My First WNBA Game

I was able to go to my very first WNBA game and I'm wondering why it's taken me so long to actually go. What got me to go to this particular game was I've recently wrote an article that included Sheryl Swoopes. The more I researched her the more impressed I became. Swoopes has played for the Houston Comets for as long as there has been a WNBA (about 11 years now).

Her past has included winning three Olympic Gold Medals and is a three-time WNBA MVP. She is frequently referred to as the "female Michael Jordon" and is the first woman basketball player to have a Nike shoe named after her. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

I was so excited to watch her play at Arco Arena against the Monarchs. Well on Thursday I found out she was out due to an injury. I almost didn't go to the game, but went anyway and I'm so glad I did. It was such a blast.

First off it was very cool to go to a sporting event where there were more women attending than men. It was also really neat to see young girls at a sporting event really getting into the game and cheering their team on (which happened to be the Monarchs).

It really dawned on me while I was at this game last night that our daughters have very few women athletes to look up to and admire. The Olympics come around every few years which gives girls the opportunity to find some new heroes. I remember Mary Lou Retton in the 84 Olympics. I was so impressed with her.

And why did Mary Lou Retton decide to become a gymnast? Well she was inspired by watching Nadia Comăneci on television. If you don't remember much about Nadia she was a Romanian gymnast, winner of five Olympic gold medals, and the first to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic.

The WNBA struggled in the beginning with low turn outs and not a lot of support, which is so sad. I'll be honest, I'm not a huge basketball fan myself, but after going to this game last night I've had a change of heart. First off the game was a blast to watch, and second I'm bringing my girls next time so they have an opportunity to see some women athletes in action. I think the more our daughters get the opportunity to see female athletes the better.

If there's a WNBA team in your town -- go see a game. Take your daughters, granddaughters, nieces, mothers, aunts and whoever else will come. You won't be disappointed and it will give our young ladies the chance too see that there are some great opportunities out there for them that they may never have realized before. Who knows what dreams that might dream.