The Influences on a Tomboy

For me, growing up a tomboy was a no brainer. My mentality was "why dress up for school when I'd sweat playing football at recess?" I dressed like a boy for longer than I'll admit to but no one ever mentioned my odd style or made fun of me for it, so I never questioned it. This was partly due to me growing up during the pro-women's athletic era where women were making a huge impact in sports.
Venus and Serena Williams were dominating in tennis. Sheryl Swoopes and Lisa Leslie were making a positive impact in the game of basketball.

The Williams sisters in a casual "got milk" ad

Looking back on it now, being a tomboy during this time was not only encouraged by our culture but it was also something to be valued. And in 1999 an event occurred that changed everything about women's sports. 

The FIFA Women's World Cup. 

I was a huge soccer player during this time but didn't know too much about our National Team. That changed quickly. The World Cup was taking place in the US and countries

Mia Hamm

from around the world were here to compete. Before this event, women's soccer didn't get much attention. The Olympics game before this, where the US Women won gold, their championship match wasn't even shown live on television. Now these women were supposed to sell out the Rose Bowl Stadium and all of their games were going to be shown live on TV. A lot of pressure was placed on them. 

Media dubbed Mia Hamm their "golden girl." Her face was plastered on billboard signs, posters, commercials and newspapers.

All of the sudden women athletes were talked about on ESPN as much as their male contemporaries.

Spectators watching the game

In the championship game, the US played China in a sold out crowd of 90,185 with millions of onlookers watching at home on TV. In an battle of epic proportions the US beat China in a shootout making the US Women champions! This was on our home turf, in front of our home crowd, on national television. This was huge step for the game of soccer, for women athletes and for tomboys everywhere!

Brandi Chastain's victory celebration

Not soon after this, I had a poster of the team on my door, I ate the Mia Hamm Corn Puffs every morning, and I never took off the nike wrists bands that they wore during those games. I was a passionate

and ardent fan and that is all due to the evolution of women's media coverage that took place.

Now all of the sudden when I would be out in recess, I would be imagining I'm Brandi Chastain scoring the final goal or I'm Briana Scurry defending the goal. These women along with athletes like Sheryl Swoopes, showed me at a young age that being passionate about something, no matter what society tells you, is something to be admired and pursued.

The USWNT thanking their 90,185 fans 

Numb Feet Equals a Happy Heart

To be outside at the end of January is equivalent to me voluntarily jumping into a frozen lake, it's just not a smart move. Despite all logic or form of reason I committed myself to endure the arctic chill of Dallas, Texas for 5 hours to watch a soccer game. I obviously wouldn't sacrifice my toes for any soccer game, so naturally this was a US Women's National Team game. I know, I also have chills thinking about it...and I literally had chills while watching the game-pun intended!

The USWNT were playing New Zealand. The Ferns against the Red, White and Blue.

Naturally I arrived 2 hours before the match because I thought that was the most logical thing to do. So naturally my feet were numb before the players even got out on the field to warm-up. But alas, I didn't care because this is the first time since 2006 that the USWNT would be in Texas, I had front row seats, so all in all, I felt very blessed and excited to be there!

Them getting off the bus

Me being the extreme, maybe even at times, obsessed fan that I am, I made sure I was there when the bus arrived so I could watch all of the players get off of the bus. It was a very exciting event and I was rather shocked at how small they all were as opposed to what they look like on TV.
I recorded the whole event on my ph
one and I confess I watch it every now and again. It was just so cool to finally see athletes that I've been following for years up close and personal!
Now speaking of up close and personal, having first row seats are awesome! For a fan that has been following this team for about 7 years, there literally was no bad seat in the house but because I could yell someone's name and the chance that they heard me was highly probable, it was totally worth it.

Kelly O'Hara totally heard me.

The stadium was sold out for this event so I could literally feel the vibrations below my numb feet of 20,000 people yelling U-S-A! The game was intense. We scored in the first half, holding them off till they scored to tie in the late second half. We dominated throughout the entire match on offense but one mistake caused a hole in the defense where the opposing forward took advantage and scored.
By this point, the chance of loosing hadn't even crossed my mind but all of the sudden my palms started sweating which, if you think about it, was nearly impossible because I was as frozen as an ice cube.

Players watching the game. I clearly wasn't the only one cold...

The game was nearly over, my voice was nearly gone, everyone was on their feet, and we won in the last 20 seconds with a header from Abby Wambach! Talk about an exciting game to attend! Let me tell you, I could barely go to sleep that night because I was still buzzing from excitement.

My point to telling you this story is to give you an insight into a young girls mind. Young people in general tend to obsess or be very passionate about many things. For example: Justin Bieber, One Direction, Liam Hemsworth, video games, How I Met Your Mother...etc. I respect other peoples passions but for me, and I may be biased, but being passionate about women's soccer is a wonderful and healthy thing. To look up to women who work hard, train hard, pursue their dreams and travel the world is a great thing to model my life after. This is why I'm such a big fan, this is why I sacrifice the feeling in my feet and this is why I love supporting the USWNT.

Oh, and I also love to win. That might be a part of it...

The players thanking their extremely devoted fans (aka me) for coming out in the cold! 

Bieber v. Hamm

I mentioned in my previous post about young people and the people/things they obsess over. I would like to take this time to pursue that topic more in detail.

Typical.

Let me start with the phenomenon of Justin Bieber. I profess right now that I wasn't and will never be a "Belieber" but I do understand the draw that he has on most of the female population. He's talented, smart, and yes he did come from a low-class family but now he's making millions. 

Bieber was arrested in Jan. of 2014

Given the recent events he's been involved with, I'd say his "good boy" facade is tarnished and possibly will be burned to the ground for it never to rise again. This is a quote he gave in an interview in 2013, "So remember, this is Bieber's world. you're just living in it. Bieber or Die." I hope this isn't just me thinking that this isn't the best way to view his fan's and career. A do or die mentality for a career that is based solely on popularity manifests an unhealthy style of living because it's all about the "I". 

Now I want to challenge this "role model" with my own. Mia Hamm. She joined the USWNT in 1987 and retired in 2004. She held the record for international goals, more than any other player, male or female, in the history of soccer till 2013 when Abby Wambach passed it. Hamm was a instrumental leader during her stay and not only positively impacted the sport of soccer but also the lives of young girls looking up to her. 

She was a shy leader, she didn't want the attention for herself. 

Mia Hamm talking to the press after a game

She endured long press conferences and interviews because she knew the team needed the attention and sponsors. She said this in an interview in 2001 about the success they've had as a team and how instrumental of a player she is, "I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion." Selfless, determined, and team-minded. Those are the qualities that people should look for in a role-model.  

I know Justin Bieber has done some good. He doesn't have 50 million followers on Twitter for nothing. But I want to challenge you to assess what qualities do you admire in a person, any person, big or small! The celebrities and musicians that we let control our air-waves and television screens are lowering our standards of what's good and wrong. I know people aren't perfect but that's why we have people like Mia Hamm who are able to accept the responsibility of their "celebrity" status and set a good example for those that look up to them.