Today we’re merging two of our classic features, GladiatHer® Wives and GladiatHer® Crush Wednesday, to introduce you to one outstanding woman. She’s a dedicated wife and mother, an entrepreneur and philanthropist and can make a party turn 0 to 100, real quick. To top that all off, she’s a proud graduate of the Real HU. Meet New Jersey’s own, Samantha Romantini Bethea aka DJ Spinvixen…
It’s not everyday that you meet women who change your life. I’m blessed to have had the opportunity to do just that. Sydney Satchell has gone from being a Division-I athlete to an amputee and an inspiration for so many in a relatively short amount of time. She has found the strength, courage and wisdom to turn her adversity into life lessons for so many. I’m honored to share this GladiatHer® Grads story with you. Continue reading
If you read this blog with any sort of regularity, and by now you definitely should be, you know that I played sports for practically my entire childhood and until I graduated from college. I played tennis through college, ran track until I got to college and played soccer up until I got to high school. Last week, Megan Rapinoe, women from the Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury and other women in sports took knees during the National Anthem in protest of racial injustices in the United States. Watching these women and reading the comments sections (note to reader: never read the comments section) under articles about these women took me back to the days where my athletic prowess was on fleek. What dawned on me was that I don’t ever remember having the National Anthem played or flag raised at any of my events. Now maybe my 32-year-old mind is leaving out an occasional occurrence, but I can say with absolute certainty that it was nowhere near routine for the National Anthem to be played or flag to be acknowledged at the tennis matches, track meets or soccer games that I played in from my childhood to early adulthood. But the way Americans have reacted to a handful of athletes kneeling for the Anthem suggests that reverence for Old Glory before sporting events is a time-honored, almost mandatory tradition. So how was I robbed of such a large part of American culture for so long?
Sigh. Hope Solo. Instead of talking about what a great goalie and representative of women’s sports she is, we’ve spent the majority of August talking about what a poor sport she is. She’s seriously been a public relations nightmare and I can only imagine that her management team is in full-on crisis management mode right now. Lately, she’s let her lack of sportsmanship, thoughtfulness and maturity be on display for the world to see. And watching it all play out from the comfort of my home has been a bit like driving past a bad car wreck…You don’t want to see it, but you just can’t look away. While taking in her epic meltdown, I’ve frequently put myself, a non-PR expert, in her PR team’s shoes. What would I tell Hope? How would I have tried to change things? Here’s some of what I’ve come up with:
The 1996 Olympics in Atlanta were huge for Team USA’s women. That’s why we’re getting another Olympic Flashback from that year, and it’s courtesy of the US Women’s National Soccer Team. Continue reading
Yesterday the sports world was set abuzz when it was announced that members of the US Women’s National Team (USWNT) filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against the US Soccer Federation (USSF). Based in the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), the complaint states that the USSF has discriminated against the USWNT by paying its athletes less than it pays the athletes for the US Men’s National Team (USMNT) despite the USWNT earning considerable more in revenue and advancing/winning more in major tournaments. In fact, the USWNT earned around $20 million more last year than the men’s team, but was paid about four times less. Take a look at the data: Continue reading
With all the talk about the movie Concussion, CTE, the NFL and head trauma, I thought it would be fitting for our first Flashback Friday to be to GladiatHer.com’s first ever post, Changing as it Grows: Improving Girls’ Soccer. Many are still unaware that after football, girls’ soccer reports the highest number of concussions in youth sports, so it’s the perfect to bring awareness to the issue and help improve the lives of girls who love soccer. As usual, read, enjoy, comment and share… Continue reading
