(This is a guest post by Lesley Batson)
As toddlers, A few of us were dressed up in cheerleader outfits of our dad’s favorite team. As we got a few years older, we wore the youth-sized jerseys which weren’t so bad when we were young girls. As we grew into young women however, we just had to make the youth-sized jerseys or boxy men’s jerseys do (if we bothered to wear a jersey at all) because we really didn’t have much of a choice.
The major leagues seemed to finally take notice only a few short years ago when a few teams introduced pink jerseys but I – and not so surprisingly – many other women do NOT like the color pink so I continued to wear my ill fitting youth XL jersey until FINALLY – the major leagues made available, licensed jerseys in our favorite team’s colors with a woman’s fit.
It might be that more women are working at the offices of some of these major league teams now and they helped the old brass notice the increasing numbers of women filling up the stadiums and arenas. I’m not quite sure what it was that caused the leagues to finally have this epiphany that women are a viable, strong and growing segment of their fan base but I am very happy to be recognized.
We are seeing and hearing from more female sports reporters too which is also refreshing. Female sports fans can bring a unique perspective to sports commentary. We are all over the social networks with our opinions about men and women sports teams, college and pro sports, American and International leagues and athletes, on-field and off-field exploits, front office and back office decisions, and the list of dimensions goes on and on.
Fanatchicks.com is a new website featuring all-female commentary. Guys are welcome to comment and join in the Chick Chat forums but original written, audio, and video content is contributed by women. You don’t have to know how to spew a bunch of stats, but if you have a passion for one or more sports, are opinionated and know what you’re talking about, we’re’re looking for a few good female sports bloggers.
What are your thoughts on the growing segment of female fans in sports? How do you feel about pink jerseys? I’d love to hear your thoughts below!
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Lesley started playing in competitive sports at age 9. She competed in a variety of sports growing up, earned a track scholarship, an MBA, worked hard and had a successful career in management consulting before launching her latest project, Fanatchicks.com. You can follow Fanatchicks on Facebook and Twitter. Lesley’s personal twitter is @ChiefChickLes.
Image by roshshillars
Not a fan of pink jerseys. I personally perfer my size in team colors. As a result of Title IX, more girls are playing sports and becoming fans. Many women love sports more, or at least as much, as their spouses. Sports teams should recognize the loyalty women have and provide special events to attract and retain more women fans.
@glmyers i personally haven’t seen a man OR woman ‘like’ the pink jerseys! Any true hockey fan knows you got to ‘wear your team’s colors’, its got nothing to do with style and everything to do with team pride!
I’m looking forward to checking out this site. I’m a big SF Giants fan, and I’m not just into Brian Wilson and Buster Posey. I played softball for most of my life and I love the strategy and skill behind the sport. Many guys are surprised when I pull out my baseball knowledge. I’m ready to go chat with some women the feel the same way!
It’s not just the pink jerseys that has constantly bothered me as the only option for women (until, as you mentioned, they introduced the other sportswear [Thank you Alyssa Milano])–but as a teen/young adult the only t-shirts that you could find out there supporting/declaring love for one’s sport was either pink/girly colored or filled with sparkles and sequines (obnoxious).
I’m glad the sports industry has finally introduced clothing that ALL females alike can–and will–wear.
I love the new customizable NFL women’s gear! I wear mine out every Sunday. My favorite moment – the look on a guy’s face when he asked me if I “actually knew anything about my team or was just from NYC” and I started rattling off more info about Broadway Joe and the rest of Gang Green than he ever wanted to know.