply the existing vehicle for enforcing fairness. The judge found that the university had over-counted female athletes and undercounted male athletes. Some may call it absurd, but how else do you enforce fair play? (Isn’t counting roster spots – including abiding whatever rules apply – the bedrock of pro sports leagues, too? Like, heck, the NFL?)

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Post College Sport: Join an athletic board (and here’s why)

By Sarah Odell

Just a few months ago, it was hard to think of a time when I wouldn’t be going to school — and wouldn’t have a two-hour practice built into my day. But that time has come. I’ve graduated from college, landed my dream job at Harper Collins publishers in New York City, managed to find an apartment, and have even found time during the week to exercise.

As soon as I arrived, I dialed up every squash player I knew in New York City, and have been making the rounds of the clubs, hopping into singles and doubles games from Long Island City to Midtown. But what I didn’t expect: a squash friend asked me to join the board of the MSRA, or Metropolitan Squash  Racquets Association, which runs New York Squash.

After attending the World Conference on Women and Sport in Sydney in May, I knew I had to remain active in squash. I wasn’t becoming a coach, or a teaching professional at a club, so I assumed that meant playing. I would help the women’s game by simply showing up (that’s no small feat as I have discovered in signing up for tournaments in which it was not clear up until the 11^th hour that there would even be a women’s draw).

Showing up is important. But when my friend Emily asked me to join the MSRA board, I heard echoes of Sydney in my ear. Speakers at the conference emphasized the great margins by which women were underrepresented on athletic boards, both at local and national levels. Women do better when other women are involved with leadership. Not only did I have to join — but I needed to play an active role.

I had images of what a board was and I expected lots of older people. In my mind, after all, boards were storied groups with lots of power and big purses. Boards are storied groups, and squash is about the most storied sport out there, but I was wrong on other scores.

The MSRA is, for the most part, comprised of young professionals (ages 22 to 40). After I attended my first meeting I also discovered — revelation — that many of the members were, like me, people who enjoyed the sport through college, and wanted to make sure the opportunity to play and be involved continued long after.

The MSRA runs cool events like the Grand Open, Hyder and Big Apple Opens, in addition to facilitating men’s and women’s singles leagues and a mixed doubles league. I have been tapped to help grow doubles in the city, as well as be active in the women’s squash movement. Sure, I have my work cut out for me, but I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend my spare time.

Need a nudge? Here’s why to join an athletic board:

1. Boards are not just for older people. The best boards remain vital by including young voices.

2. Its a great way to meet people who are involved in a sport you are passionate about. And, yes, participating on a board gives you an instant circle of people to socialize and play your sport with when you move to a new city. Great way to meet people.

3. Think of board membership as public service — but also as a free leadership education course.

4. Contrary to conventional wisdom, board meetings are not boring. They are places for lively discussion, debate, and — yes — even sharp disagreement.

5. A board also gives you an outlet to be active outside of work. It’s important to have something that isn’t part of your working life that provides identity and meaningful engagement. No pay check involved.

Posted in Money, Power & Politics, Squash | 2 Comments »

Post World Cup: A celebration of the beautiful game — or just men who play it?

By Rachael Goldenberg

I had the thrilling opportunity to watch the World Cup Final at the Soweto Fan Park in South Africa on Monday. Yes, the vuvuzela howls are deafening, but I still cheered alongside 10,000 South Africans as Spain kicked in the winning goal against the Netherlands (my friend Robin from San Fransisco was rooting for the Netherlands — see photo).

It is not that I – or my South African hosts – are huge Spanish soccer fans. In fact, most of the South Africans I spoke with had little knowledge of the individual teams, but agreed that World Cup fever had swept their country. Everywhere you look, soccer images line the streets. From soda cans to billboards, you cannot escape FIFA’s domination.

Certainly, the World Cup has brought together a divided nation and given the rest of the globe a fresh lens through which to view what I am finding to be an inspiring country.

But one thing has struck me: This lens – and FIFA in particular — has filtered out and excluded (sometimes ridiculously so) the female athletic experience. This was an opportunity for all athletes to celebrate this sport. But we only saw half the picture.

Nowhere in the city do you see ads with little girls playing soccer and nowhere do you hear the voice of a female commentator. Does FIFA mean to suggest that the World Cup only inspires little boys? Are the sports networks telling us no women are qualified to provide commentary or reportage?

And in what would be a natural plug for it’s next major event, FIFA was stunningly silent about the fact that next year’s Women’s World Cup is in Germany. Disturbingly, the only fact my South African and American peers could recall about the Women’s World Cup when I asked them was “that one time that women took her shirt off.”

Do we need a woman in a sports bra – Brandi Chastain – to bring attention to women’s soccer? Without engaging yet another debate on sexy athletes, let’s instead pose the fair question: Is the World Cup truly a celebration of the beautiful game – or just the celebration of men who play it?

Rachael roots for Spain while her friend Robin (obviously) pulls for Netherlands

World Cup crowds on Monday night

Posted in GenNext: Sport Girls, Money, Power & Politics, Soccer | 1 Comment »

Do We Need a Mommy Track in Pro Sports? (Or at least a better career path?)

By Laura Pappano

As physical aspects of becoming a mom – bearing children – recede as a reason for halting an athletic career, another is emerging: Is it possible to be a top athlete and a good mommy?

Now that women can compete at high levels into their 30s and 40s – whether in golf, tennis, soccer, or basketball – female professional athletes get to engage the challenge working mothers have faced for decades: How do you do your job (honor your identity and passion) and still be an engaged parent?

This has long been the third rail of feminism. The fault line between employed mothers and “stay-at-home” mothers (all moms work) bumps up in daily life from the scheduling of school events (classroom volunteers needed 10:45-11:15: Who’s available?) to the matter of which mom has the most high-powered e-mail address or a calendar too jammed to send in paper cups.

If the Mommy Wars (and some argue it’s all imagined) have taught us anything, however, it’s that there is no single correct approach to being a parent. If the goal is to raise good kids and be involved in their lives there are many ways to do this – and do it well.

The very phrase “Mommy Track” has been tainted by the view that it is career-lite. But increasingly, making work flexible is a tool for keeping top talent — and it does not decrease intelligence, drive, or skill. Sure, some people multi-task better than others (but the argument that working moms are distracted misses all the work-day internet poker that can be equally distracting). Accommodating talent buys loyalty and quality work (or play).

How does this apply to pro sports?

Many athletes already have more flexible schedules (in terms of training) than many traditional professionals. Competition does present a particular challenge – but so do big presentations and conferences. The point: The schedule is workable.

The New York Times on Monday observed the falling number of LPGA golfers taking advantage of the tour’s Child Development Center while noting that superstars Lorena Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam retired at the top of their game, apparently to devote time to family.

Yes, there may be factors that explain this stat: 1) competitors are younger 2) competition is stiffer and 3) there is more international travel on the Tour.

But the matter for the LPGA – as for other women’s pro sports – is that it’s time to talk about quality childcare. Not good babysitting or ski-school-like people willing to watch kids while mom plays, but the sort of waiting-list-worthy early childhood education program (and well-advertised) that makes parents rave. Have a system of childcare so that whether you are in Illinois or Florida, there is continuity. Salaries and prize money matters. But so do benefits. Ironically, such an initiative could drive more women into pro sports – and keep them longer.

Posted in Money, Power & Politics, The Athletes | Post a Comment »

The Fair Play Summer Reading List For Kids (and grownups)

By Katie Culver

Summer means days lounging at the pool and beach or in a hammock under a shady tree — and, of course, reading. You may have a list to tackle with kids, or want some light, “enlightening” reading for yourself. Here are some non-traditional books you might not have heard of (and most likely won’t see on a summer reading list). I assure you, these books will be enjoyed equally by children and adults. Read on for highlights plus a full list of books and resources for feminist and historical literature. And — please comment with any suggestions of your own. I am always adding to my list!

Highlights: Did you know the song, “Take me Out to the Ballgame” was written about a girl? In Players in Pigtails (Shana Corey) you can read about Katie Casey, a girl who loved to play baseball even though it wasn’t considered very “lady-like.” She was one of the first girls to cross the gender line and play in the women’s professional league in 1940. “Outrageous!” thought most people. “Girls don’t like sports.” “What good is baseball to a girl?” read newspaper headlines. Find out how these talented young ladies wowed everyone with their talent (after the campaign to convince the country just how ladylike baseball could be!) and how the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League saved the country’s favorite pastime.

Amelia Bloomer thought it was silly that women couldn’t work so she started her own newspaper, “The Lily” and wrote about women’s rights. She also thought it was silly that women had to wear cumbersome, impractical hoop skirts. Amelia borrowed a pattern for bloomers and soon sported this “brilliant” and very liberating style. Read about what else transpired in You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer!” (Also written by Shana Corey).

If you are tired of the traditional fairytale, featuring a helpless princess who needs to be saved by a prince, you will appreciate The Paperbag Princess by Robert Munsch. After a dragon burns down the kingdom and carries Prince Ronald away, Princess Elizabeth uses her wit to outsmart the dragon. When she arrives to rescue the prince from the dragon’s cave, an ungrateful Ronald criticizes her appearance saying, “Your clothes are dirty and your hair is a mess. Come back when you look like a real princess.” You will be inspired by the ending and girls will be empowered to be the hero of their own story. This is one book I give as a gift to every girl—and boy!

Children’s Literature (featuring strong female characters):

The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch

Princess Smartypants by Babette Cole

Elena’s Serenade by Campbell Geeslin

Waynetta and the Cornstalk by Helen Ketteman

The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola

Maisy Books by Lucy Cousins

Madeline Books by Ludwig Bemelmans

Don’t Bet on the Prince (re-written fairytales) by Jack David Zipes

Jane and the Dragon (Series) by Martin Baynton

My Name is not Isabella by Jennifer Fosberry

The Princess Knight by Cornelia Funke

The Night Pirates by Peter Harris and Deborah Allright

Three Wise Women By Mary Hoffmam and Lynn Russell

Books About Women in History:

Tonya Bolden: 33 things every girl should know about women’s history

Pam Munoz Ryan and Brian Selznick: Amelia and Eleanor Go For a Ride

Shana Corey: You Forgot Your Skirt Ameila Bloomer and Players in Pigtails

Jacob Lawrence: Harriet and the Promised Land

Robert Coles: The Story of Ruby Bridges

Gender and Teaching/Raising children:

Myra and David Sadker: Failing at Fairness: How America’s Schools Cheat Girls

Leonard Sax: Why Gender Matters: What Parents and Teachers Need to know about the Emerging Science of Sex Differences

Peggy Orenstein: School Girls: Young Women, Self-Esteem and the Confidence Gap

JoAnn Deak: Raising Confident and Courageous Girls

Steve Biddulph: Raising Boys

Dan Kindlon and Michael Thompson: Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of boys

Posted in GenNext: Sport Girls | Post a Comment »

Title IX in the Football Realignment Universe: sole sanity in a money-mad college sports culture

By Laura Pappano

The frenzy of conference switching (Colorado, Utah, Nebraska plus others at least thinking about it), has caused a stir for one reason: Colleges fret that if the future really is about a few megaconferences that some schools will be big winners (measured in TV dollars and bowl berths) and others will be big losers (also-rans with expensive football programs that get little attention).

The college hosting of football is really higher education’s form of gambling. Most DI football teams in the country lose money. The question for AD’s: Can your college have a team that actually brings in cash?

When colleges get anxious, however, we don’t hear about this. We hear instead about how Title IX makes it hard for them to “compete.” Title IX, in this instance and others, is a favorite target of blame. But here’s a reality check: Title IX may be the only thing enforcing a semblance of sanity.

Title IX is carrying the burden of challenging an out-of-whack athletic culture. Title IX is all that reminds or enforces the broader belief that college sports are — indeed — played at colleges and must be rooted in a sense of equity and values other than cash and winning.

Consider that there is no law demanding equal opportunity – or spending – for athletes and non-athletes. (A new Knight Commission report shows that from 2005 to 2008 that median spending per athlete increased by 38 percent over that time to $84,446 while median spending per student increased just 20 percent to $13,349.) Report link here.

Title IX is not the “problem” but the levy against the flood. (Read a good Marquette faculty law blogpost here).

The real problems? Try these:

1. The NFL uses colleges as a farm team. With the fluid movement of coaches between the NFL and college ranks, we are ensured that colleges will seek to install NFL-like “systems,” build reputations based on their connections with professional teams (also useful in recruiting), and create programs that operate according to standards that are friendly to broadcasters.
2. Donors are allowed to buy (or partially buy, leaving colleges to cover the rest) expensive athletes-only facilities and enhancements aimed at winning national titles and recognition (see point 1). For examples, see the University of Oregon’s “Jock Box” or T. Boone Pickens Stadium (and influence) at Oklahoma.
3. Excessive focus on athletic school profiles in college marketing and the perception that kids are choosing colleges based on sports (as fans). The media attention given top football programs (and to a lesser extent basketball programs), eclipses the recognition that these big sports schools might get for their research successes.
4. Football conference alliances may not reflect broader university needs or values. Just because football teams match up or fit well in a particular conference does not mean that this high profile tie – which requires university resources to maintain – serves the needs of academic departments or research interests. And then there is the reality that football players may not accurately reflect the student body — either academically or in terms of behavior — creating two sets of standards, one for real students and one for students whose main job is to entertain everybody else on Saturdays.

Posted in Football, Money, Power & Politics | Post a Comment »

Real Dad Power: Raising Gender Fair and All-Around Good Kids

By Katie Culver

O.K. Dad’s, what can you do to insure that you are raising strong, fair-minded children? I just recently re-read the book “Raising Boys” and it occurred to me just how important a father is in raising children—NOT that I didn’t think Dads were important before. But it absolutely reinforced the critical role you fulfill in shaping the development of your kids. Here are some things to keep in mind as you raise your “mini-me’s”:

1.      Spend time ENGAGING with your kids; don’t just watch TV with them or watch them play. Talk to your sons and daughters; ask questions; demonstrate interest in them (and stop checking your Blackberry!).

2.      Regarding the preceding suggestion, it is especially important to show interest in your daughters. The engagement and interaction you demonstrate will make her feel valued and build her confidence. Furthermore, your relationship with your daughter will serve as an example; it will establish standards by which she will measure her future male relationships. Now that’s important!

3.       As for your sons (and of course daughters too): allow them to develop an emotional side. Don’t ever diminish their feelings or constantly insist they be tough. There is a time for both girls and boys to be encouraged to be “tough.” However, learning to express and communicate feelings is vital to emotional health and can be particularly difficult for boys.

4.       Play sports with your daughters as well as your sons! Girls need to develop athletic skills early. Your encouragement will send the message that sport are important for girls, too.

5.      Take both daughters and sons to see women’s sporting events. I can’t help but mention this again. Attending sporting events is a fun way to spend time with Dad. Broadening the gender lines lets your biggest fans know that women’s sports are important enough for you to watch!

6.        Avoid perpetuating stereotypes. Girls do not have to be dainty and delicate; they might not like to be called “Princess” (you do want them to be the hero of their own story, right?) And boys can play dress-up or in the kitchen and cuddle.

Posted in GenNext: Sport Girls | Post a Comment »

Money (Net)ball: How an Aussie Women’s Pro League is Making $$ (and what to learn from what they did)

By Laura Pappano

The abrupt folding of the St. Louis Athletica, forcing the Women’s Professional Soccer league to mid-season reshuffle its schedule, was the latest reminder of a nagging problem: Making money in women’s pro sports. (Or merely staying solvent).

This has nothing to do with quality of play or competition.  The games are terrific, fan-friendly, compelling sporting events. It is not about the product.

Yet, the WPS can feel more like an old-style barnstorming circuit than a league. Granted, when one talks of sports “leagues” these days, the NFL jumps to mind with its attendant successes  and challenges  (such as the Supreme Court’s rejection of the NFL’s argument that it should be immune from anti-trust violations because it is a single entity not a collection of 32 teams or a possible player lockout in 2011.)

Unfortunately, these are headaches that WPS (or the WNBA, for that matter) could only dream of having. It is blatantly unfair to compare the NFL and women’s sports. But what turned the NFL from an afterthought to dominance in America’s (and soon the world…?) sporting conscious was effective marketing and promotion. (Book recommendation: America’s Game by Michael MacCambridge).

Here’s where Australian Netball comes in.

Last month in Sydney I had a chance to talk with Kate Palmer, the CEO of Netball Australia about how they revamped this women’s pro sport and in two years have made it into a $21 million business (I know, not NFL figures, but a start…) with a large fan following, TV exposure, and full sponsorship.

What they did reflects a strategy that recognizes that fans watch sports not just because they inherently love the sport, but because they are entertained. Who would have thought netball would be compelling TV? This is not to suggest that the WNBA or the WPS are not building a market (they are), but to offer a window on something that’s working.

“We refreshed the product,” says Palmer. “We looked at the way it was presented. It’s an entertainment product, not just a sport.”

Here’s what Palmer and her team did to take a sport played by 1.3 million Australian women and about 30,000 men and make it a popular fan sport:

1. In revamping the sport, they focused on what customers wanted who watched on TV and attended games.
2. Created competition with New Zealand. Research shows that women’s sports coverage increases during the Olympics; there is also heightened interest in nation-based competition.
3. Got an agreement with ABC in Australia ( the public broadcasting station) to show the games on TV.
4. They changed the rules to speed up the game.
5. They put more cameras on the court to be able to get closer to the action and show more angles of play.
6. Changed the women’s uniforms, says Palmer, to make them, “not as girly.” Now, she says, “they look really athletic.”
7. Uniform courts/branding. The court areas are uniform at every venue and Netball Australia brings in its own branding and marketing to every game venue. (This uniformity obviously also serves sponsors who know how they will be presented at every game).

As a result, says Palmer, the average women’s professional netball player makes about $30,000 for the April through August season. Stars (with sponsorship dollars) earn about $100,000.

“We did a lot of research. It was really about understanding the market and making sure our partners leveraged the heck out of us,” she says. “We’ve created a $21 million business. We are financially sustainable. We are oversubscribed with sponsors.”

Netball Australia CEO Kate Palmer

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Why too few Hispanic girls play sports — and what to do about it

By Minda Monteagudo

Why do Latina youth participate in sports less than other girls? How does their Hispanic culture impact decisions to play (or not)? What can we do to change that?

As part of a senior high school project, over the last few weeks I conducted detailed, structured interviews with 30 Latina youth about the role of sports in their lives. Although many said their families watched and played sports, athletics were mostly viewed as a diversion – not serious pursuits. Some girls said their families preferred they be at home or at a job – doing “practical” tasks – instead of playing sports.

“I feel that a big part of the reason a lot of Hispanic girls don’t do sports is because of their families,” said one 14-year-old from Boston’s South End. “They might not be encouraged in their homes. I don’t think it [sports participation] is valued in Hispanic culture for girls, it’s not seen as important. It’s not ‘normal’ for girls, so why would they do it?”

This negative family view – along with the lack of female Hispanic athletes in the media (not one of the 30 could name a Latina athlete) – made these girls feel that sports weren’t for them.  According to the NCAA, Hispanic females make up just 3.9 percent of college athletes (Hispanics are more than 8 percent of college enrollments). A U.S. Department of education survey also showed Hispanic girls had the lowest rate of sports participation of any of their peers.

So how can sports and youth organizations reach out to Hispanic girls? Here are four recommendations based on my research (a full paper with detailed findings is available by e-mailing Minda.Monteagudo@gmail.com).

1. Give Latina youth role models.

Powerful women are more prominent in society than ever, but few are Hispanic. Girls could not name a single female Hispanic athlete, but were keenly aware of demeaning stereotypes about Latinas. Stories of Latina athletes such as recently retired Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa should be widely shared to empower and encourage girls.

2.  Offer girls a variety of opportunities.

Organized competitive sports are only one facet of physical activity. Many girls who do not play sports enjoy physical activity, but not necessarily competitive team sports. Offering activities such as yoga and jogging can encourage girls to get involved (the first step!).

3. Create a welcoming and supportive atmosphere.

Many girls who reported not enjoying sports stated that since they did not start playing at a young age (like some of their peers), they believed that by middle and high school it was too late for them to begin. As if their inexperience with sport wasn’t enough, the stress of teams with cuts keeps girl from participating. Offer teams for a variety of experience levels to foster a supportive atmosphere for them to explore and grow.

4. Appeal to their families.

A key to getting more Latina youth involved in sport is to educate parents about the benefits of physical activity and sport participation. Many girls said their families were unaware of the physical, emotional and long-term benefits. If parents knew the good that can come from sports, they would be more supportive of their daughters’ athletic endeavors.

“Being Latina is like having two strikes against you,” said one 13-year-old form Boston’s Hyde Park neighborhood. “Not only are you a girl, but you’re also Latina. At least one of those is going to be used against you.”

Minda Monteagudo will graduate next week from The Winsor School in Boston. She will attend the University of Southern California in the fall where she will study Environmental Studies and Kinesiology. In high school, she was a coxswain on varsity crew and enjoys yoga in her free time. She is of Guatemalan descent.

Posted in GenNext: Sport Girls, Money, Power & Politics | 3 Comments »

Growing world women’s sport: Netball. What is netball? Find out.

By Lindsay Rico

After speaking with Urvasi Naidoo about the sport of Netball, only one thing occurred to me: Lebron James could never play this game. Naidoo is the CEO of the IFNA , International Federation of Netball Association, (check out her blog here) and gave me the rundown on Netball as a team sport in its purest form — and as a sport she has used to inspire young girls in India. The balance, agility, and teamwork required to play Netball are skills that Naidoo believes are key in encouraging girls build confidence and realize their potential. And it’s catching on in the U.S., too.

FGN: First of all, what exactly is Netball? How does it work?

UN: Netball is a team sport played by women. It’s essentially similar to basketball: there are two posts and one ball the object of the game is to score the most points by putting the most balls in each hole. There is a substantial difference in rules however. The main rule is that you are not allowed to move with the ball. You must pass it to your teammates and make that pass within three seconds. You are allowed to block on defense, but unlike basketball it is a non contact sport. There is a lot of quick thinking and strategy involved.

FGN: Is it a fast growing sport?

UN: Yes, absolutely. We are finding that it’s not just a commonwealth sport but that its expanding into other countries as well. It’s easily accessible and relatively cheap. You don’t need that much equipment. Just a few girls, a couple of posts and a ball. It’s also a school sport. Every girl has to play netball in school—at least in the commonwealth countries.

FGN: Why do you think Netball is so attractive to women and girls?

UN: It was created especially for women. It’s fun, dynamic and it’s a team game—you can’t have one star. There’s this camaraderie and team spirit that comes into it, which is healthy for girls.

FGN: Is this why Netball is such a good incentive for your program in India?

UN: Yes, the G.O.A.L program, started by the IFNA, targets underprivileged girls and uses Netball to encourage them to transform their lives as well as set and meet their goals. The girls enjoy playing Netball and, yes, it is like an incentive because they play the sport part of the time but the deal is that they also must take time to learn the curriculum that the program mentors have created for them. It’s a fair trade.

Lindsay Rico (R) interviews Urvasi Naidoo (L)

Posted in GenNext: Sport Girls, The Q&A | 1 Comment »