Women’s NCAA teams bring people together. Let’s build them up

In sports, the great ones do not let outside influences distract them from their goals. The Women of NCAA Division 1 basketball let the numbers speak for themselves.

Women’s college basketball has captured the hearts and admiration of people beyond the average sports fan. Followers are not fitting neatly into a typical “sports fan” box these days. This trend is happening more and more in sports as social media and streaming services make sports accessible to a wider demographic. This phenomenon is a feather in the United States’ cap as our sports, our public spaces, our culture are for everybody to enjoy.

The players and coaches participating in March Madness are from such different backgrounds, bringing such different skill sets and different experiences, it is easy to find someone to admire and respect.

Basketball builds community. You play side-by-side with someone who does not necessarily look like you, belong to the same religion or have the same political opinions. This builds acceptance and open-mindedness.

In 1989, when I was 12, I saw the University of Tennessee play Auburn at the Tacoma Dome. My sister and I were able to approach the players on the sidelines; they made time for us, they joked with us and made us feel special even when they were getting ready to play what for some of them was the biggest game of their lives.

Recently, articles written by men in the Los Angeles Times (Ben Bolch) and The Washington Post (Kent Babb) have attempted to distract from and degrade women’s basketball players and coaches. Some of these players and coaches are going to be in the record books. Some have already won multiple national championships; some are going on to the WNBA. I somehow doubt these two men will be able to distract these powerful women.

A powerful person has the ability to celebrate other people and their accomplishments. To say to a person who has worked hard and become very successful, “Great job, I admire you, I admire your strength, your inner and outer beauty, your tenacity, and your God-given talent.” The people who can lift others up are the strongest among us. The ones who try to drag others down are the weakest.