Rising Up Taking Names Magazine

PREMIERE ISSUE

MAY 2014

RISINGUP.COM

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2 Photographs By Nicole Johnson

THIS IS FOR YOU This magazine is for YOU! You are our audience, that’s right, you. Girls who like sports. And we wanted to take the time to show our appreciation toward you.

We met up with some girls and told them to wear their sports gear and come on out to a local park and take some photos for a spread in the premiere issue of Rising Up Taking Names.

So we introduce you to Kyra, Sinead, Macye, Lorelei and Greta.

Kyra and Sinead are on the same swim team together. They love the water and both really like Missy Franklin who is an Olympic Gold Medalist. I then told them about Tracy Caulkins and Janet Evans, who are both in this Sheroes Issue. Not only have they never heard of them, but they were excited to learn more and now have new role models to look up to!

Macye loves softball, right now she plays a lot of different positions, but her

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

favorite position is first base. She likes how that has to be the first base batters run to so she almost always gets to be a part of the action. Macye was very excited to learn that we have Lisa Fernandez in the Sheores Issue, who is one of the most decorated softball players ever.

Lorelei and Greta both play soccer together and also do ballet! Their favorite soccer player is Abby Wambach who you will also find in this issue.

It was great to meet these young girls and talk to them about what sports they play, who their favorite athletes are and even telling them about other athletes they haven’t heard of. If you are interested in taking part in a future photo shoot with Rising Up Taking Names please go on our website and contact us.

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RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

NICOLE JOHNSON

NICOLE@RISINGUPTAKINGNAMES.COM

4 Photograph By Getty Images

PEP TALK I’m excited to present the premier issue of Rising Up Taking Names, a magazine providing girls ages 8-12 with the inspiration and empowerment they need to continue to pursue sports as they get older.

I started this magazine simply because of the fact that I felt female athletes aren’t represented as equally as the men are. And growing up I noticed it. I played soccer all my life and basketball in middle school and high school, but my role models were Michael Jordan and Walter Payton. I idolized them. But as I got older I realized I didn’t have many or even know of many female athletes to look up to. I remember telling my mother, “why should I keep playing soccer? I don’t think I’ll get anywhere with it.” Hearing your daughter say that must be heart breaking.

Today, things are definitely looking a lot better and improvements have been made. The WNBA is still going, women

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

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represent in the Olympics more and more each time and a newly started women’s soccer league is taking shape. There’s still a large disparity, but things are slowly starting to look up.

I know I can’t change the world, but maybe I can change your mind. I was a young girl once and I know how important role models are AND how important sports are and for quite a few reasons. Self esteem being the main one. Did you know that by age 12, girls are SIX times more likely to drop out of sports than boys?

And why is this? I believe not having the correct role models plays a role in it and I hope this magazine helps in the lowering of this statistic.

So, let’s talk about this premier issue.

It’s the Sheroes Issue. The feature focuses on 11 sports with a total of 21 female athletes. It was extremely hard narrowing it down to just 21 athletes, but I wanted to

MAY 2014

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give you a variety of sports, but still keep the magazine a manageable size. And this is a magazine, we could do a special Sheroes Issue with more athletes once a year if we want, so stay tuned!

I hope the athletes I chose for this issue are inspiring and show you how great sports are and how much enrichment they can bring into your lives. Whether you just play for fun or you dream of going to the Olympics one day. Sports are for everyone, so pick a sport you love and go play!

Enjoy and thank you for reading Rising Up Taking Names.

—Nicole Johnson

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES GUIDE PEP TALK FREEZE FRAME

This is, simply put, the letter from the editor. It will be in every issue, written by our editor, Nicole Johnson. Feel feel to email her with any questions or concerns regarding the magazine at nicole@risinguptakingnames.com.

This will always show up in the beginning of the magazine and will feature 2-3 images of female athletes competing in various sports. It’s our way of showcasing large photos of women playing in the sport they love.

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KICKOFF

Each issue will start off or “kickoff” with this. It will consist of items such as player cards you can collect, future stars where we highlight a middle school or high school athlete to look out for, funny photo captions, professional athlete fun facts and many other fun things.

LOCKER ROOM

These are just giving you more information about a sport or athlete, depending on what the adjacent story is about. In making the feature we found there are a lot of connections and that even famous athletes had their own role models growing up! So we wanted to share this somehow without veering off from the main story.

TIMEOUT

These are found at different times throughout the magazine. They are to give you a break every once in a while from the reading. They are meant to be fun and consist of various games such as photo hunts, word searches, crossword puzzles, trivia and other fun items. So enjoy!

THE LINEUP

These appear in this issue because we wanted to expand on some of the sports showcased in the feature and let you know what is going on in them today. This gives you the opportunity to take the initiative to find the sports in your area and follow them on tv, online or even going to games if they are available near you.

FINISH LINE

The finish line is the end of the magazine and it will contain various items depending on the issue. For example, this issue has a section called “Blast to the Past”, which showcases some interesting female athlete records from the past. You will also find all the answers for the Timeout games here.

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

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FINALLY AN OLYMPIC SPORT | Women’s ski jump became an official sport in the 2014 Sochi Olympics

PLAYBOOK P.14 | KICKOFF

P.22 | THE SHEROES

P.30,56,62,74 | TIMEOUT

What’s going on in sports now? Who are the future stars? Check it out here.

Check out female athletes who have made history in their respective sports. All the way from basketball to figure skating, find your sport and read up on who made it what it is today.

Look out for our timeout sections. These contain various trivia and games for you to enjoy when you need a break from reading about all the awesome female athletes.

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Photograph By Kai Pfaffenbach | Reuters

THE SHEROES ISSUE

P.4 Pep Talk P.8 Freeze Frame P.12 Players Cards

P.20 Get off that Couch!

P.32 Posters P.40, The Lineup 68,82

P.89 Blast from the Past P.94 Timeout Answers

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

FREEZE FRAME

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BETTER THAN THE BOYS Shown here during the 2002 Olympic games, Granato retired as the U.S. team’s all-time leading scorer with 343 points in 205 games. When she left the game in 2005, Granato was the International Ice Hockey Federation’s all-time top scorer with 96 points in 54 games.

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES Photograph By Brian Bahr | Getty Images

FREEZE FRAME

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3-TIME MVP Shown here after being called for a foul she disagreed with, Lisa Leslie is a fourtime Olympic gold medalist and a former WNBA standout. At 6’5”, she isn’t afraid to be the tall girl, using her height to become the first player to dunk in a WNBA game. Although Lisa is a pioneer in professional basketball, she is still a girlie girl — making her way onto the pages of Vogue and into box-office hits.

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES Photograph By Getty Images

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14 Photograph By Luis Acosta | AFP | Getty Images

GAME TIME WATCH

WIMBLEDON JUNE 23 – JUNE 6

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

The Championships, Wimbledon, The Wimbledon Championships or simply Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, and widely considered the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in London, since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments (Majors), the others being the Australian Open, the French Open (Roland Garros) and the US Open.

Since the Australian Open shifted to hard court in 1988, Wimbledon is the only Major still played on grass, the game’s original surface, which gave the game its original name of “lawn tennis”.

The tournament takes place over two weeks in late June and early July, culminating with the Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Singles Final, scheduled for the second Saturday and Sunday respectively. Each year five major, junior, and invitational events are held.

The hard court Australian Open and clay court French Open precede Wimbledon in the year, and the hard court US Open follows. For women, the Aegon Classic in Birmingham, the Topshelf Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands and the Eastbourne International.

Wimbledon traditions include a strict dress code for competitors, the eating of strawberries and cream by the spectators, and Royal patronage. The tournament is also notable for the absence of sponsor advertising around the courts. In 2009, Wimbledon’s Centre Court was fitted with a retractable roof to lessen the loss of playing time due to rain.

Keep an eye out for Serena Williams, the #1 ranked tennis player.

WATCH

READ

VOTE

WNBA MAY – OCTOBER

THE BEST OF THE BEST IN BASKETBALL

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Officially approved by the NBA Board of Governors on April 24, 1996, the creation of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) was announced at a press conference with Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie, and Sheryl Swoopes in attendance.

The league began with eight teams: the Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, Houston Comets and New York Liberty in the Eastern Conference; and the Los Angeles Sparks, Phoenix Mercury, Sacramento Monarchs and Utah Starz in the Western Conference.

Currently, the WNBA is composed of twelve teams with the regular season currently played from May to September with the finals in October.

Last season there was great anticipation that the influx of exciting new talent, such as Britney Griner the No. 1 pick of the Phoenix Mercury, and her ability to dunk.

Coupled with the continuing emergence of already established top players—including the 2012 U.S. Olympic Gold Medalists— would drive the league to new heights on and off the court.

As the Minnesota Lynx and their fans bask in the glow of a second championship in three years, it’s fair to say this did indeed happen, with the quality of play on the court and general buzz around the league registering at an all-time high.

Be a part of Rising Ups first poll and go online to cast your vote for the following: This book shows the past and future of women’s basketball and presents biographies of eight of the sport’s most famous players: Cynthia Cooper, Teresa Edwards, Lisa Leslie, Rebecca Lobo, Nikki McCray, Dawn Staley, Kate Starbird, and Sheryl Swoopes. It’s an interesting read.

Will the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA repeat as the WNBA champions?

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES Photograph By Barry Gassage | NBAE | Getty Images

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16 Photograph By Rich Gonzalez

NEXT PLAY COURTNEY CORRIN LONG JUMPER Height: 5’6” Birthplace: Los Angeles, California Birth Date: December 13, 1997

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

Courtney sprang into the history books with a 21-foot long jump at the 2013 World Youth Track and Field Trials, setting both a national high school freshman girls’ and 15-year-old girls’ record.

With the jump, Courtney beat her own national record, which she previously set with a 20’11” jump at the Mt. San Antonio College relays in April 2013.

Off the track, Courtney plays soccer.

A student at Harvard-Westlake School, Courtney is a forward for the Real So Cal of the Elite Clubs National League and also trained with the U.S. under-17.

Corrin told the Los Angeles Daily News, “When I jumped 20-11, it was such an amazing feeling, but to finally jump 21, words can’t express what that means to me.

It’s only a matter of jumping 1 inch more, but it feels like a foot. It was so far away. ” Harvard-Westlake has a history of producing elite athletes, but the 5-foot-6 Corrin could be in another class.

“She is rare, even for us,” says HarvardWestlake Coach Jonas Koolsbergen, “because she is so high-level in both sports.”

While stretching after a track workout this week, Corrin makes it clear that she does not prefer one sport over the other.

She enjoys the team aspect of soccer and the individual freedom of track.

Corrin comes from an athletically oriented family. Her father, Michael, won a conference title in the long jump at UC Irvine. Her mother, T.C. Clay, was a multi-sport standout at Crenshaw High and played tennis at Grambling State.

ANNA MAXWELL DISTANCE RUNNER Height: 5’7” Birthplace: San Lorenzo, California Birth Date: March 30, 1997 Maxwell, a 17-year-old rising senior at San Lorenzo Valley (Felton, Calif.), has turned into one of the nation’s top middle and long distance runners.

She won the California state 1,600 meter run—there’s a who’s who list of names in the track world who have won that race—and recorded the nation’s sixth best time in the event two weeks earlier.

Maxwell also recorded the country’s fifth best 3,200 time and the 26th 800.

She’s also received only one “B” in high school, took five AP classes as a junior and had a 4.27 grade point average—and Maxwell is indeed one of the most versatile student-athletes in the country.

As far as what sport she prefers, Maxwell sums it up this way: “When it’s the fall and cross country season I love it the most. When it’s track season, I love it the most. I just love it all.”

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES Photograph By Craig Morley

Submit your captions at www.risinguptakingnames.com/contests Your entry could appear in the next issue!

FUNNY PHOTO “Mom! Look! No hands!”

— Natalie, 10, Virginia

“This doesn’t feel right.”

— Jennifer, 9, Florida

“I have to use the bathroom...”

— Emma, 8, California

“Did I tell you I’m afraid of heights?”

— Nicole, 11, Hawaii

“Wish I could toss him around.”

— Victoria, 9, New York

“You better not be looking up my skirt!”

— Ashley, 12, Chicago

The winning caption is:

“You’re right, it does look better from up here!”

Photograph By Getty Images

— Sophia, 10, Texas

CHINEY OGWUMIKE A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH The story is now part of Ogwumike lore.

Nneka Ogwumike was out on the floor for the girls’ first organized basketball practice clad in glasses and denim shorts.

Chiney, meanwhile, was in the bathroom crying and not coming out anytime soon after getting confused running the three-player weave drill.

But younger sister hides no longer.

Chiney has carved out her own place on the basketball court in every way—as a player, as a personality, as a leader. She has never shied from comparisons to her older sister—in fact, often she initiates them—but the legacy Chiney has built at Stanford is all her own.

CHINEY’S VITALS BORN March 21, 1992 HOMETOWN Tomball, Texas POSITION Forward HEIGHT 6 ft 3 in WEIGHT 174 lb · Averages 27.3 points (3rd in nation) and 12 rebounds (9th in nation) per game. · Team-high 32 blocked shots to go with 28 steals and 30 assists. · Career leader in the Pac-12 in rebounds with 1,337, breaking former Stanford star Kayla Pedersen’s conference mark on Jan 3. · 59.6 career field goal percentage is No. 1 at Stanford. · Career points total is 369 points away from Candice Wiggins, who owns Stanford’s and the Pac-12’s No. 1 mark with 2,629 points. · 2014 WNBA #1 draft pick.

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES Photograph By Dhon Santos/Santos Photography

20 Photograph By Mark Beesley

GET OFF THAT COUCH! We not only want you to read about your favorite athletes, but we also want you to participate. Get out there and play, whether it just be riding your bike or taking part in a team sport, everything is not only good for you but FUN! So in this section we want to share with you some options of sports that are national which gives it more of a chance of being in your area so you can sign up. Show your parents and with their help they can go online and look them up and together you can find a sport you are interested in.

Then your parents can sign you up and you can get going! Easy as that!

Also, come back and go on our website to share with us what sport you play and why you love it. We always love to hear from you!

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

AYSO

ayso.org AYSO is an awesome organization that is great for anyone who is new to soccer (or have been playing for years). It is open for all levels. Our own Editor-in-Chief played AYSO soccer from when she was 5 years old all the way up to high school. It’s a terrific way to learn a sport and to make friends and most importantly stay active!

So if you are interested show this to your parents so they can look it up in your area and sign you up! We promise you won’t regret it! And if you already play for AYSO, congrats! You are on your way to becoming the next Mia Hamm!

AYSO’s Mission is to develop and deliver quality youth soccer programs which promote a fun, family environment based on AYSO’s Six Philosophies: Everyone Plays Balanced Teams Open Registration Positive Coaching Good Sportsmanship Player Development

Don’t forget to share your stories at risinguptakingnames.com/experience!

Your sporting experience could end up in the next issue of our magazine!

BOYS & GIRLS CLUB bgca.org

For more than 150 years, Clubs have been helping kids reach their full potential.

Boys & Girls Clubs of America had its beginnings in 1860 with three women in Hartford, Conn.: Mary Goodwin, Alice Goodwin and Elizabeth Hammersley.

Believing that boys who roamed the streets should have a positive alternative, they organized the first Club. So, a cause was born. This eventually expanded to help girls too (thank goodness!).

Boys & Girls Club’s mission is to enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.

CORE BELIEFS A Boys & Girls Club Provides: A safe place to learn and grow...

Ongoing relationships with caring, adult professionals...

Life-enhancing programs and character development experiences...

Hope and opportunity.

YMCA

ymca.net The YMCA knows that lasting personal and social change comes about when we all work together. That’s why, at the Y, strengthening community is our cause.

Every day, we work side-by-side with our neighbors to make sure that everyone, regardless of age, income or background, has the opportunity to learn, grow and thrive.

The Y is a nonprofit like no other. That’s because in 10,000 neighborhoods across the nation, we have the presence and partnerships to not just promise, but deliver, positive change.

The Y is community centered. For nearly 160 years, we’ve been listening and responding to our communities.

The Y brings people together. We connect people of all ages and backgrounds to bridge the gaps in community needs.

The Y nurtures potential. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn, grow and thrive.

The Y has local presence and global reach.

We mobilize local communities to effect lasting, meaningful change.

Photograph By ymca.org

MICHELLE AKERS

NANCY LOPEZ

TRACY CAULKINS

MISTY MAY-TREANOR

JULIE CHU

ANN MEYERS DRYSDALE

NADIA COMANECI

MARTINA NAVRATILOVA

GABBY DOUGLAS

DOROTHY RICHARDSON

JANET EVANS

ANNIKA SORENSTAM

LISA FERNANDEZ

SHERYL SWOOPES

MIA HAMM

GRETE WAITZ

FLORA HYMAN

KERRI WALSH JENNINGS

JACKIE JOYNER-KERSEE

SERENA WILLIAMS

MICHELLE KWAN

By Josh Levin

Photograph By sociology.ucla.edu

Female athletes have heard this all before.

Nancy Lieberman played with a couple of NBA summer league teams in the early 1980s. And in 1979, Ann Meyers (who now goes by Ann Meyers Drysdale) had a three-day tryout with the Indiana Pacers.

Looking back at the coverage of her shortlived NBA career, it’s striking how little the conversation has changed. Here’s how the Today Show put it, just short of 35 years ago: “Ann Meyers’ NBA Bid: Hype, Hope, or Hoax?”

As Meyers Drysdale saw it, her NBA tryout was not about hype, and it wasn’t a hoax. She had grown up playing against boys, in particular her five brothers. (Dave Meyers, who’s two years older than Ann, preceded her at UCLA and was the No. 2 pick in the 1975 NBA draft.) Prior to her senior year in high school, Meyers Drysdale spent the summer playing on the boys’ team, thinking that would continue during the school year. “I had a lot of people talk me out of it,” she remembers in an interview. They told her that she was a teenager, that she was emotional, that her body was changing. “So I sat and listened to what people told me—you can’t do this, you shouldn’t do this, you won’t be able to do this.”

Despite a standout career at UCLA, which included leading the Bruins to the 1978 national title, Meyers Drysdale still regretted her high-school decision. When Pacers owner Sam Nassi came to her with a contract offer, she saw it as a chance to correct that mistake. “Five years before, I had a chance to play with the boys and I didn’t. Now somebody’s giving me another chance. Why should I turn this down?”

Meyers Drysdale did in fact have several good reasons to turn it down. For one, she’d been the top pick in the inaugural draft of the Women’s Professional Basketball League. For another, in those days of absurdly punitive amateurism rules, inking an NBA contract would mean signing away her opportunity to play in the Olympics. (Jimmy Carter ultimately made that a moot point when he decreed that

the United States would boycott the 1980 Summer Games.) There were also plenty of people in the Pacers organization who didn’t want her around. As she recounts in the first chapter of her autobiography, You Let Some Girl Beat You?, Indiana coach Slick Leonard flew out to California to try to persuade her not to show up for practice.

But this time, Meyers Drysdale would not relent and went ahead with it.

Once she got to Indiana, the 5-foot-9 guard went up against the Pacers’ top rookies and other NBA wannabes.

“Physically, emotionally, mentally, it was the best I was ever prepared to play the game of basketball,” she says. The other players on the court were less prepared to play against her. In her autobiography, Meyers Drysdale recalls facing John Kuester (later the coach of the Detroit Pistons) in a one-on-one drill. “[We] collided and I went down. I was fine, but John’s natural instinct was to worry that he’d hurt me. He bent down next to me.

‘Are you OK, Annie?’ ” Meyers Drysdale remembers the compliment she received from assistant coach Jack McCloskey: “Fundamentally, she’s better than half the guys out there.”

But that wasn’t enough for Slick Leonard to extend her an invitation to stick with the team.

Even so, Meyers Drysdale says, “the decision to make that tryout was the best decision of my life.” Her short tenure with the Pacers opened the door for her to become a broadcaster and earned her an invitation to the Superstars competition.

Meyers Drysdale, who’s now vice president of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and a broadcaster for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, says she believes there could be a female NBA player in her lifetime—at least a credible player at the end of the bench, someone who could come in and play a few minutes a night.

BRITTNEY GRINER BORN October 18, 1990 HOMETOWN Houston, TX HEIGHT 6 ft 8 in WEIGHT 199 lb Griner is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

She was the first NCAA basketball player ever to score 2,000 points and block 500 shots. In 2012, the three-time All-American was named the AP Player of the Year and the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.

At 6 ft 8 in tall, Griner wears a men’s US size 17 or 18 shoe and has an arm span of 86 in.

In 2009, Griner was named the nation’s #1 high school women’s basketball and was selected to the 2009 McDonald’s All-American basketball team. In 2012 she won the Best Female Athlete ESPY.

Photograph By Darren Sands

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

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Her talent, individuality, and sexuality came to define an era in women’s basketball. An ESPN documentary traces the ups and downs of one of the most talented and polarizing players in the WNBA.

By Adrienne Vogt

Sheryl Swoopes has been given a lot of labels: diva, pioneer, lesbian—even the female Michael Jordan.

It’s safe to say Swoopes is a polarizing figure in women’s basketball. She’s been criticized for her high-profile Nike endorsements, her relationship with a female assistant coach, and her brazen personality, which have all contributed to a tumultuous career. But as seen in the new ESPN Nine for IX documentary Swoopes, there’s no denying that she’s one of the greatest basketball players—male or female—that the game has ever seen.

Born into a poor family in Brownfield, Texas, Swoopes says her only outlet was playing basketball. She was recruited to play for the University of Texas, but left before the season even started because she was homesick. She enrolled at Texas Tech,

where she led the school to its first-ever NCAA title in 1993. In the championship game, she scored 47 points, which is still a record for both women’s and men’s teams, according to Swoopes. Her status was elevated further when she played for the gold medal-winning 1996 Olympic women’s basketball team. When the WNBA launched in 1997, Swoopes was first in line, signing with the Houston Comets. By 2000, the Comets were a dynasty, according to the film, joining the Boston Celtics as the only pro basketball teams ever to win four titles in a row.

Her smooth skills and effortless abilities were unprecedented for women’s basketball. “She played with a transformative style that I think many women had yet to show,” says Dale Robertson of the Houston Chronicle. “She plays like a guy.”

The film is directed by Hannah Storm, a SportsCenter anchor and the WNBA’s first-ever play-by-play announcer.

A few things she mentions in the film might raise eyebrows. After nabbing a Nike endorsement deal to create her own shoe brand, Air Swoopes, she says in the film, “I think it’s probably the best idea Nike’s ever had.” And when she was the first player to be signed into the WNBA, Swoopes says she thought, “This is my league. I’m going to be the face.” After all, as Robertson says, “You can’t underestimate the diva quotient in Sheryl.”

She played with a transformative style that I think many women had yet to show.

She plays like a guy.”

At the same time, Swoopes needed to exude that swagger to survive. In the film she returned to basketball. Even though

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RISING UP | TAKING NAMES Photograph By V. Metrikis

I love to spend time with my son. We play basketball together all the time. I also love to chill at home and watch old movies.

MY CHOICE OF MUSIC Definitely old school Motown. And hip hop when I’m working out.

MY FAVORITE ARTISTS Jay-Z, Marvin Gaye, Beyonce FAVORITE SPORTS MOMENT Winning my Olympic Gold Medals WHAT’S MY SIGN Aries! And I live up to the stubbornness!

Photograph By BET.com

29 Photograph By Sam Forencich | Getty Images

she was a long way from her pre-pregnancy body, she brought her son to the games and fed him at halftime.

With her trademark determination, Swoopes set a precedent for athlete mothers. “I don’t know if anyone thought that that was possible until she did it, and once she did it, it became pretty normal,” says Comets teammate Tina Thompson.

There is no denying that Swoopes was a great player. It’s impossible to not be completely impressed by her—simply because she always stayed true to herself, particularly during the next phase of her life, when she became one of the most high-profile lesbian athletes.

After her divorce, Swoopes found comfort with the Comets’ assistant coach, Alisa Scott. She questioned herself at first, but she said once she came to peace with it, she didn’t really care if anyone else was OK with it or not. She came out publicly in 2005—without telling the WNBA first.

“Imagine what it’s like to have someone with then notoriety of Sheryl Swoopes, someone who had all these little girls and families looking up to her, and wondering what they would think of her when

she made this decision,” says ESPN the Magazine writer LZ Granderson. “It was incredibly brave, it was incredibly selfless, it was incredibly needed, because it forced

the years—including signed hats, jerseys, trophies and awards—when she couldn’t pay $300 a month to keep them in a storage facility. But she ultimately rebounded. She

“I feel like I was invincible. And I felt strong, I felt powerful, and I don’t really care what anybody thinks.” the WNBA to have adult conversations about who’s our fan base, who’s our players?

In the largest sense of the conversation, she moved the needle forward.”

She also alienated some members of the gay community in the process, for saying that she was not born gay. “She wasn’t going to be a spokesperson or a hero in the way that they wanted her to be—she was going to be herself, and for a lot of people, they didn’t want that,” Granderson says.

After her relationship ended, she suffered some major setbacks, including bankruptcy and a career-ending back injury. She was forced to auction off much of the memorabilia she collected through

found new love (with her fiancé, Chris Tellison) and became the new head coach for Loyola Chicago’s women’s basketball team. She says she is focusing on being a good mom and a mentor to her players.

During her coming-out process in the film, she says, “I feel like I was invincible.

And I felt strong, I felt powerful, and I don’t really care what anybody thinks.”

But that sentence doesn’t just apply to that time in her life—that, in a nutshell, is the essence of Sheryl Swoopes.

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

CROSSWORD PUZZLE ACROSS

DOWN

3. Ball that bounces off the rim or backboard when the shot is missed.

1. The two types of defense in basketball are _ _ _ _ and man-to-man.

6. The Globetrotter’s home city is _ _ _ _ _ _.

2. A standard basketball team consists of two guards, two forwards, and a _ _ _ _ _ _.

7. A field goal made from inside the 3-point line is worth _ _ _ points.

8. Front court: the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ team’s side of the court.

4. Illegal interference with the ball when the ball is above the basket.

5. The defensive team’s side of the court.

11. In high school or college basketball, a player is disqualified after committing _ _ _ _ personal fouls.

7. An individual player can commit a personal foul or a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ foul.

12. In professional basketball, a game lasts for four 12-minute _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.

9. In professional basketball, the halftime break lasts for _ _ _ _ _ _ _ minutes.

10. The team that does not have the ball is on _ _ _ _ _ _ _.

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9

10

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Photograph By breadcity.org

By Mechelle Voepel

If hindsight is 20/20, foresight sometimes can be surprisingly myopic. Even for the most visionary among us.

When Annika Sorenstam played in a PGA Tour event a decade ago, she wasn’t focused on how that could help establish a brand name so important to her post-competitive career.

Participating in the Colonial tournament in May 2003 was about shorter-term goals: She accepted the challenge in hopes it would translate to her playing even better on the LPGA Tour.

The long view, though, was that the “Colonial experience” likely did even more for Sorenstam’s future off the course

post-playing career. The Colonial just helped accelerate it.

But Colonial gave her higher name recognition—an undeniable asset in the entrepreneurial world—and business connections that might not otherwise have been made.

It gave the LPGA Tour—and women’s sports overall—always-welcome publicity, as Sorenstam’s rising tide lifted all the other boats. But there was also something else she provided.

It resonated beyond sports or gender.

Sorenstam made the point again and again that she wasn’t trying to prove she could step right into the PGA Tour and

Ten years later, in the all-caps version, ANNIKA the businesswoman is tackling endeavors that Annika the golfer proved to herself she could handle. That proof came over the long haul of a spectacular career and the relatively short haul of a withering spotlight during her appearance at the Colonial.

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“People couldn’t relate to me as a golfer,’’ Sorenstam said, “but they could relate to wanting to achieve and follow their own dreams in whatever aspect it could be.” than on. And that’s really saying something, considering how well she continued to play post-Colonial.

“I wasn’t thinking that way then, but I was planting a seed,” Sorenstam says.

“And when I look back at it, I would absolutely say that was one of the aftereffects.”

Annika, the initially shy Swedish golfer, has transformed into ANNIKA, the head of her own business empire.

Her endeavors include a lot of different things, she is definitely the business women. The list is long, she has a golf academy, charitable foundation, clothing line, a golf-course designing business, wine label, fragrance, financial-planning group and a role as an all-purpose golf ambassador. Plus, she’s the mother of two children with husband, Mike McGee, her partner in business and life.

All of that would have happened in some form without Colonial. Sorenstam’s 72 LPGA Tour victories, her ambition, energy, optimism and creativity were bound to add up to a successful

win events.

Rather, she was taking advantage of an opportunity to test herself against the highest level of competition. She hoped that by facing that challenge—by not being afraid—she would come away with increased confidence and a stronger sense of her own ability.

In that, Sorenstam’s playing at Colonial was universally inspiring. She was the embodiment of all who ever have had the courage to put themselves “out there.” To try something they know is going to test them in ways that—deep down—scare them.

“Maybe people couldn’t relate to me as a golfer,’’ Sorenstam said, “but they could relate to wanting to achieve and follow their own dreams in whatever aspect it could be.”

And even though her rounds of 71 and 74 didn’t make the Colonial cut, it was a respectable show of golf and character by a woman who became more of a one-name celebrity: just “Annika.”

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES Photographs By Andy Lyons | Getty Images

By Rhonda Glenn

Photograph By SBA Public Relations

Nancy Lopez, whose flashing smile has charmed the world of golf for more than four decades, seems as easily familiar as your next-door neighbor.

At 15, this daughter of an auto body repair shop owner won the 1972 U.S. Girls’ Junior. Six years later, she became the toast of the golf world.

In 1978, her rookie year, spectators surged after her in Los Angeles as she won her first official LPGA tournament.

Lopez was fresh, exciting, a charmer with a great golf game. Hundreds clamored for her autograph. Between May 14 and June 18, she won all five tournaments she played. Suddenly, there was a media crush around women’s golf.

Lopez was seemingly everywhere: the cover of Sports Illustrated, on television talk shows and golf telecasts, in magazines and newspapers. She won nine

special needs children which has recently expanded to help Alzheimer’s patients.

Her alliances with AIM, the March of Dimes Foundation, the National Breast Cancer Foundation, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America have endured for some 30 years. She’s been committed to The First Tee since it began. This was her 26th year hosting a tournament to raise money for Hospice in Albany, Ga. Home is now Auburn, Ala., where her youngest daughter Torri attends Auburn University and where Nancy cooks for Torri’s college friends, answers mail, pays bills and tries to work in a dinner with a neighbor she particularly enjoys. Her luggage seldom stays unpacked for long.

Thirty weeks of the year she is on the road, making charity appearances, attending corporate outings and playing on the Legends Tour, a professional

“I loved the competition, I loved junior golf. Here I’m getting this wonderful opportunity, and I was really appreciative to have that opportunity.” tournaments that season and for the first time the LPGA had a Rookie of the Year, Player of the Year, and Vare Trophy winner all happily wrapped up in one smiling player. By the time the 1979 U.S. Women’s Open rolled around, Lopez needed armed guards to help her navigate to the first tee.

“It got to the point where the sponsors didn’t want to have a tournament unless Lopez played,” said seven-time LPGA leading money winner Kathy Whitworth in an interview. In some 30 charity appearances and golf exhibitions each year, Lopez still attracts crowds.

Now Lopez is seldom in one place for long. Today she is in The Villages wrapping up fund-raising for AIM (Adventures in Movement), a charity for

golf tour for senior women. Still popular wherever she appears, Lopez is trying to shore up her daughters’ inheritance by making two or three corporate outings a month if not more.

“I’m trying to play courses I’ve never played before, which is a lot,” she said. She can now strike Cypress Point, Bandon Dunes and Whistling Straits from her list.

Early in the summer of 1972 she won the Women’s Western Golf Association Girls’ Junior. A month later, Nancy and her mother were on a bus to Jefferson City, Mo., for the U.S. Girls’ Junior.

She has fond memories of that Girls’ Junior: Practicing chip shots in the hotel hallway with Myra Van Hoose; with Van Hoose breaking up a party of contestants and caddies by calling their party room,

saying, “This is a USGA official and any players that are in that room will be disqualified!;” boarding the contestants’ bus and seeing Laura Baugh wear rollers in her hair until she got to the golf course.

Lopez spent much of the week resting.

She was in bed by 9 p.m., reading. It paid off. At 15, she was a veteran competitor who had won the New Mexico Women’s Amateur at the age of 12, the youngest champion in the state’s history.

At the 1972 U.S. Girls’ Junior, Lopez raced through her early matches. By the time she made the final, she had won four matches playing a total of only 55 holes.

Then she met Cathy Morse, of Rochester, N.Y., which would be an entirely different encounter for her.

“I just remember knowing that she was going to be tough to beat,” Nancy said.

“I loved the competition,” she said. “I loved junior golf. It was fun because I was from Roswell, New Mexico, and here I’m getting this wonderful opportunity, and I was really appreciative to have that opportunity. I just remember how much I wanted to win.”

Her career is not quite over. Golf is still a part of her life. This past Sunday, she had wrapped up the USA defense of the ISPS Handa Cup at the Reunion Resort and Club in Kissimmee, Fla., an event for senior women professionals. She played the anchor match for the USA team. The USA needed two points to clinch a tie.

She defeated Gail Graham and got the two points. The USA retained the Cup. She still wants to win.

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

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40 Photograph By Scott Cunningham | NBAE | Getty Images

BASKETBALL WNBA

NCAA DIVISION 1

The WNBA is one of the few (very few) professional leagues for women out there, so please support! Although not as popular as the NBA, they do show games on TV during the season, it just takes a little more on your part to be aware of when the games are and what channel, because they can be hard to find sometimes, or even more frustrating, not shown in your area.

Check out their website at WNBA. com to get the current schedule when it becomes available. It will even give you what channels they will be showing the games on.

The men have March Madness, well so do the women! And they show the games just as often as the men, it’s awesome and you need to get in on it.

The 2014 women’s champs are the UConn Huskies who went undefeated the entire season (40-0). UNDEFEATED! That’s amazing.

So, with the new season starting it should be interesting to see who comes out on top and if UConn can make it all the way again.

Check out ncaa.com to get more information about women’s college basketball along with many other college sports. It’s

MAY - OCTOBER

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

NOVEMBER - APRIL

a great resource in general to see what sports are offered at what schools. Who knows maybe you will get inspired and make a goal to someday play basketball for UConn (or any college for that matter).

The sky is the limit!

GOLF US WOMEN’S OPEN JUNE 19 - 22

The United States Women’s Open Golf Championship, one of thirteen national championships conducted by the United States Golf Association (USGA), is one of the LPGA Tour’s five major championships along with the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the LPGA Championship, the Women’s British Open, and The Evian Championship.

Established in 1946, it is the oldest women’s major and the only event to have been recognized as a major by the LPGA since its founding in 1950.

So, in other words, check it out. Golf can be really interesting to watch and learn and being that this is one of the main majors it will be televised, which gives you the opportunity to watch the greatest female golf athletes in the world.

So don’t miss out!

Check out usga.org for information about this and all the other golf tournaments during the year. You can also find other information such as golf tips, which could be helpful in making you the next US Women’s Open champion!

Photograph By Paul Connors | AP Images

Nadia Comaneci will forever be remembered as the first gymnast to achieve the perfect score of 10 in Olympic competition on the way to winning three gold medals at the 1976 Montreal Games. Comaneci, who was just 14, went into the Olympics with admittedly “very, very low expectations” — but in the space of a few short days became one of the most recognizable athletes on the planet.

By CNN Human To Hero

Photograph By Getty Images

Spotted by the Karolyis at the age of six, Comaneci started training at their academy in her hometown of Onesti.

“I didn’t know I wanted to be a gymnast, I was just introduced to the gym,” she said.

“I loved the place because it looked like a hi-tech playground with mats and a lot of things I can hang from.

“But I like the competition. And probably if I didn’t do gymnastics I would have done a different sport and hopefully I would have been good enough.”

That competitive edge helped her burst onto the international scene with four golds at the European championships in Norway in 1975, and the following year came Olympic immortality.

In a golden era for women’s gymnastics, the 1972 Olympics in Munich featured two competitors in particular who were a big influence on Comaneci as she watched at home in Romania.

mark of 10 from the judges. But there was an element of farce as she awaited her score. “First of all it was not 10, it was a one point zero zero because the computers couldn’t cope!” she recalled.

“They were not prepared for the 10, so they didn’t make enough space after the decimal to be able to accommodate the 10.

“They said it was a one point zero zero or a hundred, which meant nothing in gymnastics, or a one is ... a one is a really bad score.”

After the technical glitch was sorted, Comaneci celebrated with her teammates, but unlike the emotional Korbut, she rarely showed emotion during competition and was the butt of some criticism for her serious demeanor.

“I always said that I was the kind of person who didn’t smile all the time, but I did smile at the end of the routine,” Comaneci said.

“People ask me what the definition of perfection is, I said it’s none, there is no definition of perfection.”

She admired the graceful Ludmilla Tourischeva, who won the all-round gold title, but it was another Soviet Union entrant, the diminutive Olga Korbut, who captured her imagination — and that of the international audience — in winning three gold medals.

“Olga Korbut was the famous gymnast in that time, but I was watching her in the gymnastics and I said to myself, ‘I hope one day I will be like her,’ “ said Comaneci.

Four years later they competed against each other in Montreal, with Korbut winning gold as part of a Russian team which relegated Romania to silver.

While Comaneci missed out on that team gold, it was her performances in the individual and all-round disciplines that catapulted the teenager to fame.

Competing in the uneven bars final, Comaneci first achieved perfection, a

“I think that when you are on a fourinch balance beam, you don’t care about laughing or smiling or waving to the crowd because you’re going to be down in a second.”

Looking back on her feat, the gymnastics equivalent of the first four-minute mile in athletics, Comaneci almost downplays her achievement.

“People ask me what the definition of perfection is, I said it’s none, there is no definition of perfection. At some particular time when I was 14 years old, I’ve done something that people didn’t expect,” she said.

Comaneci is aware that, she inspired a generation of gymnasts, but she believes they should stamp their own mark.

MARY LOU RETTON BORN January 24, 1968 HOMETOWN Fairmont, WV HEIGHT 4 ft 9 in WEIGHT 93 lb Mary Lou Retton is an American former gymnast. At the 1984 Summer Olympics, she won five medals, including gold in the individual all-around competition.

Her performance made her one of the most popular athletes in the United States.

Inspired by watching Nadia Comăneci on television, Retton took up gymnastics in her hometown of Fairmont. She was coached by Gary Rafaloski. She then decided to move to Houston, Texas, to train under Romanians Béla and Márta Károlyi, who had coached Nadia Comăneci before their defection to the United States.

Photograph By more.com

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

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By Liz Neporent

As the 16-year-old Douglas recalled in her new book, “Grace, Gold & Glory,” she started out life homeless, her family living in the back of a van for nearly a year after she was born. Soon afterwards, they were taken in by relatives. Then, her father abandoned them, leaving her mother to support four young children on her own.

One of the few African Americans in the sport of gymnastics, Douglas claimed she was cruelly taunted by her former coach and teammates at Excalibur Gym, in Virginia Beach, Va., who told her to get a nose job and sometimes described her as “their slave.”

Excalibur denied the allegations and insisted that management never received any reports of Douglas being bullied.

Somehow, Douglas’ Olympic dreams never wavered and she stayed strong. “Yes

I’ve had a lot of hardships in my life and in my career, but I never let that hurt what I do in the gym,” Douglas said. “I’ve always put my heart into it and pushed myself every single day, no matter what else was going on.”

Experts often cite such unrelenting drive as a key personality trait in top athletes such as Douglas.

Andrea Corn, a Florida sports psychologist and co-author of “Raising Your Game,” said Douglas’ perseverance and ability to bounce back after disappointment have played a big part in her success.

“No athlete goes through life unscathed.

It’s how they respond when something doesn’t go their way on or off the field that makes all the difference,” she said.

“The ones that can shake off those negative emotions and transform them into

something they can use, they have a gift and they are the ones who do best.”

Liang Chow, Douglas’ current coach, agreed. He said that leaving her home in Virginia Beach, Va., to learn gymnastics in the middle of the cornfields of Iowa couldn’t have been easy for the then-14year-old girl, but Douglas has always been up to the task.

“She has good physical talent, but she is also a very hard worker who is determined to reach her daily goals,” Chow said. “This determination has been an essential ingredient in her success.”

Because gymnastics is such a demanding sport, Chow added, any athlete who hopes to rise up the ranks must have the same sort of attitude as Douglas or they won’t last. It takes a lot of effort and determination to make it.

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Gabrielle Douglas was one of the shining stars of the 2012 Olympics. But the gymnast’s journey to the top of the podium in London definitely wasn’t an easy one and took a lot of hard work.

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES Photograph By Streeter Lecka | Getty Images

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Photograph By Julie Jacobson | AP Images

“Every athlete has different strengths and weaknesses but the purpose must be there. I can see the ones who have mental toughness and determination and they stand out,” Chow said.

Corn believes that facing tough times may have helped elevate Douglas’ athletic performance. That’s because it can be harder for someone to stay at the top

hungry and striving that can come along and take their place,” she said.

Not that there haven’t been times Douglas wanted to hang up her leotard and walk away from the sport. Just a few months before the Olympics, she told her mother she wanted to quit gymnastics.

She’d been living away from home with a host family in Iowa for nearly two years

“I always tell them never give up. Times may be tough but sacrifices pay off.” of their game when winning is always effortless and they never experience any sort of failure or disappointment, either in athletics or outside life.

“Someone who rests on their laurels will stop trying to improve and perfect their skills. There’s always someone else who is

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

so she could train with Chow a­ nd she was really homesick.

“As they were packing up to go home to Virginia I wanted to go with them. I told my mother I could work at Chick-fil-A and run track,” she said. The thought of not being with her family was hard for her.

But just as she had after countless injuries and other setbacks, Douglas refocused on her goals. It took several family pep talks and a bit of coaching but, ultimately, she got her emotions under control and her mojo back. She threw herself into training once more and it paid off. In London, she grabbed gold in both the team and individual all-around competitions.

Corn said Douglas’ bout of homesickness and self-doubt was normal, even for someone at the elite level.

“Even the best will cry and sometimes feel miserable, but in time they learn something valuable about themselves which makes them better athletes and better people,” she said.

“I always tell them to never give up.

Times may be tough but sacrifices, they do pay off. If you give up, you will always have regrets that you didn’t push through and regret, that is the worst thing.”

85 I listen to music all the time, even during competitions! When I have some time to myself, I like to read, knit, or watch TV. MY CHOICE OF MUSIC Upbeat, especially hip-hop and country MY FAVORITE ARTISTS Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Effervesence and Beyonce MY FAVORITE BOOKS Twilight series MY FAVORITE TV SHOW The Vampire Diaries My sister Joyelle and I liked watching a lot of the same shows growing up, such as Bratz, Wildfire and H2O: Just Add Water.

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES Photograph By Streeter Lecka | Getty Images

In sports and this year ESPN named her the greatest female athlete of the last 40 years, which covers the Title IX era. Hamm also shined as the most marketable female soccer players ever generating millions of dollars from endorsement partners.

By Kurt Badenhausen

Mia Hamm retired from soccer in 2004 after playing 17 years on the U.S. Women’s National Team, two World Championships and two Olympic gold medals.

KURT BADENHAUSEN How does it feel to be named as the greatest athlete of the past 40 years?

MIA HAMM It was a bit overwhelming because there are so many great female athletes that I’ve looked up to and both watched compete and played alongside. It was overwhelming to be considered at the top of all these athletes I thought so much of when there is Billy Jean King, Chris Evert and Jackie Joyner-Kersee. For me, it was Michelle Akers.

KB Did you hear from a lot of former teammates after the news came out?

MH The notes and messages from my former teammates were sincere and genuine and I really appreciated that. I always want to make sure they understand how much they influenced my life. When you play a team sport, similar to being involved in a company, the environment in which you are in allows you to grow. If you feel confined or that you can’t be your own individual, you can only get so far.

KB Female athletes have made great strides in sports, but if you look around the pro ranks, women sports are struggling. How do you explain that?

MH [Sighs] Man, if I only knew. I know growing up I was an exception, but even a lot of the young girls that participated didn’t watch. I think that is slowly changing because they can associate more with the athletes on TV and being female.

Grabbing hold of the TV audience is how these leagues sustain themselves. That is a big component. It is important that these young girls see themselves as the future.

Sometimes in this day and age of instant gratification, you just assume it is going to

be there. Growing up, I never thought I’d play on the National Team or play soccer in the Olympics because it wasn’t there.

When then opportunity came, I wanted to play as long as I could. I am optimistic. As a female athlete you have to be.

KB How do you spend your time these days since you’re not playing?

MH We have three kids (five-year-old twin girls and an 11-month old son). I spend a lot of time being a mom and trying to help my kids find their own way. My husband, since he played baseball, and I get asked all the time, what are [your kids] going to be doing?

We understand the importance sports played in our lives, but we want them to express their own voice. I’d love for them to get involved in some way because the lessons and the experiences and relationships you make.

KB Are you going to be on the field coaching your kids?

MH I don’t mind helping, but in the end I want to be their mom first and foremost.

If that means I go out and do some sessions for them, that is fine. But I never want them to feel like that relationship is compromised. That is something I have to work on. I had my dad as a coach and it was hard to know is he talking to me as my dad or as my coach.

realistic households. I’m from a military family and one of six kids. We each had a part to play. I had to find my way to practice a lot on my own, whether that was riding my bike or finding a ride. So I hope I’ve maintained a lot of that perspective. I know my husband has. In the end, life is about relationships and making sure we maintain those in a healthy and positive way. That is what we try to teach out kids.

Can we give them a lot of things we didn’t have? Absolutely. The best thing I can give them are values and hopefully good memories. That is what I am trying to do.

KB Are there athletes, male or female, that you admire for doing things the right way on and off the field?

MH I’ve been a huge fan of Andre Agassi.

He is a guy who, after reading his book, didn’t sound like it was his choice to play, but he was incredibly talented. And what he is doing off the [court] with his schools is unbelievable. This is guy who education was not his main focus growing up, but he’s making sure all these kids understand the value of education. I saw him speak two weeks ago and I think every kid that graduated from his high school is going to college. Andre is someone who used sport to really help others.

KB How do you balance your fame with trying to raise your kids with a normal upbringing?

MH (Laughs) Let me tell you, my kids have no idea who I am.

Both of us were brought up in very grounded and

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES Photograph By Marissa Kleber

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By Jonathan Tannenwald

Photograph By michelleakers.org

JONATHAN TANNENWALD You said that you had a moment when you realized that you wanted to “get back in the game,” and re-connect with the soccer community. What prompted that?

MICHELLE AKERS It was my conversations with Mike [Wilson], my good friend [and now business partner in a soccer training firm], and just kind of realizing that it was time. That’s how I do everything else. That’s how I knew when I was going to retire; that’s how I knew I was going to do horse rescuing. So I just realized over time that I’m ready now.

JT When was that?

MA It’s been ongoing. I think I said that I wanted to go to the convention. It was last August or so. That’s when I decided: let’s pursue it, let’s jump in, let’s go for it.

JT When you watch the national team now, they’ve continued to be culturally resonant. A new generation of players, such as Alex Morgan, is gaining celebrity status. What are your reactions as you see their success?

MA It’s exciting. It’s awesome. It’s fun to see the team still kicking, and still being the best in the world. It has been decades now since those players [she points around the room] and I, my teammates, we started it and built it, and [the current players] are standing on our shoulders.

They are keeping that legacy going and doing more with it, putting their own twist on that. So it’s exciting to see them doing well.

JT In addition to winning, they are also getting recognition from the public. How rewarding is it to know that you helped build that part of it too?

MA It’s way cool, because that was our goal from the beginning. To be a recognized, appreciated sport ­— soccer in general, men and women. But also there’s a second layer to it with the female athlete.

So to be recognized as a legitimate power, and with legitimate ability, is very

rewarding. I get to see those guys hang in that environment.

JT With that said, the new generation of fans - young girls and teenagers who are playing soccer now - was not watching in 1999. They are watching now. Do you ever think about that and reflect on there being a whole new generation, a second generation, of fans? And maybe they don’t know all the history. Will you coming back into the public sphere help teach that history?

MA I don’t really think it’s the second generation of the fans. It’s actually the fourth generation of fans. It began in ‘91, and then it has kind of built over the years. But I get that the youngsters say “Michelle Akers? Huh?” I’ve got reading glasses. I could be old.

But I don’t care, because the legend of our team is still very much the center of this team. And so our current national team players are the heroes - awesome. That’s all I want. It doesn’t have to be me.

It’s good to know the history, but I just want them excited about the game, identifying with some incredible people who just happen to be soccer players, and then taking that and putting that into their lives and running with it.

JT Lastly, do you talk to any of the current players? Have any of them sought to talk to you in order to learn from you?

MA No, actually. Every once in a while I’ll run into a couple of them, and they’re all “Oh, Michelle Akers! What are you doing?” And the answer is: nothing. But we connect. They know who I am, and it would be one of my goals to support them and help them in whatever unique way I possibly can.

ABBY WAMBACH BORN June 2, 1980 HOMETOWN Rochester, NY HEIGHT 5 ft 11 in POSITION Forward Mary Abigail “Abby” Wambach is an American professional soccer player, coach, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and the 2012 FIFA World Player of the Year. She currently plays for Western New York Flash in the National Women’s Soccer League and for the United States women’s national soccer team. She played collegiate soccer for the University of Florida Gators, where she was a member of the school’s first NCAA Division I Championship team.

A six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award, she currently stands as the highest all-time goal scorer for the national team and holds the world record for international goals for both female and male soccer players with 163 goals.

Photograph By Bret Hartman | AP Images

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By Andrew Linnehan

Photograph By sikids.com

Fernandez, who was voted the seventh-most influential Hispanic female athlete of all time in a poll conducted by espnW and ESPN Deportes, is a first-generation American. Her father, Antonio, grew up in Cuba and enjoyed a stint as a semi pro baseball player before emigrating to the United States in the early 1960s. Emilia, Lisa’s mother, was born in Puerto Rico and arrived in L.A. in her late teens via New York. The couple played organized slow-pitch softball together and would bring 2-year-old Lisa to their games, piquing her interest in the sport.

By the time Fernandez reached high school, she had the attention of elite colleges that wanted her both as a pitcher and as a hitter. To Enquist, though, then in her first year as a co-head coach of the UCLA softball team, it was Fernandez’s intangibles that separated her from the pack.

“I have never met a coach or a player who could see the game before the game developed quite like Lisa can,” Enquist said. “She had a coach’s curiosity even as a freshman. She could feel the momentum shift; she could pick up on an opponent’s signals or pitches. I knew as a coach we were going to capitalize on this ability.

She is an absolute engineer of the game.”

And in order to be the one Enquist labels the greatest softball player ever, Fernandez had to develop all of those intangibles.

Fernandez has never been the tallest of her friends or teammates. As a teenager, some even thought she wouldn’t be able to pitch on the college level because she didn’t have the height or length of other elite pitchers.

She topped off at 5-foot-6, and her diminutive stature meant small hands, further handicapping her ability to grip and spin a softball. But you can’t handicap heart, and Enquist knew it.

In Fernandez’s four years at UCLA, she lit the NCAA on fire. From the circle, she baffled batters. From the batter’s box, she puzzled pitchers. She earned firstteam All-American honors in each of her four seasons and helped the Bruins to two national championships. Her senior

season, Fernandez led the nation in both ERA (0.23) and batting average (.510).

Her college dominance led to an opportunity to play for Team USA, and hence an international platform. Her first Olympics came in Atlanta in 1996, an emotional time for the family as Lisa donned a USA jersey just after her father had become a U.S. citizen.

THE

RECORD 1991 Gold medal at the Pan American Games 1994 Gold medals at ISF World Championships and Pan Am Qualifier 1991 and 1992 Sportswoman of the Year 1990 and 1992 Led UCLA to two NCAA Women’s College World Series Titles 1993 Honda-Broderick Cup winner, country’s most outstanding collegiate female athlete 1996 Olympic gold medal 1998 Gold medal at Pan American Games 2000 Olympic gold medal where she established a 25 strikeout record in women’s softball 2002 Gold medal at the ISF World Championships

It was also at these Games that Fernandez became a leading voice not only for her sport but for professional female athletes everywhere. At the time, the U.S. softball team had team sponsorships but did not allow its players to have individual representation. So when Fernandez, who had signed with both Louisville Slugger and Reebok right out of college in 1994, began play for a USA team that endorsed Nike and Easton, there arose a highly publicized dilemma.

Fernandez and agent Tom McCarthy (who still represents her) had to fight for female athletes to have individual sponsorships, even when they played on teams that might carry competing endorsers.

“It was important for me to fight for individual interests, at least when I did things privately — like lessons or clinics — so I could use the apparel and equipment I was comfortable using,” Fernandez said.

“And then, on a greater scale, it was about providing an opportunity for the women behind me.”

Almost instantly during the ‘96 Games, Fernandez became an American celebrity. Her 0.33 ERA in Atlanta dazzled fans. It was the first of three consecutive gold medals for Fernandez, and now she had sponsorships that created a capacity to extend her accomplishments into the American mainstream.

But it also allowed her to teach core values of a Hispanic culture that means so much to her.

“In the Hispanic culture you play and you live with a lot of passion and pride,” and when I go out and speak to people, I know that I don’t just represent me, I represent my families of Puerto Ricans and Cubans, and I want that responsibility. I want to represent these people.”

2003 Gold medal at the Pan American Games 2004 Olympic gold medal

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Richardson was a star shortstop at UCLA and a two-time Olympic gold medalist (1996, 2000). She won the 1998 Sports Legends Award and the 1997 Babe Zaharias Award (national female athlete of the year). She was a four-time Sullivan Award nominee, a three-time All-American, the NCAA player of the decade for the 1980s and is a member of the National Softball Hall of Fame.

By Berry Tramel

I played with UCLA from ‘80 to ‘84. So 1982, the first NCAA championship, in Omaha, Neb. We won that versus Fresno State. Then the next year, we were there as well, we got food poisoning, eight of us nine starters, so we didn’t win that championship. 1984, my eligibility was up, so I played basketball at UCLA. In ‘82, ESPN was there with maybe two cameras at the most. Over our thirdbase dugout, they had put some plywood

The excitement is to see the growth of the sport, the growth of the talent of the sport, the growth of the exposure of the sport, the opportunities growing in the sport. I just hope the sport grows to the point where’s there’s a professional level in our sport that aspires like you see for the Major League Baseball level. That may come in time. I hope so.

I love seeing the international involvement as well. I hope we get back in the

“Softball has prepared me for life’s challenges and opportunities.” and a table and chairs. It was a little windy, so they were trying to hold everything up.

But the fans in Omaha were wonderful.

But the level you see here with the TV exposure had just started in 1982.

For me, playing in the World Series and in college, it was 40 feet and a white ball.

And the fencing dynamics were a little different. That’s why it’s kind of hard to compare then to now in terms of records.

But there’s no doubt when you see the liveliness of the ball, and the bats, and the technology changes, you see a lot of those records are pretty much set in now’s time.

I miss playing tremendously. But I can say there’s nothing I would want to change in my career. God has blessed me so much with the opportunities to have an imprint in the evolution of women in sport and particularly in the sport of softball.

If you look at my career, when I started at the women’s major level at the age of 13, the youngest ever for women’s majors, I saw the last wooden bat to be used, the first white spikes to be used, they were all kangaroo black shoes. I was able to see the first Pan American Games offered for the sport of women. I saw the first Olympics.

The first NCAA championship. I’ve loved every minute, and when I watch, I might in my mind say, ‘Would I swing at that pitch or not?’ But I don’t say I wish I was out there instead of her. Not at all.

Olympics. That was the dream of so many young girls. A few of us had the opportunity to live that dream for so many. I hope there are some youngsters out there that get the chance to do it again.

I’m an orthopedic surgeon. Licensed in the state of Florida. I was catapulted to a position of executive level. I’m an executive with Southlake Hospital, medical director and director of the National Training Center, a 300-acre sports health and education campus. I’m not doing surgeries now because I am at the executive level.

Without a doubt athletics has impacted my life. The sport of softball, what I love so much, it teaches you so many life lessons. The first is, look at the gifts God has given all of us. You look at that talent, whether it’s your teammates, yourself or your opponents.

Then look at the challenges. In this sport, you fail seven out of 10 times at the plate. And when you fail seven out of 10 times, you’re not good, you’re considered great. So we all are going to make mistakes.

It’s about what you’re going to do when you do make a mistake. Do you come back strong? Those are all life lessons. How to work with other people. How to identify your strength and weaknesses. How to set goals and work hard to achieve those goals.

How to not be afraid to dream big because you know in time if you do work

hard and continue to believe, those dreams can become a reality.

So softball without a doubt has prepared me for life’s challenges and life’s opportunities. A lot of people, they don’t reach their dreams or their goals, because they hold themselves back. They’re afraid.

Well, in this sport, when you step into the batter’s box, it’s you. And only you. And you have a decision to make. Am I going to be aggressive and go after it and play my game, or am I going to allow the opponents to dictate my destiny?

Those are lessons you learn. The other thing is, when you’re out there, when you learn leave it on the field, did you look back at the game or your practice and say, ‘I gave it everything’? Not, ‘Could I have dove for that ball? I might have got it.’ You get rid of all would’ves, should’ves, could’ves. Sport teaches us that. Not just me. All who participate. And if they really keep their minds open, you’re going to learn those life lessons. And every time you step on and off the field, you’re going to be a better person, because you’re realizing those things.

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES Photograph By Jared Leeds | AP Images

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WORD SEARCH POP FLY STRIKEOUT HITTER WALK

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Photograph By bactaviaschools.org

By Horacio Ruiz

Photograph By Sadayuki Mikami | AP Images

At 5 feet, 4 inches, Evans carried her thin and petite frame to become the most dominant swimmer of her time. Her windmill stroke was unorthodox, but it gave the impression she was attacking the water.

“It’s not a classic style you might expect a world-record holder to have,” said coach Bud McAllister. “But underwater, her technique is almost flawless. Above the water, when she’s going fast, her arms are almost straight. That’s because she has such tremendous acceleration that at the end of her stroke her arms come almost straight out of the water.”

Evans was born to swim. She started when she was one year old, literally still in her diapers, when her grandmother thought Evans’s mother was wasting her money by putting baby Janet in swim classes. Her parents had a pool in the backyard, and they felt that all the kids in the house should be able to swim in case they fell into the pool. By the time she was three years old, Evans knew how to do all four swim strokes: the breast, butterfly, freestyle, and backstroke. At the age of 17, Evans was on her way to the Seoul Olympics as a senior in high school and the holder of three world records. At the 1988 Olympics, she would win her first gold medal in the 400-meter individual medley and would break her own world record while winning gold in the 400meter freestyle. Her 400-meter freestyle record would stand for more than 17 years. Evans would later add another gold medal by capturing the 800-meter freestyle. Evans’s 800-meter freestyle record, later set in August 1989, was one of the longest-standing records in swimming history, standing 19 years until it was broken in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Evans enrolled at Stanford University, where she would train for the 1992 Olympics. Her body was also changing as she was making the transition from teenager to adult. Evans grew three inches and added on 15 pounds, making it difficult for her to duplicate her swimming feats from just a few years before. By the

1992 Olympics, when Evans was 20 years old, it became apparent that Evans the woman was not quite as fast as Evans the girl, but there was no mistaking she was still the fastest in the world. Evans had not lost a 400-meter race since 1986, and she was the favorite heading into both the 800-meter and 400-meter freestyle races. Evans raised the stakes on her own success. “Who’s going to remember whether you set a world record or not?” she said just days before competing in 1992. “They’ll just remember what you did at the Olympics.”

At Barcelona, Evans would defend her gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle, but it would be her second-place finish in the 400-meter freestyle event that overshadowed her success.

Evans decided to race in the Olympics once more, certain that the Atlanta Olympics would be the last of her career.

In her final Olympic race and in the same event where she was the world record holder for so long, the 800-meter freestyle, Evans came in sixth place and 11 seconds behind the winner. Evans walked away with a degree of disappointment, but she was ready for her life after athletics.

It has been good to be Evans. After her retirement, she became a highly requested public speaker for corporations, where she has worked for Olympic sponsors.

She has stayed involved in swimming by conducting her own swim clinics and branding swim meets under the Janet Evans Invitational name. In 2001, she was inducted into both the International Swimming Hall of Fame and the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame. In 2004, she was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. In all, she won 45 U.S. National titles, set seven world records, and is the only woman to hold three world records concurrently.

REBECCA ADLINGTON BORN February 17, 1989 HOMETOWN Mansfield,

United Kingdom HEIGHT 5 ft 10 in She won two gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in the 400 m and 800 m, breaking the 19-year-old world record of Janet Evans in the 800 m final.

Adlington was Britain’s first Olympic swimming champion since 1988 and the first British swimmer to win two Olympic gold medals since 1908.

She won bronze medals in the women’s 400 m and 800 m freestyle events in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. With four Olympic medals, Adlington shares the record as Great Britain’s most decorated female Olympian with Katherine Grainger.

Photograph By Clive Rose | Getty Images Europe

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

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Nine-year old Tracy Caulkins watched the television broadcast of the 1972 Olympics in Munich. She formed a dream to swim in the Olympics one day.

Tracy overcame some unusual obstacles to realize that dream, but ultimately her versatility delivered an Olympic actuality.

By Chuck Warner

61 Photograph By Tony Duffy | Getty Images

Tracy spent most of her years growing up in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1976, she swam in her first national championship.

It was the same year that the East German women’s team dominated the competition at the Montreal Olympics. Years later, the DDR system of performance enhancing doping was exposed, but it didn’t stop Tracy and an America group of young girls from surpassing their European rivals.

At the 1977 USA Short-Course Nationals, Tracy demonstrated her versatility by setting American records in the 200-yard individual medley, 400 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke.

At the 1978 World Championships in Berlin, Germany, at just fifteen years old, Tracy won both individual medleys, but also swam the 200-meter butterfly and won that too. She added a freestyle leg on the gold medal 400 freestyle relay and also swam on the winning 400 medley relay.

In 1978, Tracy Caulkins became the youngest athlete to ever win the James E. Sullivan Award as the greatest amateur athlete in America.

Tracy’s Olympic dream was put on hold when the USA boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, Russia because the Soviet Union had launched a military invasion of Afghanistan. Although the boycott occurred at the peak of her career, Tracy continued to swim for the next four years. By 1984, she wasn’t as strong as she once was in breaststroke, butterfly or any single stroke. But she was still so versatile that she won the gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics in the 200-meter individual medley.

Many swimmers begin their experience identifying a particular stroke and distance as their “specialty.” There is much to be learned about the advantages of working toward perfection in all four strokes like Tracy Caulkins: A swimmer’s body goes through changes that may create opportunities in different strokes at various ages.

Training all four strokes can be easier on joints than only one or two strokes.

Racing in all four strokes can be met with rewards of best times in one

stroke, while another is in the process of development.

Even if you’re not the best around in one stroke, if you’re good in all four strokes your individual medley might be superior!

Tracy Caulkins was so versatile that before she completed her swimming career, she set American records in every stroke, recording more than 60 marks and won a record 63 individual national titles, a standard that still stands today.

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

SWIMMING TRIVIA STARTS WITH

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jump in

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Photograph By Richard Heathcote | Getty Images Europe

By Lindsay Silberman

Photograph By Tertius Pickard | AP Images

When Serena Williams walks into the Imperial Suite at The St. Regis on Fifth Avenue, it’s impossible to notice anyone else. In total, there are nine of us-publicists, hotel staff, two photographers, a trainer-but her presence is so powerful, everyone fades into the background. Her chiseled legs are prominently displayed in a lace minidress, and with the help of four-inch black suede stilettos, she stands at about 6-foot-1. Her mane is a wild-butnot-unruly labyrinth of tiny uniform curls.

She’s profoundly intimidating.

But Williams introduces herself with a whisper: “Nice to meet you,” she says, with a handshake. Her gentle demeanor is somewhat at odds with the sometimes explosive, unstoppable force we see on the tennis court. As we sit side by side on a couch in the suite’s living room, I almost forget: The woman to my right is literally the best female tennis player in the universe. The reminder, as if I needed it, came three days later, when Williams won her opening match on the U.S. Open’s first day of play, a near-perfect 6-0, 6-1 victory against 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone.

LINDSAY SILBERMAN What’s your routine like on the day of a big match?

SERENA WILLIAMS If I’m playing at night, I go to the gym in the morning and then just relax. I try not to think about the match, but of course, it’s all I can think about the entire day.

LS Is there a specific meal you always eat before you play?

SW I’m not really a superstitious person, so I always try to mix it up. I’ve been trying to eat a lot healthier-lots of veggies, green juice and fish.

LS Is it impossible for you to go out in public without getting recognized?

SW I could never go to places like [Starbucks] I have to send someone out for me. I really don’t like to say no to pictures, so I always end up saying yes. But if you say

yes to one, then there’s 20 people asking, and then there’s 30. It’s crazy, so I’m in my room a lot. During a tournament I hardly ever leave the hotel. Ever.

LS Do you ever wish that you could live normally and go out wherever you wanted?

SW I don’t complain about it—it’s just something you have to get used to. It’s such a humbling feeling that anyone would even watch me play. I feel so honored, honestly, by anyone who’s a fan of mine and who appreciates me.

LS Have you always been interested in fashion?

SW When I was younger, I made clothes for my dolls. My mom taught me how to sew when I was 2 or 3, so I’ve been sewing for as long as I can remember.

LS You’ve become such a strong, confident role model for women. How does that feel?

SW Well, I wasn’t always confident. I just started feeling comfortable with myself about six or seven years ago. That’s why I tell people that even at 25 or 26, it’s OK if you’re feeling uncomfortable with yourself. I was too. It’s normal. I love who I am, and I encourage other people to love and embrace who they are. But it definitely wasn’t easy-it took me a while.

LS Why was it difficult?

SW I grew up with a lot of sisters-I was the youngest, and I was really thick. My sister Venus was so tall and slim, and just being in a society where a lot of people are really thin, it was hard. Especially as an athlete. No athlete has boobs like me. But I had to learn how to embrace myself and embrace my curves. And that’s something a lot of people can relate to.

VENUS WILLIAMS BORN June 17, 1980 HOMETOWN Lynwood, CA HEIGHT 6 ft 1 in Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 29 in singles as of March 1, 2014. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association three times.

She became the World No. 1 for the first time on February 25, 2002, becoming the first American black woman to achieve this feat during the Open Era. She is credited as changing the women’s game and ushering a new era of power and athleticism.

Her seven Grand Slam singles titles tie her for twelfth on the all time list, and is more than any other active female player except for her younger sister Serena Williams. It runs in the family.

Photograph By Lynne Sladky | AP Images

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

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Martina Navratilova won 56 Grand Slam championships, second only to Margaret Court. It wasn’t easy for Martina Navratilova, born a Czechoslovakian but with the heart of an American. It was hard shaping up and winning a record nine Wimbledons, including six consecutively on the hallowed grass. It was even more difficult winning over the fans. Her public perception advanced from animosity to acceptance to adulation.

By Larry Schwartz

“How gratifying it must have been for her,” Frank Deford wrote. “To have achieved so much, triumphed so magnificently, yet always to have been the other, the odd one, alone: left-hander in a right-handed universe, gay in a straight world; defector, immigrant; the (last?) gallant volleyer among all those duplicate baseline bytes.

“When she came into the game, she was the European among Americans; she leaves as the American among Europeans — and the only grown-up left in the tennis crib. Can’t she ever get it right?”

Evert were locked in their fierce rivalry to be Number One, sports fans saw it was possible for two very different women, physically and emotionally, different in lifestyle and playing style, to both be great champions — and friends.”

In her autobiography, Navratilova wrote, “For the first time in my life I was able to see America without the filter of a Communist education, Communist propaganda. And it felt right. ... I honestly believe I was born to be an American.

With all due respect to my homeland,

She is involved with various charities that benefit animal rights, underprivileged children and gay rights and also plays on the Legends Tour.

“Through all her transformations — of body, hair, clothes, glasses, nationalities, coaches, lovers — the one thing, ever the same, ever distinct, is her voice, which is pitched to shatter a champagne flute,” Deford wrote. “It brought forth sounds of decency and forthrightness, leavened with wit and compassion. Tennis was very blessed to have such a voice for so long, for these times.”

“When she came into the game, she was the European among Americans; she leaves as the American among Europeans.”

Martina became a one-name celebrity, like Michael and Reggie, like Magic and O.J. She defected in 1975, became a U.S. citizen six years later, and dominated tennis in the eighties the way Bill Tilden did in the twenties.

She won only three major singles titles before she was 25, an age when many women players are ready to retire. She finished with 18, including four U.S. Opens, three French and two Australian. Adding in her 38 doubles titles, Navratilova won 56 Grand Slam championships. Only Margaret Smith Court has won more total (62) majors.

Since the Open era began in 1968, no player — male or female — has won more tournaments than Navratilova’s 167 or more matches than her 1,438 (against just 212 defeats). She was ranked No. 1 for 331 weeks, second only to Steffi Graf ’s 373 since rankings began in 1975. Her earnings of $20,344,061, was a record until surpassed by Graf in 1998.

“As a lesbian, Navratilova expanded the dialogue on issues of gender and sexuality in sports. In the years that she and Chris

things never really felt right until the day I got off the plane in Florida.”

“Martina was the first legitimate superstar who literally came out while she was a superstar,” said Donna Lopiano, executive director of the Women’s Sports Foundation.“She exploded the barrier by putting it on the table. She basically said this part of my life doesn’t have anything to do with me as a tennis player. Judge me for who I am.”

But Navratilova’s honesty cost her millions in endorsement opportunities because of corporate homophobia.

It took Navratilova years to stop Evert’s domination of her, but once she did, she controlled the rivalry. After losing 21 of their first 25 matches, serve-and-volleyer Navratilova finished with a 43-37 edge over baseliner Evert.

She officially retired from the tour in 1994, but came back in 1995 to win her third Wimbledon mixed doubles title.

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES Photograph By The Slice

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68 Photograph By Chet White | UK Athletics

SOFTBALL WORLD CUP IX JULY 7 - 12

The World Cup of Softball is a softball tournament held annually at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The competition is governed by the Amateur Softball Association.

The World Cup is a round robin format consisting of six teams from around the world. Each team plays each other once, then the two teams with the best records play in a one-game, winner-take-all championship. In 2010, the field was reduced to 4 teams, with the two teams with the best records playing in a championship game.

The official world competition was first held in 2005 and has been played every

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

year since, with the exception of 2008 due to many national teams’ participation in the Olympics. However, softball has since been discontinued as an Olympic sport, thereby ensuring that the World Cup will remain relevant at the international level for the foreseeable future.

Due to renovations underway at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, the 2014 World Cup of Softball will be played at Bill Barber Park (Deanna Manning Stadium) in conjunction with the Champions Cup, a Southern California ASA showcase.

The World Cup, an International Softball Federation (ISF) sanctioned event, will

include some of the top teams in the world including Team USA, Japan, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Chinese Taipei and Venezuela. So be on the lookout!

DATE TO REMEMBER JUNE 22 Women’s Softball National Team roster will be announced.

TENNIS FRENCH OPEN MAY 25 - JUNE 8

The French Open is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks between late May and early June at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. Named after the French aviator Roland Garros, it is the premier clay court tennis championship event in the world and the second of four annual Grand Slam tournaments; the other three being the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam event held on clay and is the end of the spring clay court season.

WIMBLEDON JUNE 23 - JULY 6

Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, and widely considered the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in London, since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments (Majors), the others being the Australian Open, the French Open (Roland Garros) and the US Open.

Wimbledon is the only Major still played on grass.

Photograph By sporthdwalls.com

By Mark “Scoop” Malinowski

71 Photograph By AP Images

RUNNING INSPIRATIONS “My brothers when I was a young girl. And later it was the European track runners, European middle-distance runners. And later, when I moved on to the roads… I really didn’t have any idols because I was, more or less, the first one. I ran my first marathon here in New York 30 years ago and set the world best. If I look back, the most important thing was my brothers who inspired me to take up running. Then I reached the national level and international level. They were my best training partners, with my husband. So I had three men in my life who were all important.”

HOBBIES/LEISURE ACTIVITIES “Before I was a professional runner I was a school teacher. So, running 110 miles a week, having a full time job as a school teacher – I didn’t really have time for a hobby. But in the last 5-10 years I’ve been involved in getting people to be aware of the importance of being active. Because inactivity is our biggest health threat. I’m motivating young people, adults, to be more active in their daily life.”

FIRST MARATHON MEMORY “My first New York City Marathon in 1978 here in New York. It was terrible even though I won it and set the world best. I crossed the finish line and said, Never again. Because I was a track runner, a world class middle-distance runner. I was talked into running the marathon by my husband. I didn’t come into the race being prepared as a marathoner because I didn’t have the long runs. I had to pay for that. I couldn’t walk for the next three days.”

MOST PAINFUL MOMENT “My first New York City Marathon.”

PRE-RACE FEELING “Think about the race, running it in my head several times, being nervous.”

FAVORITE SPORTS OUTSIDE RUNNING “Cross country skiing. I watch the Tour de France. Endurance sports is something I enjoy watching.”

GREATEST SPORTS MOMENT “Oh, on the track, winning the World Cup in 3000 meters in 1977. In the marathon, winning the world championship in Helsinki. In cross-country, winning the world championship in 1983 in Gateshead, England. I won it several times, five times, but that was the victory that meant the most to me.”

FAVORITE ATHLETES TO WATCH “I watch all major marathons. I like Paula Radcliffe. Paula has a passion for the sport, she is a tough woman. She has been through ups and downs, but she is still the same Paula that I met many, many years ago, before she became a world class athlete. When she was still running track in England.”

CAREER ACCOMPLISHMENTS Winner of nine New York City Marathons (1979-1980, 1982-1986, 1988) and two London Marathons (1983, 1986); 1972 and 1976 Olympian (1500 meters); 1984 Olympic silver medalist in marathon; 1988 Olympian (marathon).

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

By Rebecca Feldhaus and Seth Helton

Joyner-Kersee began running at age nine.

She says that she never expected to see herself in the history books. Still, she was very dedicated even at nine; setting up a makeshift practice area with sand carried from different parts of town via potato chip bags. “When I was 14, I remember watching the 1976 Olympic games. Thats when I set my sights on trying to make an Olympic team,” she said.

In high school, Joyner-Kersee dreamed of a future playing basketball for UCLA. Despite doing well in school, she was unsure if she would get accepted because college scouts did not visit East St. Louis often. That changed when her high school became state champions in basketball; bringing her to the attention of UCLA. She attended UCLA on a basketball scholarship and ran on the track and field team additionally. Her freshman year was a rough start, she said. After suffering a few mishaps in track and field, the disheartened athlete called her high school track coach for advice, and was surprised when he told her something unexpected: “ You went there for an education first’ he told me,” she said.

His advice inspired her to push through.

The hard work paid off when JoynerKersee qualified for the 1984 Summer Olympics. A hamstring injury just before the games almost caused her to sit them

out. Still, she managed to bring home the silver medal in the heptathlon (a series of seven events including throwing, running, and jumping competition).

Her performance in 1984 laid a strong foundation for Joyner-Kersee to push herself to be the best. She felt that her leg injury was no excuse; that she lost the gold because she was not all she could be. “I worked on improving all seven events. You have to have a dream, be persistent and know and work on your weaknesses so you can be one of the best,” Joyner-Kersee said.

That hard work paid off and earned her two gold medals in the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympics.

Joyner-Kersee opened the floor for questions after speaking about her historic athletic career. Towards the end of the question and answer session, a man in the audience stood up to thank Jackie JoynerKersee for the care and love she shows her fans. He said that he would never forget how she had interacted with her fans after she tied the world record in 1987, taking time to talk and take pictures with all of them. The memory of Joyner-Kersee’s compassion had stayed in his mind since he met her almost 20 years ago.

The man’s story echoes a point JoynerKersee made earlier, that: “Giving back is not always financial. You need to give your time too.”

BABE DIDRIKSON BORN June 26, 1911 HOMETOWN Port Arthur, TX TURNED PRO 1947 Mildred Ella “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias was an American athlete who achieved outstanding success in track and field, golf and basketball.

Didrikson gained world fame in track and field and All-American status in basketball. She played organized baseball and softball and was an expert diver, roller-skater, and bowler. She won two gold medals and one silver medal for track and field in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics.

She was named the 10th Greatest North American Athlete of the 20th Century by ESPN, and the 9th Greatest Athlete of the 20th Century by AP.

Photograph By Hulton Archives | Getty Images

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES Photograph By John Bazemore | AP Images

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PHOTO HUNT FIND THE 7 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PHOTOS

Background Photograph By myhudsoncounty.com Inset Photographs By Andy Lyons | Getty Images

“To be true to one’s self is the ultimate test in life. To have the courage and sensitivity to follow your hidden dreams and stand tall against the odds that are bound to fall in your path. Life is too short and precious to be dealt with in any other fashion. This thought I hold dear to my heart, and I always try to be true to myself and others that I encounter along the way.” — Flo Hyman

By Chuck Ray

77 Photograph By AP Images

Volleyball community, let’s go ahead and get this straight…

If the word “Flo” is mentioned amongst junior players, the players will likely tell the coach, “The Club Can’t Handle Me Right Now“. The players are not talking about the volleyball club they play for (although some might believe it). They are reciting a little Flo Rida, Grammy Award winning rapper: You may have heard the song on the van or bus trip to a match.

When the word “Flo” in the volleyball world is mentioned, our first thought should not be the “flow” of the game.

“Our team has a really good flow right now.

The rhythm of the team is gelling. We are passing well, setting nectar, and banging balls. We are really flowing.”

Flo deserves the recognition with the game of volleyball as “The Babe”, Arnold Palmer, and Billie Jean King to their respective sports. Flo Rida nor any volleyball club could handle Flo Hyman, right now or ever…

Flo is Flora Hyman. “It is impossible to quantify the impact Flo Hyman had on the sport of volleyball with just words. She was the most famous volleyball player of

the time, not just here in the United States, but also worldwide.” states the Volleyball Hall of Fame. In 1985, she was named one of the All Time Great Volleyball Players. Arie Sellinger, USA Volleyball National Team coach called her “The Goddess of Volleyball“. Long before the likes of volleyball legends Karch Kiraly and Misty May made volleyball a popular spectator sport, no star loomed larger over the game than Flo Hyman. A towering 6’5” presence on the US National Team, she was named All World and selected as the Most Valuable Player in countless international tournaments, as well as being named to numerous All-Star Teams.

For more than a decade she reached these accolades before her untimely death, when she collapsed during a match in 1986 at the tender age of 31.

“Pushing yourself over the barrier is a habit.” Flo was quoted in a 1985 New York Times Article, and barriers she conquered, such as spiking a volleyball over 110 mph. A specialty of Flo’s was the “Flying Cluthman”, a fast, hard-impacting spike that was recorded at over 110 mph. Known for her powerful hitting and endless determination, Flo was most notably recognized

for her selfless attitude, her presence, and contagious energy. “Flo was more than a great athlete who pioneered in her sport and achieved so many firsts… She left us as she would have wanted us to remember her, fighting hard for the success that only commitment would realize and encouraging her teammates to seek and attain those lofty goals with her. She was and will continue to be an example that we all should emulate as we pass through life no matter what path we choose to walk. We will never see her like again.

The Women’s Sports Foundation honored Flo by creating the Flo Hyman Memorial Award presented to the female sportsperson, adjudged to have captured the dignity, spirit, and commitment to excellence. Great athletes such as Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Martina Navratilova, and ironically, Billie Jean King, have won with the Flo Hyman Award.

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

By Jordan Schultz

Fresh off capturing their third consecutive Olympic title in women’s beach volleyball, May, 35, and Walsh, 33, caught up with The Huffington Post to discuss May’s retirement plans, Walsh’s plans for the 2016 Games in Rio and just how special their final journey was together.

JORDAN SCHULTZ What was the toughest part of the final match?

MISTY MAY-TREANOR I think playing another U.S. team in the gold medal match is the ultimate, but it’s always nerve-wracking playing against your own countrymen. We knew that team had a good offense and they’re really good servers. They’ve been able to come

back from being down before and that was apparent when they played Brazil in the semi-finals. It was very important that anytime we side out, we gotta side out on the first one. Don’t give them any room to come back.

KERRI WALSH JENNINGS I think the mental challenge of yesterday was huge.

An Olympic final is crazy in itself, and then you add the component of playing a team from your own country. It just added so much pressure and anxiety. That day, we walked around in the hotel and we’d seen them walking by. I walked into lunch and I saw them watching video on us. It was really, really intense; it’s unusual. That being said, it’s such a cool situation, and

I’m really proud of both of our teams and our country. I kind of underestimated how intense it would be.

JS Had you played them recently?

KJ Yeah, we beat them in Switzerland in three games, but it’s always a really tough match against them. It’s always back and forth, so we were really happy beating them in two, decisively.

JS Thirty minutes leading up to the match were you still talking strategy or just locked in by that point?

MT I think strategy is really important.

We’d get to the venue early enough and talk with our coach, but I think with our

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If all good things must come to an end, then in the case of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings, at least it took a very, very, very long time.

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES Photograph By Brian Peterson | Star Tribute

80 Photograph By Getty Images

game — because communication is so important — even during warm-ups, we’re still going over different strategies. What do they do on this attack? Where are they coming from? We talk strategy before warming up until the end of the match.

JS How does this compare to the other two golds. Is it a lot different?

KJ I don’t want to undermine the first two gold medals, because they’re obviously what got us here. But this for many reasons is so much more special. I think it’s just the 11 years we’ve had together, all the ups and downs and, in particular, these past two years have been really, really special.

Getting back together with Misty absolutely changed my life and it changed our relationship forever. It’s just deeper and more real, and we’ve really cherished the journey the past two years. To finish on top the way we did, I love this gold medal and I’m the most proud of it.

JS Will you be wearing these medals or keeping them in the background?

MT Just through TSA and Customs and maybe lines at Disneyland, movie lines.

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

KJ These are actually really heavy. They’re not that easy to wear.

more time to come see her outside of volleyball, which I’m excited about.

JS How much will you two keep in touch moving forward?

KJ We have a commitment to each other, and it’s not always easy with family to go and see each other all the time, but you need to make it a priority, and Misty is going to be a priority for my whole life. I want my kids and myself to have Misty as a physical presence.

JS Kerri, how different will it be for you to have a new teammate?

KJ I have aspirations beyond today in this sport, and I want to play in Rio in 2016 and win a gold medal there. That being said, I can’t imagine it. I feel a little bit brokenhearted to even think about trying to do any of this without Misty. It doesn’t seem possible at this moment right now and that’s been building in me today.

JS Misty, is it harder to walk away from the sport or this team?

MT I think from this team it’s more difficult, because of what Kerri and I share, but I don’t really feel like I’m walking away. I’m just stepping off the sand. If she needs somebody to serve her balls, I’ll be there and by her side the rest of the way.

But as far as competitively, it’s just my time to focus on other things. I won’t be out of the sport whatsoever, whether that be coaching or helping her get that other gold medal. I will miss the training sessions that I have with Kerri and the traveling that I have with Kerri. I’m going to actually have

JS Misty, how will you stay active away from the sport, and what advice would you give to young women trying to pursue volleyball?

MT One is to have a dream and really have the passion for what you’re doing, and to be excited about it every time you’re out there. I plan on still being active and I want to share my knowledge with the next generation of players, and that’s what I’m looking forward to. I would like to instill in people just to work hard. As long as they keep at it, their dreams will happen.

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Dancing, we love to dance a lot during our workouts. It’s good exercise and it keeps things fun.

OUR CHOICE OF MUSIC We love hip hop and anything really upbeat to help us through our workouts OUR FAVORITE ARTISTS Kanye West, Katy Perry and of course the great, Michael Jackson OUR FAVORITE BOOKS We both have been totally into The Hunger Game Series OUR FAVORITE TV SHOW Dancing With The Stars, The Voice and of course Yo Gabba Gabba!, we do have kids after all.

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES Photograph By Georgios Kefalas | AP Images | Keystone

82 Photograph By Alexander Hassenstein | Getty Images Europe

TRACK AND FIELD USATF OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

PREFONTAINE CLASSIC

JUNE 26 - 29

The USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since 1992, in years which feature a Summer Olympics or a World Championships in Athletics, the championships serve as a way of selecting the best of the best athletes for those competitions.

Visit usatf.org for more information and further resources if you are interested

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

MAY 30 - 31 in any track and field event. That’s the beauty of track and field, there are so many options, you are bound to find something you love.

Also, be sure to check back on the website regularly for upcoming events, track and field has a lot of various events year round that you can follow.

The Prefontaine Classic is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Previously one of the IAAF Grand Prix events, it is now part of the IAAF Diamond League.

Visit diamondleague-eugene.com for more information!

VOLLEYBALL AVP BEACH VOLLEYBALL TOUR MAY 29 - SEPT 28

AVP, or The Association of Volleyball Professionals, is a beach volleyball tour which takes place throughout the United States. The 2014 season will consist of seven tournaments, beginning in mid-May and continuing through mid-September.

Visit avp.com for more information about the tournaments and locations.

Beach volleyball is always fun and exciting to watch. It’s always amazing to me to see a team of 2 be able to spike, volley and run around on sand like that. It takes great endurance and skill.

Photograph By Per Breiehagen | Getty Images

By Philip Hersh

Photograph By Martin Meissner | AP Images

For several weeks before the 2006 Winter Olympics, I prepared a valedictory on Michelle Kwan’s expecting the story to appear after she finished the free skate in Turin, Italy.

Instead, it made the Chicago Tribune the day before the competition began, which was one day after Kwan withdrew with a groin injury.

That meant she finished her career as the most decorated skater never to win an Olympic gold medal, a gap in her resume Kwan noted at the press conference when she discussed the withdrawal.

PHILIP HERSH Which rival impressed you most during your career?

MICHELLE KWAN Irina Slutskaya.

We were representing (old rivals) Russia and the United States, and we came up at the same time. We were first (Kwan) and third (Slutskaya) at the World Juniors in 1994, and we had parallel careers all the way from 1994 to 2005/2006. We were both able to be very serious; in the locker room, there was always a very thick tension because we were so focused and in our zone. But we were able to be on tour together and joke around. We definitely

“Michelle’s legacy still is incomparable, her consistency and great level of artistry and athletic ability set her apart.”

“It has always been a dream to win the Olympics,” Kwan said then, breaking into tears. “My parents ... arrived last night and want me to be happy and for their baby to win gold, have her dreams come true.

“I have tried my hardest. If I don’t win the gold, it’s OK. I’ve had a great career.

I’ve been very lucky.”

As I wrote in that valedictory, Kwan did not need that Olympic title to become the most popular and beloved skater the United States has ever seen.

“Michelle’s legacy still is incomparable,” said 1988 Olympic champion Brian Boitano. “Her consistency and great level of artistry and athletic ability set her apart.”

“If people take time to look at her body of work, that equalizes the one thing she doesn’t have.”

I covered that entire body of work — the two Olympic medals, the five world titles, the nine U.S. titles, the dominance of the post-compulsory figures era in women’s skating. I have mentioned her in 507 Chicago Tribune stories.

Rather than write another to mark the hardly unexpected Hall of Fame honor, I have chosen to let Kwan speak for herself.

rooted for one another. It was like, “Let the best person win.”

PH What is the greatest women’s skating performance you ever have seen, live or on live television?

MK Oksana Baiul at the 1993 World Championships, when she came out of nowhere and lit the world on fire. She was 15, and it was so inspirational that she was able to win worlds at that age, and that motivated me. It was the way she performed. I remember Frank (Carroll, her longtime coach) came back from that worlds and said, “You’ve got to watch this girl.” She was able to make you forget it was a program with elements, so much fun to watch, so much energy. Even her exhibition program, when she skated to Michael Jackson, I’ve never seen anything like it. I just wanted her to keep on skating.

could have picked a lot of skaters to get on the ice and do that with, and he picked me, which seemed kind of cool at first.

I remember people yelling and I was like, “What’s going on?” Then I saw him on the ice, and I thought about what happens if he has a gun. For a second, I thought I better get off the ice and run for my life.

Then seeing him stagger around the ice, I realized if he had a gun he couldn’t aim it, or if he had a knife, he couldn’t get to me.

PH What is the one thing you will remember most about the sport?

MK To me, when people ask, “What was it like performing? What was it like competing?”, I remember the stillness on the ice while starting in front of that large crowd and then having it end with a standing ovation. I watch ballets, and I see the ballerina dance, and I stand and applaud, and I’m so excited. It’s like a roller-coaster ride for the ballerina or the skater until the end. I remember being that person, and I can still bring up those emotions. It’s one of those things not many people can experience.

PH What will be or already has been the lasting impact of skating on your life and post-skating career?

MK During the really intense moments, being able to remind yourself to breathe and take one thing at a time. You can’t completely compare them to other things — but in a presentation at school or traveling abroad and speaking to a big crowd, I could feel the butterflies and the same feelings I had in skating. It helps you cope with similar challenges.

PH What is the funniest thing that happened to you as a skater?

MK It was probably during the world championships in Germany (2004) when I was warming up before the long program, and a guy came on the ice in a tutu. He

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By Jenn Savedge

“Commitment. Honor. Unity. That is how Julie Chu describes her family philosophy and her work ethic. ” Easy enough to remember as it’s modeled after her last name. And with such a mantra, it’s no wonder that this 31-year-old veteran forward is making a name for herself as a member of the team to beat in women’s ice hockey at this year’s Olympic Games in Sochi.

How did Chu find her way into the unlikely world of women’s ice hockey?

Especially since that world didn’t even really exist when she was a kid?

When Chu was 8 years old, she and her sister signed up for figure skating lessons, but as she explains in this interview with ESPN, she wasn’t the most graceful of skaters, and she couldn’t do any of the moves. But she was impressed with what she saw happening on the other side of the rink — boys playing ice hockey. As Chu tells it, “I remember wanting that camaraderie, wanting to be part of something more dynamic and fun. It only took me two months to ditch figure skating and switch to hockey.”

Chu has taken home a medal every year she has been in the Olympics — silver in 2002 and 2010 and bronze in 2006.

The U.S. hasn’t brought home a gold in women’s ice hockey since the sport’s inaugural event at the Olympics in 1998.

Here are six fun facts about Julie Chu: 1. 2014 was her fourth Olympic games— and that’s something considering that women’s ice hockey didn’t exist at the Olympic level until 1998.

2. She has a pretty big celebrity crush on Will Smith.

3. She deferred her acceptance into Harvard so that she could compete in the 2002 Olympic games.

4. She went on to graduate with honors.

5. She currently holds the NCAA points record for her time at Harvard University.

6. Favorite sports movies? “Rudy.” (And of course, “The Mighty Ducks!”

CAMMI GRANATO BORN March 25, 1971 HOMETOWN Downers Grove, IL HEIGHT 5’ 7” WEIGHT 141 lbs Cammi began playing for the US womens hockey team in 1990 and led TEAM USA to the first Olympic gold medal in women’s hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. That raised the profile of women’s hockey in the USA and made Cammi one of the most recognizable female athletes in America. She was picked to be the US flag bearer during the Olympics’ closing ceremony and her picture was even put on a box of Wheaties.

Cammi has now become involved in teaching girls the game of hockey. She loves working with kids and runs a hockey camp for girls with the help of her brother, Tony, who played 14 seasons in the NHL.

Photograph By Mary Kushnak

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES Photograph By Harry How | Getty Images

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THANK YOU FOR READING THE FIRST SHEROES FEATURE. WE HOPE THEY PROVIDE YOU WITH SOME INSPIRATION TO GET MOVING AND ENJOY SPORTS, WHICH ARE NOT ONLY HEALTHY FOR YOU, BUT FUN, SO LOOK UP WHAT LEAGUES ARE IN YOUR AREA AND HAVE SOME FUN!

Photograph By Rusty Kennedy

SUZANNE LENGLEN 1914

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Suzanne Lenglen, at 15 years old, won the World Hard Court Championships making her the youngest winner of a major championship in tennis history, a record she still holds.

SONJA HENIE 1912-1969

Sonja Henie was a three-time Olympic Champion in Ladies Singles, a ten-time World Champion and a six-time European Champion. Henie won more Olympic and World titles than any other ladies figure skater.

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES Photographs By Corbis-Bettmann

BABE DIDRIKSON 1938

Babe Didrikson was the first woman to play in a PGA Tour event. She played in the 1938 and 1945 Los Angeles Open.

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ALTHEA GIBSON 1956

Althea Gibson became the first person of color to win a Grand Slam title (the French Open). In all she won 11 Grand Slam tournaments, including six doubles titles.

BILLE JEAN KING 1973

Bille Jean King Defeated Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes.” King won 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.

Photographs By Corbis-Bettmann | Getty Images | AP Images

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

JANET GUTHRIE 1977

Janet Guthrie became the first woman to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500. She finished ninth at the Indy with a team she formed, owned and managed.

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MANONE RHEAUME 1992

Manone Rheaume became the first woman to play in a regular-season professional hockey game. She was goalie for the Atlanta Knights in the IHL.

VIOLET PALMER 1997

Violet Palmer became the first woman to officiate and NBA game, between the Dallas Mavericks and Vancouver Grizzlies.

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES Photographs By janetguthrie.com | therichest.com | Getty Images

PAT SUMMITT 2009

Pat Summitt coached the Tennessee women’s basketball team from 19742012. In 2012 she recorded her 1,000th win as a coach in a game against Georgia.

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SUMMER OLYMPICS 2012

For the first time, the U.S. sends more female athletes than male athletes to the Olympic Games in London.

SHANNON EASTIN 2012

Shannon Eastin was the first woman to be an official in an NFL regular season game, between the Detroit Lions and St. Louis Rams.

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES Photographs By Kelly Kline | Odd Anderson-Getty Images | Max Faulkner - Getty Images

94 Photograph By Jamie Squire | Getty Images

ANSWERS SWIMMING TRIVIA PAGES 64-65

RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

AQUATICS BREAST CRAWL DIVE EAT FINS GOGGLES HYDROGEN IM JELLYFISH KICK

LAP MEET NAVY OCEAN PHELPS QUICKLY RIPTIDE SHALLOW TEAM VELOCITY WAVE

CROSSWORD PUZZLE PAGES 30-31

ACROSS

1

2

5

B A C K C 8 O F U R T

Z O U N E

C 3 R E B O D 4 G N O T 6 H A R L E M L R T 7 E T W O F E N S I V E 9 C F D 11 F I V H I N F N I T G C E 12 Q U A R T E R L N

3. Ball that bounces off the rim or backboard when the shot is missed.

6. The Globetrotter’s home city is _ _ _ _ _ _.

7. A field goal made from inside the 3-point line is worth _ _ _ points.

8. Front court: the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ team’s side of the court.

11. In high school or college basketball, a player is disqualified after committing _ _ _ _ personal fouls.

12. In professional basketball, a game lasts for four 12-minute _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.

DOWN 10

1. The two types of defense in basketball are _ _ _ _

D E F E N S E

and man-to-man.

2. A standard basketball team consists of two guards, two forwards, and a _ _ _ _ _ _.

4. Illegal interference with the ball when the ball is above the basket.

5. The defensive team’s side of the court.

7. An individual player can commit a personal foul or a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ foul.

9. In professional basketball, the halftime break lasts for _ _ _ _ _ _ _ minutes.

10. The team that does not have the ball is on _ _ _ _ _ _ _.

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WORD SEARCH PAGES 58-59

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PHOTO HUNT PAGES 76-77

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RISING UP | TAKING NAMES

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