It’s about time female athletes get some well-deserved media attention

It’s nice to start the day with a smile and that’s what happened when I read about a basketball team of sixth-grade girls that won a national championship. Just a week later I smiled again as I read about a soccer team of sixth-grade girls winning the U.S. Cup championship for their age division.

Yes, I was thrilled the teams representing our city and state had won, but it really lifted my spirits to see them get publicity, thanks to Wichita Eagle sports writer Taylor Eldridge.

You see, years ago, many years ago, I was the assistant to Natasha Fife, director of Women’s Athletics at Wichita State. My job was to raise scholarship money and do public relations work.

My first challenge was letting the public know there were female athletes at WSU. This was in 1976. And yes, there were some very talented female students competing but there was never a mention of them in newspapers or on television. No wonder people didn’t know they were out there practicing and competing.

I thought it might be fun to talk to one of those young soccer players who won the U.S. Cup so I chatted with Skylar Johnson, daughter of Michelle Brenwald-Johnson and Robin Johnson.

The FC Wichita team, made up of 12-year-olds from the Wichita metropolitan area, traveled to Blaine, Minn. Skylar said it was a great experience, but I really loved what she said next. “It was really fun. My team went into the games with the mentality of ‘yeah, we want to win, but we wanted to have a great time too.’” she said.

Fun! That’s what sports is supposed to be.

She added, “I feel like we have such a tight bond now it’s like a second family. I’m very glad we get to compete. A little while ago girls didn’t have that much freedom to play against other girls.”

Her mom said the parents didn’t know how much more they could take when the championship game was so close. “But seeing the picture and story in the Wichita Eagle was pretty sweet. It was all worth it,” she said.

Also reported by Taylor Eldridge, the sixth-graders on the Kansas Elite Heat 2028, a basketball team made up of mostly Wichita natives, are sporting new jewelry. They’re showing off the championship rings they won in their division at the NTBA National Championship in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, last month.

This was a team that gelled quickly over just a few months with some practices and three tournaments. Then they took the big tournament by storm. Their coach, Dee Garland, had not coached girls before last September. He also was happy to see the team get some media coverage.

“I think the world is taking notice of female athletes and it’s about time. So many female professional athletes go to another country to compete because they get recognition there,” he said.

Alex Dinsmore, daughter of Jodie and Phil Dinsmore, is a newer member of the team. She says she was happy to see the team get some recognition and quickly pointed out, “We practice just as hard as the boys.”

Alex, who plans to compete in basketball until after college, says that the sport has helped build her confidence.

Seems the entire team felt confident. I asked Alex if she was surprised they won. “No. We had the confidence,” she said without hesitation. Alex and her mom agreed if they were going to travel that far they went there to win.

But that’s not all. “At the tournament we got to all stay together and we bonded and made friends. Friendship is good for a team,” Alex said.

Young girls used to only get to compete in intramurals. That’s different now and their many successes show the improvement. But there’s still work to be done.

Jazimen Gordon, who played basketball for Wichita State from 2009 to 2013, then was a graduate assistant from 2013 to 2015, says media coverage increased when the women’s team won the Missouri Valley Championship in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Jazimen says basketball allowed her to get her B.A. and M.A. degrees, travel to places she’d probably never get to go otherwise and start a successful career.

She still has all the newspaper clippings and says every time the women Shockers got “some ink” she felt motivated, honored and happy because someone was noticing and hearing about all the hard work the team was putting in.

Whether you’re a sixt- grader or college age, media coverage can make a difference. More females at every age level are competing more and finally getting more media coverage. Let’s hope it continues to go in that direction.