Trailblazing a path to success and victory, women in the male-dominated world of sport are now seen in a new light. The rise of women's sports shows just how far athletes have come. Photo by Biblioteca Valenciana Nicolau Primitiu on Unsplash 

by Makenzy Ward

Over the last century there has been an impactful rise in competitive women's sports made tremendous impacts on everyone. Female-driven college teams have flooded social media, and young women look up to these Division I athletes. The emergence of women in sports encourages girls to follow their passion and look away from the double standards within athletics. 

One popular sport dominating the social media landscape is volleyball. Women's volleyball was created in the late 1940s and quickly led to the first Open Division occurring in 1949. Volleyball was originally a male dominated sport, but roles have reversed, and many classify it as a mostly female-dominated sport. 

Volleyball didn't become popular until the 1970s following its Olympic debut in 1964. Thousands of college and high school students rapidly showed interest and officially solidified volleyball as a major sport. The love and admiration for the sequence of the game captivated many young girls and over the years transformed into a large well-known sport. Large corporations have created travel teams which hold large competitions and brackets for each team participating in events. Another female-centered sport that has grown is softball. Softball was originally called indoor baseball created in Chicago but not many women played it at all. Following the Great Depression, the interest in softball skyrocketed for the idea of a game being played with limited funding. The first Women’s College World Series was held in Omaha in 1969 which solidified its popularity and importance.

We see the rise of this influence within our own community. Students have witnesses the emergence of Women's Basketball as a solid team at Southeast. The Lady Stallions have been two time regional champions and one time state champions. 

This begs the question, how has women's basketball grown? Originally, Senda Berenson in 1892  adapted a program for women to play basketball at Smith College. Women played but had tighter clothing and used the sport to demonstrate unique choices. After many years of long skirts and broken bones, the sport developed a new system with shorter clothes maximized for running up and down the court. With the sport's growth, women finally made it big as The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) was launched in 1997. 

In a male-driven sports industry, society believed women weren’t strong enough to participate in sports. For many decades women watched from the sidelines, but now women can excel in just as many sports as men. Women now have a lot more opportunities in comparison to those half a century ago. The excitement surrounding women's sports shows how women's sports industry has endured. Volleyball, Softball, Basketball, Flag Football, Soccer and more have now become major sports where women hold their heads and standards up high.