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Thank you, Sylvia Pressler

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

By Laura Pappano News of Judge Sylvia Pressler’s death last week – at 75 at a family home in Sparta, NJ – drew a few paragraphs in the newspaper, but hardly attracted huge attention. And yet, as spring training gets underway and kids prepare for Little League tryouts (now a winter affair), ...

Parents, some advice: Three DIII athletes talk about youth sports (and, yeah, playing with boys)

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

By Megan Wood Documentary filmmaker Jenny Mackenzie's film Kick Like a Girl conveys the empoweringand enlightening experience when a soccer team of 8 and 9-year-old girls plays in the boys division -- quite successfully. After Mackenzie's visit to Wellesley College last week, I spoke with three student athletes about why gender ...

Are we dressing our girls out of sports?

Monday, September 28th, 2009

By Katie Culver At the playground the other day a girl struggled to climb up a curved ladder after my son. She was wearing sandals. Her feet kept getting tangled in her dress. Another day, a brother and sister at the park with their grandparents were swinging when the boy jumped down ...

Little League World Series TV: Baseball 36; Softball 3

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

By Laura Pappano The visual is stunning. Click here to see the Little League Softball World Series championship TV schedule.  You’ll find ESPN2 (the channel broadcasting women’s college hoops unless there is a men’s game that can’t fit the ESPN or network schedule) is showing two semi-final games on Tues., Aug. 18 ...

What Women’s Professional Soccer Can Learn from NASCAR: Love The Fans You’ve Got

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

By Laura Pappano Let’s get over the woe-is-us tone that shrouds women’s professional soccer. Yesterday’s NY Times story captured the uncertainty league bigwigs feel around the (admittedly) very challenging task of filling soccer stadiums, and getting enough sponsor and ad dollars to give WPS staying power – and in a recession. What’s ...

Jockey Jenna Joubert Talks About Horse Personalities, Fitness, and Fillies Winning “Boy Races”

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

By Laura Pappano Just two days before filly Rachel Alexandra made a splash by beating the boys at the Preakness Stakes, another female athlete tore up the racetrack – from in the saddle. On May 14, 24-year-old Jenna Joubert became one of the few jockeys (ever) to ride three different horses to ...

Mackenzie Brown Tells How She Got So Good, Why Girls Who Love Baseball Should Ignore Critics — and What She Was Thinking When She Threw Out the First Pitch at a Mets Game

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

On April 21, Bayone, N.J. Little Leaguer Mackenzie Brown pitched a perfect game, retiring all 18 boys who got up to bat; she was invited to throw out the first pitch a Met's game a few days later. By Mackenzie Brown I started playing baseball for the Cal Ripken League in Bayonne ...