Girls in sports: What it takes is subject of YHS forum

The lifelong benefits of playing sports were explored at a forum for girls held at Yelm High School (YHS) on Wednesday, Oct. 14.
Moderated by YHS Career and Technical Education (CTE) Director Teri Melone in the school’s performing art center, the forum featured authors Clelia Castro-Malaspina and Heidi Smith, along with sports scientist Elle Hughes.

The ladies answered a series of questions put to them by Melone, who said, before the event, they sent invitations to every school and sports organization in Thurston County.

Growing up, Castro-Malaspina loved sports, but her sports heroes were men. When she saw a match in the Women’s World Cup in 1999, the impact of seeing women excel at that level made an impact she never outgrew. Now she is a soccer mom herself and realized a few years ago the history of women’s soccer hadn’t been told.

“Girls with Goals: How Women’s Soccer Took Over the World” came about, she said, because no one had written anything like it yet for the Young Adult (YA) genre.

In “Play On,” Smith draws on years of playing and coaching soccer to tell the story of 140-years of ladies’ soccer, beginning in the 1880s. She loved sports and it gave her a sense of invincibility, she said, but there wasn’t really an outlet for it after high school or college. The idea for the book was conceived when she saw an ad during the 2015 World Cup that showed women athletes on the field, sweating in a realistic setting. It was an honest look at women in sports and inspired her.

Unlike her panel partners, Hughes played tennis, not soccer, but she was a gym fanatic. She enjoyed helping other players be strong, regardless of the sport they played.

As the sports scientist for the Portland Thorns, her primary goal is always to get the players in the shape they need to be so they can do what they want to do, on the field and off. That means each athlete is subject to a personalized training program.

“There is no one size fits all,” Hughes said.

The audience was filled with mostly young, female athletes who were eager to ask questions about writing books, training, recovery, and everything in between.

Hughes gave some advice for those looking to get stronger and better.

“Eat lots and lift heavy,” she said. “Make the weight room your best friend.”

Sleep and nutrition are the best support you can give your body. Balancing school and sports, Hughes added, is a matter of good time management. In light of the disparity between boys and girls sports in schools and men’s and women’s professional sports, there is still a gap in pay and opportunities.

“Use the anger to fuel the fire (on the field),” she said.

To prevent injuries, it is important to be well rounded, according to Hughes.

“Play as many sports as possible,” she said. “Don’t specialize too early. It’s the fundamental movements that are important. Keep it fun.”
Your soccer experience applies to life outside sports, Castro-Malaspina, told the girls.

“There are many ways to tell your story,” Castro-Malaspina said. “Knowing your voice is important.”

There is a movement to make youth soccer more affordable and accessible to more kids, Smith said. The best time in sports for women is now, but there is still a lot of work to do, she added.

After the forum, some of the girls said they had been urged to attend by their coach. All were glad they did. Many of them gathered around Hughes to ask more questions. They had learned during the forum she was leaving the Thorns to join Manchester FC in the United Kingdom. For some, that is the real “big time.”

“It was empowering,” Elyn Torwan said, after she posed for a photo with some of her teammates.

“It was good to have women speak on the subject of sports,” Addison Fish added. “It was nice they highlighted the differences between men and women’s sports and encouraged us to keep going.”