Families, friends, and coaches watched, and play was fierce, despite the early summer sun and the temperature on the artificial surface. As the older players displayed skill and teamwork on the field, most spectators overlooked another game on the near sideline. Three children, two girls and a boy too young for the official program, played a field hockey game of their own. Periodically, they'd stop, and watch the play on the field, returning to their own game in obvious imitation of the older players.
Athletes learn by watching, listening, and practicing.
They discover how it feels to move, to compete, to perform. But women and girls, it seems, play in silence. WHEN author Mariah Burton Nelson was 12, the only book in her elementary school library about a female athlete was Babe Didrikson's autobiography. Women competing, regardless of age, deserve a chance to find meaning in their own performances and those of others. Women On Women' s Sport .