Ali Schulz
Editor-in-Chief
“Everyone watches women’s sports,” is a phrase born out of the movement to increase awareness about the disparities between men’s and women’s sports, which has recently been popularized by the company Togethxr.
According to the Togethxr website, it is “ a media and commerce company founded by four of the world’s greatest athletes: Alex Morgan, Chloe Kim, Simone Manuel and Sue Bird.”
All the co-founders are prominent American athletes. Morgan is an American soccer player, with one gold and one bronze medal. Kim is an American snowboarder, with two gold medals. Manuel is an American swimmer, with two silver medals. Lastly, Bird is a former American basketball player with five gold medals.
These athletes founded Togethxr because “they want to be champions for every young girl who dares to dream.”
The ultimate goal of Togethxr is to inspire a new generation of female athletes to go out and do great things and give them a place where female athletes can be heard and their voices can be elevated.
Togethxr recently launched shirts, hoodies and tote bags bearing the phrase “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports.”
This was not only to spread awareness of the record-breaking year that women have had in sports attendance and viewership, but it is also a response to the people who say women’s sports are not as popular as men’s sports.
According to St. Paul’s Girls’ School, a London School, “Part of the reason why women’s sports aren’t as popular as men’s is due to the decreased coverage.”
St. Paul’s Girls’ School added, when women’s sports are broadcasted when compared to men’s sports broadcasts, “there are fewer camera angles, fewer cuts to shot, fewer instant replays,” resulting in a less exciting seeming game.
In addition, female athletes are typically perceived as weaker and less talented than male athletes, but “Whilst it can be said that men have physiques built for sport, which can add to the reason why men’s sports appear more interesting, there is no reason why sports for women can’t be just as engaging,” St. Paul’s Girls’ School said.
Although, there has been significant progress towards making women’s sports more recognizable. According to the National Law Review, there has been “record-smashing” viewership for women’s sports, along with “increasing opportunities for team sponsorships, and greater prime-time media coverage.”
However, this problem runs deeper than the national level. Here at the high school level, there are disparities between viewership between men’s and women’s sports.
Sports like men’s soccer and basketball typically have larger crowds than sports like women’s field hockey or softball.
Senior field hockey player Mary Weimer said, “Women’s sports are forgotten a lot of times and are not given the same amount of attention they need to flourish.”
Weimer added she feels as if there is a lack of support for women’s field hockey, and she believes that if her team had more support from the administration and fans, she believes the team would be bigger and better.
To help combat these problems that Weimer sees, one can support the women’s teams: tennis, volleyball, softball, basketball, golf, field hockey, cheerleading, dance, wrestling, swim and dive, lacrosse, soccer, cross-country and track.
The schedules for these women’s teams can be found on the official Webster Groves Statesmen Sports website.
In addition, one can buy “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports,” merch on the Togethxr website or watch women’s sports in their free time. There are many different ways to get involved to help solve these disparities between men’s sports and women’s sports, and it is important to continue to bring awareness to female athletes’ accomplishments.
As Togethxr said best, “We’re here, we’re tuned in, and you can’t turn us down.”
Feature photo: Junior Amelia Kennerly laughs on the court before the women’s volleyball game against Seckman High School on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022. The game ended in a 3-2 win for the Statesmen. Photo by Izzy Poole
 |
Ali Schulz- Editor-in-ChiefThis will be Ali Schulz’s third year on ECHO Staff. She also made several contributions while taking journalism class her freshman year. She was opinion/news editor her first year on staff |
Support Our Sponsors
