Best of ’09: Forming a community, WomenTalkSports.com

This post is the start of a series this week in the WomenTalkSports.com network titled “Best of ’09.” Throughout this week, our community will be posting about their favorite moments in women’s sports in 2009.

There’s no doubt, 2009 was an exciting year in the women’s sports world, and I’m excited to see more posts. For me, though, hands down, my favorite moment was creating the WomenTalkSports.com blog network. It’s the first time in history female sports fans have come together and taken action as a community online.

We launched WomenTalkSports.com in February of 2009 with a mission of increasing attention, awareness and coverage of women’s sports. We felt that traditional media was doing somewhat of a disservice to female athletes by not focusing and covering women’s achievements in sports. For example, when was the last time you picked up the sports section of a newspaper and saw the headline of a female football player, swimmer, ice hockey player or gymnast? It doesn’t happen often.

In the spirit of citizen journalism, we took matters into our own hands. I, along with two of my like-minded friends, Jane Schonberger and Ann Gaffigan (and later joined by Lesley Higgins) decided to start a network of bloggers who take it upon ourselves to cover the achievements of female athletes. We knew there were quite a few of us out there, so we started reaching out and asking if we’d like to come together as a community.

In 2009, our network was born. We now have over 70 contributors to the site, and a community of engaged advocates. We cover local events, discuss the hottest trends in the media, digest cultural and gender issues, conduct interviews, do research and simply do our best to promote women in sport in every possible way. Here are just a few quotes from our members and friends:

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Mobile technology: A clear tool for communicating women’s sports

This blog post is part of my ongoing weekly series discussing the role of social media and female athletics. My latest reading is  The Politics-To-Go Handbook: A Guide to Using Mobile Technology in Politics, published by the Insitute for Politics, Democracy & The Internet and George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. In addition, I read through MobileActive.org.

My latest interest in women’s sports has to do with mobile technology (i.e., cell phones) and the opportunity we as athletes and an industry have to communicate with each other using this platform.

First, a recap of my reading. The Politics-To-Go Handbook is a good, quick read for someone who wants to understand the basics of social communication with cell phones – I highly recommend it. Going in, to be honest, I didn’t really know all that much. Now, I feel like I have a solid foundation, at least as far as strategy is concerned. The tactical end of mobile technology education can be adopted with some training, and also regularly reading sites like MobileActive.org.

Although the Politics To-Go packet weighs heavily upon advocacy uses of the technology, it also touches on citizen journalism, the global use/impact of mobile technology, and opportunities for building localized communities of support. I think this is a valuable perspective that needs to be grasped by the women’s sports industry. This posts exposes some of the highlights.

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“Mobilizing Generation 2.0…” in the female sports world

Today marks the first day that an assignment is due for a digital political advocacy class that I’m enrolled in as part of my John’s Hopkins Masters of Arts in Digital Communication degree.  As such, I’m required to post blog postings about our readings. To put a unique spin on my writings, I decided to integrate the concept of digital advocacy with my current blog promoting women’s sports. 

This combination, I hope, will present a new understanding of female athletes - one which is quite different than the sports industry of male athletes. I hope new strategic insight will mobilize an entirely new community to support  our industry.  

My first assignment is to read and reflect upon a book titled Mobilizing Generation 2.0: Technologies to recruit, organize, and engage youth by Ben Rigby. It’s important to note the youth focus, because it’s a unique one that I’m not always exposed to. However, I feel young female athletes of America are the answer to the ongoing question of “who is our market?” in women’s sports.

Below are some of the top strategic insights I pulled from the book that apply to engaging America’s female athletes with the women’s sports industry…

1) Understand Web 2.0 technology is “a conversation”
To reach the youth audience, I strongly agree with Rigby that the answer is NOT to simply integrate Web 2.0 technology as “another communications outlet for content/information that already exists.” Rather, leaders in this industry need to first understand the fundamental principle that Web 2.0 is ”conversational media” - meaning that it’s “authentic, immediate – more human.” (p. 52)

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WNBA’s economic struggles

The economy isn’t just hurting the everyday blue- collar workers, it’s also hurting the future of professional women’s basketball.
It was brought to my attention by a friend to take a look at an article released on ESPN.com today, in regards to the economy and its hindrance on the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).

The basis of the article talked about the Atlanta Dream’s ( who have first pick) interest in two players who will be playing tonight for the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball National Championship, Connecticut’s, Renee Montgomery and Louisville’s, Angel McCoughtry, it also brought up some interesting points about the economic difficulties facing women’s professional basketball.

With the draft this upcoming Thursday, April 9th, there is a major concern if most of the draft picks will even make the roster of their prospected teams, due to lack of funding. According to the article the league had to cut back on the number of players allowed to make the roster per club down to 11 from 13 last year. Also the number of athletes allowed to participate in training camp is down from 18 to 15 from last season.

“There’s a chance that even half of the players taken in the first round may not even make a team,” Meadors said. “It’s very sad.”

Sad indeed.

The bad economic times have also urged the league to cut out its pre-draft camp. While last year all of the first round picks played in the league, this season may be tougher for rookies, with the amount of available veterans as a result of the folding of the Houston Comets in December, some coaches might opt to go with a vet over a rookie.

However, there are other options for these players like playing overseas. But the situation is still unfortunate for all of these women to be so deserving of their success but have to be held back due too limited finances.The establishment of the WNBA was a huge milestone in the race for equality in women’s sports,its existence is crucial. I am hoping the league will be able to hold on until an economic turnaround.

Washington, DC welcomes back women’s professional soccer

I’d like to be one of the first sports reporters in Washington, DC to say to the Washington Freedom… we’re glad you’re here.

Washington, DC once again has a women’s professional soccer team, the Washington Freedom.

These ladies will be playing at the Discovery Sports Plex in Germantown, MD, with (hopefully) a few featured double-header at RFK Stadium with DC United. They announced their schedule a few weeks ago. (see below)

The Freedom’s roster can be found here. Notables include Abby Wambach, a forward (and one of the leading scorers) from the USA Soccer Team, as well as some key international draft picks, including Sonia Bompastor of France and Lisa De Vanna of Australia.

On the communications front, I’m a huge fan of how the Washington Freedom is active on a variety of social media platforms. For example, not only do they have their own Facebook Fan Page, but they also have a Twitter account and a YouTube channel.

Hopefully they’re reaching out to local youth soccer teams (the club leagues, in particular) to ask coaches to send e-mails to their players, promoting the Freedom’s Facebook Page. DC-metro area is full of incredible talented women’s soccer players, so generating a crowd, especially in suburbia, should be no problem.

I may be attending some of their games this year to promote their schedule and visibility in the area. I’m especially looking forward to games when the Freedom could be playing a double-header with DC United, the professional men’s team in the area (whose fans are awesome, by the way).

I know this isn’t exactly the best source, but here’s what Wikipedia says about the founding of Women’s Professional Soccer (interesting)…

“As a result of the US Women’s National Team‘s (US WNT) first-place showing in the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, a seemingly viable market for the sport germinated. Feeding on the momentum of their victory, the twenty US WNT players, in partnership with John Hendricks of the Discovery Channel, sought out the investors, markets, and players necessary to form the eight-team league.

The WUSA played for three full seasons, suspending operations on September 15, 2003, shortly after the conclusion of the third season. Neither television ratings nor attendance met forecasts, while the league spent its initial $40 million budget, planned to last five years, by the end of the first season. Even though the players took salary cuts of up to 30% for the final season, with the founding players (who also held an equity stake in the league) taking the largest cuts, that was not enough to bring expenses under control.

In the hopes of an eventual relaunch of the league, all rights to team names, logos, and similar properties were preserved. Efforts to line up new sources of capital and operating funds continued.

In June 2004, the WUSA held two “WUSA Festivals,” featuring matches between reconstituted WUSA teams (often with marquee players borrowed from other teams), in order to maintain the league in the public eye and sustain interest in women’s professional soccer.

With the WUSA on hiatus, the Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) and the W-League regained their status as the premier women’s soccer leagues in the United States, and many former WUSA players joined those teams.”

Regardless of how it happened, we’re happy they’re here. It’s going to make an exciting spring/summer season for soccer in DC. I hope some of the suburban Maryland youth teams go out to the games and support these women.

Here’s the schedule (click the picture if you want to check it out for yourself):

Male/female soccer game in Iran sparks attention, punishment

When I read about this yesterday, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

On January 20, Iran held its a mixed soccer game – the first of its kind – since the Islamic revolution in 1979.

The game was intended to be a secret – but some cell phone footage was leaked, and punishments were handed to three Iranian soccer club officials.

Check out this AP article for more.

The Jan. 20 game between the club’s female team and its youth male team in Tehran was the first time in the 30 years of Iran’s Islamic establishment that males and females played soccer together, observers said.

The youth team beat the women 7-0 in a game Vatan-e-Emrooz described as ‘historic.’

According to this Fox soccer news article, Iran’s strict Islamic rules ban any physical contact between unrelated men and women, and Iranian women are even banned from attending soccer games when male teams play.

Surprisingly, my colleagues on the male sports blogs covered this story, led by Sports by Brooks:

“Women’s soccer has only recently been widely accepted in Iran. A national women’s team was formed in 2005, but already has had some success in Asia, nearly qualifying for last year’s Asian Cup finals. As you can see from the photo above, the Iranian players have to wear long sleeves, pants, and a head scarf. And home matches are attended only by women.”

It followed with a link from Ball Hype. I’m shocked – they don’t usually cover women’s sports.

The officials of the game – a coach and two managers – first denied the game took place, but video clips on cell phones of the game were used as evidence against them.

This story (and subsequent research) has challenged me to write a series about Muslim women and sports.

So look for more to come..

Mechelle Voepel, renown sportswriter, welcome to the blogosphere

Late last night, by accident, in searching for women’s basketball blogs, I came across a name I recognized. Mechelle Voepel. I was thrilled to discover that in October of 08, she started her own blog.

For those of you who don’t know her, Mechelle Voepel can likely be considered the voice of women’s sports, particularly in the realm of women’s basketball.

Voepel has a longstanding column on Espn.com, and (until this year) had a popular women’s sports column at the Kansas City Star.

It’s obvious that the blog I came across is Voepel’s personal blog, as she writes in first person and describes her experiences first-hand.  We get to hear , how she feels about major events in women’s sports, as well as personal views about the industry in general.

This perception is perhaps the first of its kind for women’s sports journalists, and her insight can be appreciated by every sports fan, especially those with a love for women’s basketball.

In reading Voepel’s blog, you get to hear about her experience and opinions of the industry from her point of view. She’s no longer talking in third person. Instead, she’s giving her own perception and recounting her experiences.

So I invite you… all of you out there who see this… to read her blog.

If you choose to do so, you will be acquainted with the following:

You can read about what it’s like to be given the opportunity to cover women’s sports:

“For The Star, I have covered events such as the Women’s Final Four, the Women’s World Cup, the U.S. Women’s Open and the Solheim Cup. The newspaper took a leadership role in its commitment to women’s sports. There were so many times over the last dozen years I felt immense gratitude that The Star didn’t just give lip service to diversity of coverage. The paper consistently made it happen _ when plenty of bigger papers didn’t. It made me very proud to work for a place like that.”

You can also read Voepel paying tribute to her heroine – suffragist Susan B. Anthony – on election day:

“I rode my bicycle to a church just a couple of minutes from my house and voted in a national, state and local election. I was wearing the first thing I grabbed out of my dresser – not an uncommon occurrence – which happened to be my 2002 Women’s Final Four T-shirt and blue shorts.

In other words, I just did something that I know that my hero and idol never did get to do. She spent her whole life working to give me that right. Susan B. Anthony, how can I ever begin to thank you?”

We get to read her opinion on the economic-stimulated loss of the Houston Comets.

“The WNBA’s Houston Comets are officially gone. I don’t hold the view that this means some kind of impending doom for the WNBA (there’s more on that in my ESPN.com blog). But I know that there are Comets fans feeling pain that I can relate to.”

You can read her opinion about how Tennessee’s comeback against Rutgers was anything but stunning:

“But … instead, let’s talk about why Tennessee won this game. And why it wins games like this year after year after year against teams – including very, very good teams _ from every conference. Sure, Tennessee always has plenty of talent and often dominates foes. However, Tennessee’s “escapes” from games in which it doesn’t play as well throughout have been so numerous and fearless that they make the work of Houdini appear like that of an adolescent who’s practiced with his store-bought magic kit for a couple of weeks before his “gig” at a pre-schooler’s birthday party.”

And there’s much, much more.

I’d like to welcome Mechelle to the world of women’s sports blogging. It’s great to see you here.

However, I have a challenge.

My challenge to Mechelle is to make the below changes to her blog. This will drive traffic, amplify her voice, and establish her presence as a leader in this industry. She has the credentials. She just needs people to hear what she has to say.

1) Encourage colleagues in her network to blog. I’m sure has an internal network who is knowledgeable about a wide range of women’s sports. We need more voices, more opinions, and more links. We need people like Mechelle to encourage them to start writing.

2) Link to existing women’s sports bloggers. Linking to us, reading us and engaging with us will create a community that will amplify her voice. Where’s her blogroll? Why am I (and other bloggers) not on it? Take a look at my blogroll – it’s a great place to start.

3) She needs to join Twitter and start using it. There aren’t enough people in Twitter discussing women’s sports. We need voices like hers to join, network, and share short, quick thoughts about games and results.

4) Get her own URL. Mechelle needs to purchase MechelleVoepel.com and redirect her blog to that address. This is an easy thing to do. It will help with branding and search optimization.

5) Promote her blog on ESPN. I’m sure ESPN would not mind getting some links every once and awhile. By promoting her personal blog on ESPN, she will drive some traffic, again, amplifying her voice.

6) Register on Technorati. It’s easy. This will help other bloggers get to know who (and where) she is.

7) Register on Blogher. Don’t you think it’s time that other women (besides those who area already acquainted with women’s sports) get to hear Mechelle’s commentary? I’d love to see her content syndicated on the women’s sports page.

Again, Mechelle – it’s great to see you here, and congratulations. Can’t wait to keep reading your posts.

Sheryl Crow supports women’s sports… I think

Check out this video, via the Women’s Sports Foundation:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQDEatFk27g

Great to see Sheryl’s support, and she has some really great things to say as a former athlete about the opportunities created for her later in life.

She also promotes physical activity through the GoGirlGo campaign (which is a great contest that high school girls and AAU teams should get involved in)

However, what’s up with the volume issue on this video? I can barely make out what she’s saying!  What’s up with that?

Regardless, I’m going to become a member. Are you?

Join here. Support their mission.

Perry Lee Barber: First Female Umpire in Major League Baseball

Perry Lee Barber is one of the first female umpires in baseball history. Today, she’s sharing her story – and it’s a great one.

Women everywhere should listen.

An interview with Barber is posted on the Women’s Sports Foundation. Also, you can read Barber’s commentary on her personal blog, Officially speaking…

The interview on WSF is awesome – discusses how she grew to love Baseball (which is evident on Officially speaking…). She also mentions how the idea of umpiring came from her mother’s encouragement. (love it!) WSF writer Kelsey J. Koenen says,

“Barber’s work as a professional baseball umpire has blazed a trail for women umpires and begun to chip away at one of the last sports careers presumed to be reserved for men.”

This is evident in the picture at the left-hand side of this post (below). In that picture, the University of Michigan head coach and Mets manager were meet at home plate during a February spring training game with the first all-woman umpiring crew: Perry Lee Barber, Ila Valcarcel, Theresa Fairlady and Mona Osborne.

SO COOL!

But the journey to this point in time has not been easy. Barber mentions that she often feels alone in an occupation dominated by men.

WSF reports,

“At times, it was daunting, especially as a female, and the need to be confident and aggressive was vital. Soon Barber realized the good ball players learn control and claim their own power, not giving it to the umpire, who, Barber said, is merely a “conduit through which things flow.””

And when you’re alone, it helps to have some support. With more than 20 years of experience behind her, Barber has built a support network for female umpires. As WSF says, “Barber’s network continues to grow, and her plans are nowhere near through.” Barber says,

“I want to make sure there’s a mechanism in place by the time I die,” Barber said, “that women have of reaching out and finding and encouraging one another to view umpiring as a possibility in their lives, as one that’s fun and rewarding and that might eventually lead to one or more becoming major league umpires.”

I love this idea – and appreciate the fact that Barber is thinking beyond her own needs and situation toward a future of other women umpires.

Personally, I think her network should start on the blogosphere. She should encourage female umpires to create their own blogs and network online. That way, friendships and alliances can be built throughout the country and their voices will be heard. (Opposers will think twice before casting their public opinions when they know these ladies have blogs and online networks.)

Regardless, I’d like to wish Barber the best of luck. What she’s doing is truly special and means a lot to female athletes (and future umpires) everywhere.

More information can be found at perrybarber.com.

Vols, Huskies Rivalry Extends to Football

It seems that the rivalry between the University of Connecticut and the University of Tennessee, established through tough competition in women’s basketball play, is extending to football – the two football clubs have agreed to play each other in 2015-2016.

I don’t think too many people would disagree with the fact that Pat Summit’s Tennessee program and Geno Auriemma’s UConn program have drawn both incredible talent and great media coverage for the sport (and women’s sports in general).

But I thought it was really interesting ESPN actually went out on a limb and reported on it, saying that the football teams “don’t have quite the same pedigree.” I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read that!

Apparently, the USA’s women’s basketball powerhouses are actually being given some credit in their ability to draw attention, even in the “big dog” world of college football. This is the first time I’ve ever seen it happen.

Here’s what ESPN had to say:

Connecticut and Tennessee’s rivalry is moving from the basketball court to the football field.

Connecticut announced Thursday that Tennessee will visit Rentschler Field in East Hartford in 2015, and the Huskies will travel to Neyland Stadium in Knoxville the following year.

The two women’s basketball powers had met annually, until Tennessee canceled the series a year ago. The schools’ football teams don’t have quite the same pedigree.

Tennessee won the 1998 national championship in football and has 13 Southeastern Conference titles to its credit. UConn is beginning its sixth season in the Bowl Championship subdivision and is coming off a 9-4 season and its first Big East co-championship.

Needless to say, I’m going to watch this game, and see if the commentators happen to say anything about how the women’s basketball programs have built a rivalry that has extended beyond their sport and gender. My guess is it will be mentioned, briefly.

If only they’d announce women’s sports schedules that far in advance on ESPN….

Serena Tops Venus in Quarterfinal of Open

Tennis is one of the women’s sports (along with women’s golf) which has been able to attract a large amount of journalistic attention. Part of that, in my opinion, is due to the Williams’ sisters ability to perform, and perform well against each other. Wednesday night’s match between Serena and Venus did just that.

According to The New York Times, last night’s quarterfinal match at the U.S. Open went to Serena, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (7), giving her a 9-8 lead in this series. However, Venus’s 125-mile-an-hour serve is definately something to watch. Can you imagine trying to hit that?

Do the sisters like playing against each other? The NY Times says,

Serena, a few weeks shy of 27, was on record as saying that it stinks to have to play Venus, just turned 28, so early, but the competition itself seems to have become business as usual, as the sisters play for themselves.

Because the Williams sisters played on the court named for Billie Jean-King, they discussed her opinion of the sisters, as well as her new book, Pressure Is a Privilege: Lessons I’ve Learned From Life and the Battle of Sexes (LifeTime Media, Inc).

In the book, says the NY Times, King describes the thrill of watching Venus accept the champion’s check of $1.4 million at Wimbledon in 2007, and how Venus said live on the BBC, “No one loves tennis more than Billie Jean King.” And then Venus addressed King: “I love you. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.”

Whether the sports ability to draw attention is due to icons of the past like Billie Jean King or phenoms of the present like Serena and Venus, or the Open’s decision to hold a subsequent match between Nadal and Fish immediately after the Williams’ show, we’ll never know.

It should also be noted that another possible reason W.T.A. (Women’s Tennis Association) is able to draw so much attention is due to their innovative marketing skills and strategy. For instance, WTA just announced a new revenue sharing plan for players and a revamped ranking system to emphasize the important tournaments. Plus, the W.T.A. officially approved on-court coaching for next year – they’ll be wearing microphones to bring fans “closer to the game”.

But having bloggers from The New York Times following every serve, volley and replay of the U.S. Open, discussing women’s competition regularly and fairly, is truly an accomplishment for us in general. I hope other sports can soon follow in their footsteps.

To follow the action of the tournament, check out the U.S. Open site.

Exclusive Interview – Jane Schonberger from Pretty Tough

I recently had the unique opportunity to interview a pioneer who has dedicated her career to bringing a voice to women’s sports, Jane Schonberger. Jane is the founder and “Chief Trailblazer” for Pretty Tough, a #1 site for female athletes and fans of women’s sports.

Geared toward young girls and their growing desire to play sports, Jane established the Pretty Tough (PT) brand to demonstrate that a woman’s femininity and desire to play hard can be strong and can co-exit. Not only does PT do an excellent job of conveying this message to an audience who needs to hear it the most, but the site also has some of the best comprehensive, up-to-date coverage of women’s sports available.

I am a strong supporter of this site and this company, and I wish Jane the best of luck in her future endeavors. (You might see me guest blogging for PT in the future).

Check out the below interview. I hope you enjoy her words as much as I have. Thank you, Jane, for your inspiration and taking the time to speak with me.

(MH) Tell me a little bit about yourself, your background and your role at Pretty Tough.

(JS) After a successful career as content developer and entertainment/brand marketing executive, I wanted to focus my attention on something I really cared about. I have two teenage daughters – both athletes – who are my role models.  I wanted to create a brand that spoke to them – and other girls of their generation – demonstrating that a woman’s femininity and desire to play hard and be strong can co-exist.

I teamed up with friends and colleagues that I’d worked with at Disney, Fox and other studios to develop and market the brand. I serve as the Chief Trailblazer but I have help from a talented group of writers, designers, consumer product gurus, licensing professionals, athletes and coaches.

(MH) Have you ever played sports? If so, which sports and how have they had an impact upon your current career and involvement with Pretty Tough?

(JS) As a kid I mostly played sports on a recreational level. I played tennis and swam competitively for a couple years but wasn’t a super serious athlete. The impact on my adult life comes primarily from lessons learned about goal-setting, perseverance and mental toughness.

Today I still play tennis and swim – I also love to hike and bike – and I play basketball on a Moms League at our local park.

I’m also an avid spectator – one of my daughters is an elite level soccer player, the other is a fencer – and I love going to youth sports competitions as well as college and professional sports events.

(MH) Tell me a little bit about the background of Pretty Tough (the book) and how the Web site and sports blog evolved from there. Does Liz Tigelaar have any continued impact on the site?

(JS) One of our early goals when we established Pretty Tough was to publish a series of books that featured young female athletes. We wanted stories about pushing limits and busting stereotypes – e.g. the popular jock can just as easily be a girl as a guy.

Razorbill, a division of Penguin Young Readers, shared our vision and bought the series. Pretty Tough was the first book. Playing with the Boys was the second in the series and we’re working on the third and fourth books now.

Pretty Tough novels illustrate the life of female athletes in a way that’s never been done before. We wanted to show the grittiness and sweat that athletes must endure to be the best they can be. The books also delve into the lives of the athletes—their friendships and romances—stuff that appeals to girl readers.

We created the Pretty Tough book series because we love to read, and as teens, we could never find good books with a female athletic main character. We hope readers can identify with our characters and see how they deal with a lot of the same issues teens face today.

Author/screenwriter Liz Tigelaar was brought on board because she supports girls in their quest to be both strong and tough athletes without losing their sense of girlie-ness and femininity.  She loved the idea of writing books about teenagers for teenagers that sends a positive message and she’s done a terrific job capturing the voice of our characters.

(MH) I noticed there is a PT Team. I’m curious, how did this group of people come together? How did you find so many voices to represent so many different sports?

(JS) We developed a sponsorship/ambassador program last year to recognize girls in diverse sports. We have an application process and girls on our team benefit on a variety of levels.  PT Team members get exposure on our site and via our marketing campaigns; they receive a free cap and shirt, stickers, and other promotional material. They also earn discounts on products purchased through our online store and commissions on sales generated by their efforts.

(MH) In my opinion, Pretty Tough covers sports better than many other resources out there. Who is in charge of updating and keeping track of all the latest female sports news? How do they do it?

(JS) Given our limited staff, the task of keeping the site up-to-date is my responsibility. We work with a talented group of girls and women who contribute material specific to their sport and occasionally assign articles we think will be of general interest.

We’re always looking for new writers and experts and want to provide a forum for all female athletes so hit us up if you think you have something to contribute.

(MH) I noticed there is a “Life & Style” section to the site. What is the purpose of this section, and do you think that section is important in order to attain viewers?

(JS) At our heart, we are a lifestyle brand and I think it’s important for girls to understand how sports and leading active lives are core to a healthy lifestyle. By profiling certain personalities and depicting popular culture, we are essentially connecting the dots and demonstrating how sports and sports themes impact our lives positively on a daily basis.

(MH) How does Pretty Tough profit from the site?

(JS) The site was originally established to develop brand awareness for Pretty Tough and serve as an online shopping destination for Pretty Tough products. It has since evolved into a marketing/advertising vehicle for complementary companies as well.

(MH) I was once told by a female sports blogger that a main reason women’s sports publications such as Sports Illustrated for Women have fizzled out over the years is because they can’t compete with the fashion and consumer magazines and publications, and there is limited interest in the sports news alone. What do you think about this?

(JS) I think that print publications in general are finding it difficult to compete with the internet and other content delivery options. Women’s sports magazines just happened to be at the forefront of pubs experiencing financial difficulties. The current trend is in niche content and given the targeted demographic, I think marketers will find women’s sports sites a more cost-effective way to reach their audience.

(MH) I’ve written about this a few times on my blog, but something that really is annoying to me is that male sports bloggers often only cover female sports when the participant is “hot” or attractive. Have you seen this or come across this? What are your thoughts on male sports bloggers?

(JS) Objectifying female athletes is a favorite pastime of many male bloggers. It’s obvious that “hot” or attractive personalities are going to garner more media attention (whether it’s David Beckham or Amanda Beard) but bloggers only interested in T&A are abhorrent. I love to see female athletes in the spotlight but it’s important to recognize their athletic talents and achievements as well as their physical attributes.

(MH) If you look back to the WNBA fight that happened a few months ago, why do you think that was so successful in grabbing so much attention?

(JS) Although it might not have been the kind of attention the WNBA wanted, the mini-brawl did shine the spotlight on the players momentarily. Female athletes are just as competitive as men and when pushed to the edge they are obviously capable of exhibiting the same lack of control.  The bigger question should be: Now that the women have shown they can fight like the NBA players – can they get paid the same as the guys too?:-)

(MH) Since I started covering the Olympics this year, my site traffic jumped. There seems to be a strong interest during the Olympics which fizzles out over the year. Have you seen this as well? What are your thoughts about the Olympics and its ability to generate an interest in female sports?

(JS) With all of the media hype and money spent on the Olympics, it’s no surprise that interest in all sports was heightened during the event. Athletes such as Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson, Allyson Felix, Sanya Richardson, Dara Torres, Kerri Walsh and Misty Misty May-Treanor received well deserved attention. Equally important was a focus on athletes like fencer Mariel Zagunis, pole vaulter Jenn Stuczynski and martial artist Diana Lopez. Hopefully interest in them and other female athletes will continue.

(MH) What do you think about women’s softball being eliminated for the London games? Do you think there’s a chance to bring it back?

(JS) Softball’s elimination from the 2012 Games sucks and since the basis of the IOC’s decision was nebulous at best, I think there’s a good chance they’ll reconsider for the 2016 Games.

(MH) It seems there is a large disconnect between the millions of girls and women (through college) who compete in sports on a daily basis and the few of us who cover and follow women’s sports as adults (after college). What do you think about this? Do you think there is a market out there for adult females who want to learn about and follow women’s sports?

(JS) I’m sure there is a market for adult females who want to follow women’s sports – albeit a small one compared to the male market. At PrettyTough.com we try to focus not only on the sports but also on the lifestyle aspects. Our audience is one that lives a “sports-inspired life” and is also interested in the health, beauty, and entertainment aspects of athletics.

(MH) What do you think is essential in capturing this market? What is holding it back from taking off right now? Why aren’t advertisers interested and investing (i.e., Sports Illustrated for Women got dropped a few years back)?

(JS) As mentioned before, niche content and a targeted demographic provide marketers with great opportunities. The cost of producing and distributing a magazine is significant but there are a number of alternative methods for delivering content that provide marketers and advertisers with cost-effective solutions. Companies seriously looking at the bottom line recognize that women involved in sports and living a healthy lifestyle are a valuable demographic with enormous spending power and they should be finding efficient ways to reach them.

(MH) What do you think the future of women’s sports will be? Do you think we’ll generate more attention, or do you think it has leveled off?

(JS) I believe this is just the tip of the iceberg. Just as college sports has exploded in the past 20 years, women’s sports will be the next huge growth area. College basketball games used to be played in empty arenas  – the first nationally televised game wasn’t until 1968 (UCLA vs. Univ. of Houston). Today there are entire cable networks devoted to college sports and they’re big business for all involved. Women’s sports will follow a similar trajectory.

— I’d like to thank Jane Schonberger again for taking the time to speak to me. Her words and mission at Pretty Tough are critical in our ongoing fight to bring a voice to women’s sports online.

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