American tennis player Serena Williams kisses her trophy after winning a match against Martina Hingis of Switzerland during the U.S. Open at the USTA National Tennis Courts in Flushing Meadows, New York. Williams defeated Hingis 6-3, 7-6, 7-4 in September 1999. (Jamie Squire, Allsport/Getty Images)
Sports are so powerful -- they transcend just the court, the mat or the field: They have the power to change lives.
Sports teach teamwork, resilience, they help instill a competitive spirit, and can even help young people gain confidence.
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It’s not just a man’s world when it comes to the games we hold so dear.
Female athletes have existed for about as long as sports themselves -- but they didn’t always get the attention they deserved. Even these days, there’s more equality than ever, but we often hear more about men’s competitions than women’s. Take the NCAA tournament, for example, or the WNBA vs. the NBA.
In the spirit of Women’s History Month, let’s use the space below to celebrate women in sports; their remarkable achievements and the unmatched potential of women and girls in athletics.
In no way is this a comprehensive list, but it’s a small sampling of the female pioneers who came before us.
In no particular order ...
July 1964: American tennis player Billie Jean Moffitt (later King) is shown in action during a semifinal in the women's singles championship at Wimbledon. (Dennis Oulds/Central Press/Getty Images)Renee Powell of the U.S. drives off the tee at a golf tournament in May 1983 at the Woburn Golf and Country Club near Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. Powell was only the second African-American woman ever to play on the LPGA Tour, and the first woman to compete in a British men's tournament when she played in the 1977 Surrey PGA Championship. (Allsport/Getty Images)Free mountain rock climber Carolynn Marie "Lynn" Hill clings to the rock face during a climb on June 1, 1983 in Yosemite Valley, California. (Getty Images)Boxer Jackie Tonawanda, also known as "the Female Ali," is shown in 1974 in New York City. Tonawanda was a pioneer female heavyweight boxer in the 1970s and 1980s, and was a well-known figure in the sport. (Getty Images)Victoria Roche, the first girl ever to play in the Little League World Series, is all smiles as she leaves the field in Williamsport, Pa., after playing her first game in the U.S. Canada defeated Europe 4-0, however, she got one time up at bat, even though she is on the Europe Team reserve list. (Getty Images)A portrait of American basketball player Sheryl Swoopes as she poses against a white background in New York in the 1990s. She was the first player to be signed in the WNBA, is a three-time WNBA MVP, and was named one of the league's Top 15 Players of All Time at the 2011 WNBA All-Star Game. (Getty Images)Mexico's Norma Enriqueta Basilio, the first woman in the history of the modern Olympic Games to light the Olympic flame, is seen running up the 90 steps with the Olympic Torch at the Opening Ceremony Oct. 12, 1968. (Getty Images)Billie Jean King is shown with three trophies after her victories at Wimbledon, England. She is a former American tennis star. (Getty Images)Members of the U.S. women's 400-meter relay team, the famed "Tennessee Tigerbelles," stand together after setting a world record in a winning heat of the event. Left to right are Wilma Rudolph, already a double-gold medal winner; Lucinda Williams; Barbara Jones and Martha Hudson. Their time was 44.4 seconds. This is a 1960 photo. (Getty Images)Australian swimmer Dawn Fraser is seen after splashing her way to victory in 1964 in the 100-meter freestyle event. She won for the third consecutive time, in a record time of 59.5 seconds. (Getty Images)American tennis player Althea Gibson (1927-2003) enjoys a round of golf at the reception for overseas entrants in the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships, held at the Hurlingham Club, London, on June 23, 1953. (Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)Mildred Zaharias, former Babe Didrikson, of Los Angeles, at the time was credited with hitting a golf ball farther than any other woman golfer. In this photo, she's seen on the links in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as she won her semifinal match in the Women's Western Golf Tournament. (Getty Images)A portrait of American baseball player Toni Stone, of the Negro League's Indianapolis Clowns, as she poses with a baseball in Florida, in the spring of 1953. Stone was the first woman to play professional baseball. (Getty Images)American swimmer Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim across the English Channel, is honored for her historic swim and crowned "Queen of the Waves," on Sept. 8, 1926 in New York City. (Getty Images)In this 1936 photo is Helen Stephens, who, at the time, was the nation's No. 1 all-around female athlete. She's seen at Brown University Field. She competed in the National Senior Women's Track and Field championships, which were also the final Olympic tryouts for women, and she won three events: the 100-meter sprint, the discus throw and the shot put. (Getty Images)In this September 1920 photo, taken in Antwerp, Belgium, Ethelda Bleibtrey and Aillen Riggin of the U.S. woman's swimming team are shown. Riggin was the first-ever female Olympic diving champion. (Getty Images)Joyce Wethered, Lady Heathcoat-Amory of Great Britain (1901-1997) follows her drive off the tee watched by a group of spectators during the 1925 Women's Amateur Championship golf tournament on May 22, 1925 in Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)Jackie Mitchell, the first woman to sign an organized baseball contract, had the honor of pitching some fast ones to Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig -- so fast that both stars struck out! -- when the New York Yankees visited Chattanooga, Tennessee. Although Mitchell was only 17 years old , she was a remarkable pitcher for her age and felt perfectly at home on the mound. Mitchell, a left-handed pitcher, possessed both speed and a wide curve. This photo is from the early 1900s. (Corbis via Getty Images)A close-up as American athlete Florence Griffith Joyner displays her medals from the Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, Sept. 25, 1988. She won gold in the Women's 100, 200 and 4x100-meter relay, and silver for the 200 meters. (Allsport via Getty Images)Julie Krone, the only woman to ever win the Triple Crown, rides atop her horse at the Belmont Racetrack. (Corbis via Getty Images)Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia celebrates after winning the women's 10,000-meter run at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. She became the first Ethiopian woman and the first Black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal. (ALLSPORT via Getty Images)Laila Ali celebrates after the fight against April Fowler at Turning Stone Casino in Verona, New York. Ali defeated Fowler by a knockout in the first round on Oct. 8, 1999. (Allsport/Getty Images)Debi Thomas from Team USA is shown at the end of her performance in the women's long program of the 1988 Winter Olympics. She is the 1986 World champion, the 1988 Olympic bronze medalist, and a two-time U.S. national champion. (TempSport/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)Trischa Zorn of Team USA is seen in action -- she went on to win a silver medal in the women's 100-meter breaststroke SB12 Final at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games in Australia. (Allsport/Getty Images)In September 2000, Tara Nott of Team USA is seen lifting the bar in the Women's Weightlifting competition at the Sydney Olympic Games. Nott is the only athlete to have trained for three different sports at the United States Olympic Training Center. (Allsport/Getty Images)Annika Sorenstam of Sweden kisses the trophy after winning the 1996 U.S. Women's Open at the Pine Needles Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina. (Allsport/Getty Images)
