Indiana Fever forward Aliyah Boston shoots between Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas and forward DeWanna Bonner in the second half of a WNBA basketball game in Indianapolis, on May 20, 2024.
(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
To say that women’s sport in North America is thriving is an understatement. The question, now, is how these leagues can sustain and build upon their success.
Rachel Daly and Keira Walsh celebrate England winning the UEFA Women’s Finalissima 2023.
Mark Pain/Alamy
Decades of unequal coverage in traditional media has prompted women’s sport to use social media to increase visibility.
Ottawa’s Mikyla Grant-Mentis skates the puck up ice as Toronto’s Rebecca Leslie looks on during second period PWHL hockey action in Ottawa on Jan. 23, 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
The PWHL, like the NHL, does not adhere to any rule for the mandatory usage of neck guards and leaves the decision up to the discretion of each player.
The South Carolina Gamecocks celebrate after beating the Iowa Hawkeyes to win the 2024 NCAA women’s basketball national championship.
Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Sports media has typically operated under a ‘one and done’ model: focus on women’s sports during high-profile events, before returning to routine coverage of men.
NSW Waratahs Women versus Brumbies Women at Allianz Stadium in Sydney.
Australian Associated Press/Alamy
Despite the fact that there are similar injuries in men and women’s rugby, women should not be viewed merely as smaller versions of men.
Iowa guard Caitlin Clark (22) drives past West Virginia guard JJ Quinerly (11) in a second-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, on March 25, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa.
(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
This year’s NCAA tournament might represent another high-water mark for women’s sport as new standards are set for ratings and even more pressure falls on the game’s superstars.
After a rocky few years, there’s a huge trust deficit between players and Netball Australia. This must be overcome to secure the sport’s future.
When the energy consumed from food becomes insufficient to meet the demands of high physical activity levels, a state of imbalance occurs called low energy availability.
(Shutterstock)
Female athletes are at increased risk of not eating enough. If energy intake is too low to meet training needs, there can be severe consequences for exercise performance, muscles and health.
A United States women’s national team member takes a shot during a FIFA Women’s World Cup send-off soccer match in San Jose, Calif., on July 9, 2023. Sponsorship and marketing deals with women athletes are often performative and exploitative.
(AP Photo/Josie Lepe)
While positive change has been seen, especially surrounding this year’s Women’s World Cup, there is still much work to be done by organizations governing women’s professional sports.
Chicago Sky’s Rebekah Gardner (right) drives at Minnesota Lynx’s Rachel Banham during second half WNBA preseason basketball action in Toronto on May 13, 2023.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
The first WNBA game in Canada was more than just a game — it was about the future of women’s sports.
LSU’s Angel Reese, right, and LaDazhia Williams react during an NCAA Women’s Final Four semifinals basketball game against Virginia Tech on March 31, 2023, in Dallas.
AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
Asking the mostly Black women’s basketball team at LSU to share the limelight with the white team it beat in the championship game represents a double standard, a scholar of sports and race says.
Canada and England players face the ball during a FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada quarter-final in 2015.
Matt Jacques | Alamy Live News
The 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup ushered in a new age for media coverage of women’s sport. A new survey of fans shows that while many men feel threatened, a growing number are on board.
Queer women in sports is often hidden from history. ‘A Secret Love’ helps illuminate missing pieces. Here, Terry Donahue, fifth from the left in the front row, in the Peoria Redwings team photo in 1947, the same year she met her long-time lover, Pat Henschel.
(Netflix)
The Netflix documentary A Secret Love tells the remarkable story of a decades-long relationship between two gay athletes and opens up a conversation about racism, classism and homophobia in the 50s.
Few Americans would care about how to best accommodate transgender athletes if they weren’t winning events.
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Reform of New Zealand’s abusive gymnastics culture offers an opportunity to improve women’s sports in general.
Players for the Connecticut Sun and the Las Vegas Aces square off during basketball’s WNBA semi-final in September 2020 in Bradenton, Fla.
(AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
Women athletes and pro sports leagues are doing more with less, seizing the moment and expectations during the COVID-19 pandemic. When the crisis passes, professional sport should follow their lead.
These effects may have the greatest impact on elite athletes.
Leonard Zhukovsky/ Shutterstock
Before a helicopter crash brought about their tragic deaths, Kobe Bryant’s daughter Gianna aspired to carry on his legacy as a pro basketball champion.