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“Women in the industry of sports have a strong voice and presence now. We are coaching and being fashionable while doing it. We are running podcasts and doing commentating on games. We are on the field and on the courts, giving it all we have and playing, often times, harder than the men. Women are what the sports industry was missing, and we add to the fanfare of it all. Let’s be clear, Venus and Serena are what Althea Gibson was dreaming of when it came to the advancement of women of color in Tennis and Candace Parker, and Skylar Diggins-Smith are what Lisa Leslie dreamed of when it came to the inception of the WNBA. These are groundbreakers, and they all made room for someone like me to come in and have a voice for an industry that I love. It’s so dope to see how women can come to the forefront of a male-dominated field and greatly succeed. You see women anchoring about sports and interviewing players during and after games. You see us commentating and accurately knowing the game from football to basketball to tennis to baseball, and we are just as knowledgeable about sports as men are. People really respect us for our knowledge, and they respect us because we respect the men too. We don’t try to we know it all’s and downplay our counterparts”. – Jemele Hill

Men have dominated the sports industry for decades. Despite the many wins and allocates that women have received in various fields, the overshadowing of men’s sports has often taken precedence. However, in the late ’90s, things changed when the NBA announced the inclusion of women and created the WNBA. People began to flock to arenas to see the ladies take to the court and change basketball forever. Women in sports prove that you do not have to wait to be invited to the table to have a seat. You can build the table from scratch and create your own seat. From journalism to playing the games, women have been able to leave a lasting print. During Super Bowl weekend, women in the sports industry were honored for their achievements, including Jemele Hill, Cari Champion and Off the Field Players Wives Associations. The event celebrated the honorees’ accomplishments and their charitable efforts in the industry.

“Women are so dope. We are just so dope. There is absolutely no industry that we cannot succeed in and be just as great as men. From medicine to music to sports, we have the ability to be as successful as the men. Venus and Serena took over tennis, and with the help and guidance from their father, they are regarded as two of the greatest tennis players ever. Notice that I didn’t say women tennis players, but I said greatest tennis players. As a sports journalist, I’m proud to see the elevation in the sports journalism field and how far we have come. – Cari Champion.