She Broke Barriers: Paying Tribute to the Women Who Came Before Us

March 8 is International Women’s Day and it’s time to celebrate all women! As an Adidas blogger, I love sharing the She Breaks Barriers campaign which honors women who strive to break barriers in sports and encourages girls to play sports. I want to pay tribute to the women who came before us, who helped clear the way for all women to live their lives and play their sports with fewer barriers. So today, She Broke Barriers.

Thanks to Adidas.for sponsoring this post.

While most of you know that I’m a personal trainer, you may not know that I work at a country club fitness center where most of the members are, well, a little older. I myself work with men and women who range in age from 50 to 90! While I’m proud that I’m teaching them how to stay strong and healthy as they age, there are many things that I’ve learned from them over the years. 

To celebrate #InternationalWomensDay meet four women I train, all of whom helped break barriers. They were before their time and paved the way for women who came after. #ad #adidaswomen @adidaswomen #fitness Click To Tweet

She Broke Barriers. Paying Tribute to the Women Who Came Before Us

I recently spoke to four women clients (including that 90 year old) and we discussed what life was like growing up during their time as young women. It was very interesting and I found that each and every one broke barriers in her own way. 

Meet Alice

Alice is the 90-year-old I’ve been talking about (though you’d never guess it by looking at her or talking to her). Alice spent her early years playing sports. Now that was not a usual thing for women in the 1940s, but fortunately, she had parents who were open-minded enough to let her play. She was an excellent tennis player (and continued to play until just a few years ago) but she also loved basketball, softball, and basically any sport that involved throwing a ball!

As a side note, one of the things Alice loves to do during her workout is to throw the ball at the rebounder! She’s getting very good at catching it!

Alice always loved politics! Her father was a circuit court judge and she admired him greatly. She studied Political Science in college and still has an active interest in what is going on in Washington. She even raised a son who became a US Congressman!

Meet Barbi

Barbie is a few years younger than Alice but she also comes from a generation that expected women to be seen but not heard, and to aspire for a family, not a career. Barbi actually started along the expected route by majoring in Home Economics in college. She laughs now that she’s pretty sure that it doesn’t exist as a study option anymore!

She broke barriers when, after college, she chose to go to work with a convenience food company and worked her way up to a position in the labs there. She tells me she always loved science! And she still loves cooking and sewing too.

Barbie was always active in sports, including golf and tennis, until recently when she hurt her knee. She’s still contemplating whether to have surgery, knowing the months of rehab that will entail. In the meantime, we’re getting her stronger and working towards allowing her to throw her walker to the curb!

Meet Nancy

Nancy’s road to being my training client was a lot more traditional. She says that, with conservative parents and a Catholic upbringing, she was expected to fall in line with the expectations for women back then. She did start college, but, after meeting her future husband, soon quit to become a wife and mother. Nancy raised five children and is a proud grandma to multiple grandchildren.

She broke barriers when, back in the 60s when her kids started school, she made the decision to go back to school to get her degree. That was a huge accomplishment when women were supposed to stay home and take care of the household, even when the children were at school.

Nancy was very active, playing tennis and golf, until recently. Due to some balance issues (which we are working on), she gave up tennis, but still occasionally plays with the “9 holers” to keep her active.

Meet Carol

Carol is the youngest member of this foursome.  She’s about my age, so I know well the era in which she grew up. Many things were starting to open up for women, but we still had a long way to go.

Originally, when Carol went to college, she was interested in being a teacher. She was going for her Masters in Education. When she realized how little teachers, which even in the 80s was considered by most to be a “woman’s career” were paid, she gave up that goal and instead went work in the optical industry, where she learned to make eyeglasses.

She broke barriers by, when she hit the glass ceiling in her career, and discovered also that she was being paid less because “she was a girl,” she went back to school, studied interior design, and started her own business as an Interior Designer.

Unlike the other three women, Carol was a latecomer to sports. While always active, she started playing golf when she moved to the desert area and continues to play and enjoy it. We work on fitness that will help improve her golf, as well as general health and strength.

 

I hope these stories of women who broke barriers will remind you of how much we owe the women that came before us. Without them, women wouldn’t have the right to vote, run a marathon, or have a successful and well-paid career if they choose.

 

She Breaks Barriers. Adidas’ Campaign to Keep Girls in Sports

Adidas believes that we have the power to change lives through sport, but there are too many obstacles standing between girls and sports. So Adidas is out to level the playing field.

Programs like X Adidas, which has identified six barriers to girls in sports, working with the NYC Mayor’s Fund to identify a youth sports program that was created to break barriers to sports for girls, and a partnership with Girls on the Run (which I wrote about last year), Adidas is taking steps to achieve that goal.

As a coach (and former high school cross country coach), I was especially excited about the Digital Curriculum for Coaches that Adidas has launched in partnership with Up2Us Sports, a non-profit organization leading the country’s first national in-service program for coaches. and ATTN:, the media company dedicated to entertainment that informs. The goal is to inspire and empower the next generation of coaches, mentors, and role models for girls in sports. Here is the actual curriculum!

Happy International Women’s Day to my female readers! I’d love to know who inspires you!

 

 

 

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