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Integrity, Courage, Commitment, Leadership and Teamwork
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We, as a nation, pride ourselves in our spirit of fearless idealism, our breadth of vision, and our protected opportunity to pursue and achieve our individual dreams. Our country was founded on the values of Integrity, Courage, Commitment, Leadership and Teamwork – all principles that guide our daily decisions and encourage each of us to embrace a higher standard.
Our nation’s service men and women live by these core values – the bedrock of good character. They believe these values are necessary to build a foundation of trust and guidance upon which strength is based and success is achieved. It is in these values that our gymnasts inspire us with a sense of great responsibility to have uncompromising personal integrity that is beyond reproach; to have the courage to stand up for what is right in the face of stress and peer pressure, regardless of consequences; to harness the spirit of determination and dedication to serve our team, our community and our country; and to encourage cooperation and communication in an open, empathic and solution-oriented manner.
Through gymnastics, young women are empowered with the essential qualities of pride, competence and dynamic leadership that will attract and develop the nation’s finest professionals, committed to multidimensional services and sincere community partnerships.
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Changing Perceptions
Apple Corp.
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In the middle of the 1984 Super Bowl, Apple Computer aired one of the most famous commercials of all time*. The supplicants of this “brave new world” were seen chanting in uniform obedience, as Big Brother himself stared down from a giant screen.
Quietly, a runner approached from the distance in open defiance, to shatter the screen with a hurled sledge-hammer.
Commentators lauded the ad’s production values and creativity, but missed perhaps its most pertinent message: the runner bold enough to shatter convention was a young woman.
Twenty years later, women have made remarkable headway in shaping a future where girls and young women can defy convention and stereotypes to chart their own destiny. But the struggle has been daunting, and many exceptional athletes and role models face defeat.
* (The 1984 Apple commercial is frequently voted top in surveys of influential marketing campaigns. For example, Advertising Age named it the 1980s "Commercial of the Decade", and in 1999 the U.S. TV Guide selected it as number one in their list of "50 Greatest Commercials of All Time". It’s also popularly credited with starting the trend of yearly "event" Super Bowl commercials.)
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One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
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The Title IX educational amendments of 1972 stipulated that no federally funded education program in the U.S. could discriminate on the basis of sex. It was a landmark law that laid the groundwork for equal educational opportunity for girls and young women on all fronts, including athletics. But in 1984, a federal court ruled that Title IX didn’t apply to athletics, except for athletic scholarships.
Federally funded secondary and post-secondary schools didn’t have to provide equal opportunity for girls to pursue athletics, and the outlook for women’s sports again turned bleak.
It would be four years before that ruling was overturned, and Title IX would resume its catalytic impact on athletic opportunity for girls. But that lack of opportunity wasn’t the only factor standing in the way of many girls’ ability to embrace sports and fitness as a part of their daily lives.
Even bigger impediments were self-perception, an uncertainty about the quality of their own movement and strength, and the age-old stereotypes that girls were better off as cheerleaders for boys’ athletic glories than as competitors.
(Information from Girls, Inc. 2004 Annual Report.)
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Physical, Psychological
and Social Benefits
Beaver/Examiner
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Decades of research confirms that sport and physical activity provide conditions that help to assure girls’ health and well-being. Some findings identified include:
- Breast Cancer Risk: One to three hours of exercise a week over a woman’s reproductive lifetime may bring a 20-30 percent reduction in the risk of breast cancer, and four or more hours of exercise a week can reduce the risk almost 60 percent. (Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 1994)
- Smoking: Physical activity appears to decrease the initiation of high-risk health behavior in adolescents girls. According to a 1995 survey of boys and girls ages 12-16, female adolescents high in leisure time physical activity are significantly less likely to initiate cigarette smoking than those in moderate and low leisure time activity groups. (Aaron, et al, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 1996; 27, 1639-1645)
- Illicit Drug Use: Two nationwide studies found that female school or community athletes were significantly less likely to use marijuana, cocaine or most other illicit drugs. (Miller et al, 2000; Pate et al, 2000)
- Sexual Risk: Teenage female athletes are less than half as likely to get pregnant as female non-athletes (5 percent and 11 percent, respectively), are more likely to report that they had never had sexual intercourse than female non-athletes (54 percent and 41 percent, respectively), and are more likely to experience their first sexual intercourse later than female non-athletes. (The Women's Sports Foundation Report: Sport and Teen Pregnancy, May 1998)
- Depression: Women who are active in sports and recreational activities as girls feel greater confidence, self-esteem and pride in their physical and social selves than those who were sedentary as kids. (Miller Lite Report, 1985; Melpomene Institute, 1995)
- Educational Gains: Women student-athletes graduate at a significantly higher rate (69 percent) than women students in general (59 percent). (2001 Division I NCAA Study on Graduation Rates, 2001)
(Statistics from The Women’s Sports Foundation Report: Her Life Depends On It: Sport, Physical Activity and the Health and Well-Being of American Girls, published by the Women’s Sports Foundation.)
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Women in the Workplace
M.J. Lawler
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Women who don’t know the written and unwritten rules of sport are at a disadvantage in understanding business models of organizations based on sport.
- Teams are chosen based on people’s strengths and competencies rather than who is liked or disliked.
- Successful players are skilled in practicing the illusion of confidence.
- Errors are expected of people who are trying to do new things. The most important thing is never make the same mistake twice.
- Loyalty to your teammates is very important.
- “I will” equals “I can”.
- In a hierarchical organization, your boss (the head coach) gives the orders and the employees (players) follow the head coach’s instructions.
- Winning and losing has nothing to do with your worth as a person.
- Pressure, deadlines and competition are fun.
- When you are too tired to take one more step, you know you can.
- Perfection is sequential attention to detail.
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Young Women Need Encouragement
and Aspirational Role Models
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Many people think that girls are not as interested in sport as boys. Women’s Sports Foundation research shows that boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 9 are equally interested in sports participation. However, by the age of 14, girls drop out of sport at a rate that is six times greater than boys. Girls and women simply do not receive the same positive reinforcement about their sports participation.
However, the trend is clear: the increased participation and success of female athletes at the Olympic Games, increased recognition and coverage of women’s college sports, increased opportunities for young women to train and compete at elite-level gyms, and an increase in corporate partnerships with internationally recognized coaches will allow state, regional, national and world champions to change the face of sports for our young women.
(Benefits – Why Sports Participation for Girls and Women: The Foundation Position. Women’s Sports Foundation, Aug. 14, 2000.)
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