Centuries ago, there was nothing like women’s sport. Only men compete in sports and what women could do back then is to dress up in pretty dresses, pick flowers, knit, cook… pretty much everything apart from sports or any strenuous activities. The most they could do in sports is to smile and cheer their men during games.
But times have changed, and our women are seen in various if not all the activities men are doing. They compete as much as the men do, win trophies and so on. Below are the top five competitive sports, women can play:
Football
The American football, in general, is the most popular sport in the United States. One of the exciting games to watch is the women’s America football; although a majority of the leagues play by the same rules as the men’s football, however, women’s league is smaller than the men’s. The women’s American football is a highly competitive sport that women can play.
There are various leagues in different countries; the United States has Independent Women’s Football League, Women’s Football Alliance (WFA). Canada has Maritime Women’s Football League (MWFL) Western Women’s Canadian Football League (WWCFL), Legends Football League Canada (LFL) and Australia has Female Gridiron League of Queensland, Ladies Football League, Ladies Gridiron League and Legends Football League Australia (LFL).
Football is a high-impact sports and the chance of getting injured is very high. Therefore, women need to have football protective gear to protect them while playing this sport.
Tennis
Billie Jean King founded the women’s Tennis Association in 1973; the WTA is the principal organizing body of professional tennis (women). Although, the WTA was inspired by the inaugural Virginia Slims tournament hosted Gladys Heldman on September 23rd, 1970 at the Houston Racquet Club Texas.
There are various tournaments; the Grand Slam, Year ending Championships also known as the WTA Tour Championships and the Premier tournaments, the international tournaments, and WTA 125K Series. Furthermore, the premier tournaments consist of premier Mandatory, premier five, and premier.
The top 20 2017 tennis female players include; Johanna Konta, Lucie Šafářová, Samantha Stosur, and Venus Williams.
Golf
Another competitive sport for women is Golf; Mary Queen of Scots is the first female golfer who introduced the game to the French when she studied in France. In 1895 women started competing in golf matches, the United State Golf Association held the first Women’s Amateur Championship tournament.
In 1929, Glenna Collett won the four U.S Golf Association World Amateur championships. There have been dramatic changes in the game; a lot of people have accepted the sport for men and female. Since 2006, several women have bagged the world best player award, and the current world female player is Shanshan.
Motorsport
Motorsport is yet again another sizzling competitive sport that women can play; Maria Teresa de Filippis is the first woman to ever compete in Formula One. She broke the record at age 22 when her brothers challenged her that she couldn’t drive fast. In 1958 and 1959, Maria raced in five Grands Prix.
Women have since dared the undoable; in 2001, Kleinschmidt won the Dakar rally in a car category in Mitsubishi Pajero with her co-driver Andreas Schulz. Some of the professional female race drivers include Renee Gracie, Dominique van Wieringen, Lucile Cypriano, Gina-Maria Adenauer, Jamie Chadwick, and Nicole Behar.
Soccer
Women’s soccer is another exhilarating sport to watch; the female soccer is the most significant game played worldwide. It started far back 1920, but today there are a lot of competitions for women such as UEFA Women’s Championship, Women’s World Cup, Copa Libertadores de América de Fútbol Femenino, Olympics, and Football Association Women’s Challenge Cup (FA Women’s Cup).
Some of the top female players of all time include; Renate Lingor, Kristine Lilly, Sun Wen, Christine Sinclair, Birgit Prinz, Cristiane, Homare Sawa, and Mia Hamm.
Furthermore, one cannot deny the fact that our 21st-century women are bringing exciting games to the table in the world of sport.