Featuring a new preface by the author, this book looks closely at college sports and how they shape the athletic and personal landscape for girls and young women. Filled with interviews from female athletes of all ages, this book chronicles how college and youth sports have become more corporate, to the detriment of participants.

A book for athletes, parents and coaches that explores controversial and important issues about girls' athletics in today's culture.

This collection of fascinating biographies of outstanding women athletes past and present including superstars such as Nadia Comaneci, Mia Hamm, Jackie-Joyner Kersee, Danica Patrick, and Serena and Venus Williams. Icons of Women's Sport identifies and examines the individuals who have impacted history, challenged the status quo, influenced sport culture, and garnered wide public interest. Including stars from the past and present, ranging from Babe Didrikson Zaharias and Billie Jean King to Dara Torres and Venus and Serena Williams, the featured athletes are iconic not only because of their achievements in the sports arena, but also because of their contributions to society: advancing cultural diversity and gender equity, breaking class barriers, and transcending stereotypes. The book contains biographies of 36 women athletes—American and international—who excelled in competitive sports from the post-World War I era through the modern era in a dozen different sports. Icons of Women's Sport spotlights athletes across a wide range of women's sports, with appropriate attention given to the major sports. Readers will enjoy learning about stars from both amateur and professional sports arenas, including Olympic athletes, as well as female competitors who have reached the top of their game in newer arenas such as golf and snowboarding.

As urban life and women's roles changed in the 19th century, so did attitudes towards physical health and womanhood. In this case study of health reform in Boston between 1830 and 1900, Martha H. Verbrugge examines three institutions that popularized physiology and exercise among middle-class women: The Ladies' Physiological Institute, Wellesley College, and the Boston Normal School of Gymnastics. Against the backdrop of a national debate about female duties and well-being, this book follows middle-class women as they learned about health and explored the relationship between fitness and femininity. Combining medical and social history, Verbrugge looks at the ordinary women who participated in health reform and analyzes the conflicting messages--both feminist and conservative--projected by the concept of "able-bodied womanhood."

This book is a comprehensive interdisciplinary reference for women's sports medicine. It avoids a medical bias and instead focuses on prevention, rehabilitation, and wellness. It provides an introduction to women's sport participation, discusses athletic women across the life span, details injury management issues by anatomical region, and emphasizes the importance of health and wellness. Women's Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation is full of original research, epidemiological and physiological information, differential diagnoses, treatment algorithms, practical and effective rehabilitation techniques, and case studies. This resource is a must-have for all health care professionals involved in the assessment and treatment of athletic injuries in women.

Providing key data, insights, and ways of thinking about women and sports, this book is an excellent resource for high school and undergraduate students as well as for sport organizations serving girls and women. Women are participating in sports in record numbers, and thanks in part to Title IX and a growing interest in women's sports, they're breaking records and achieving remarkable success in sports in every conceivable manner. However, women still struggle for equitable treatment in a variety of sports and face different obstacles than do their male counterparts. How can these issues be solved? Are women in sports being treated fairly? This book provides a comprehensive yet accessible overview of the state of women's participation in sports by referencing both current events and research. Additionally, it offers a breadth of information pertaining to work in sports made available to girls and women. Key aspects include a detailed history of women in sports since 1900 as well as a discussion of current issues surrounding their participation in high school and college athletics, recreational sports, physical activity, and leadership in sports organizations. In particular, the material not only recounts history and analyzes issues but also presents perspectives as to how and why sports continue to be simultaneously a means of empowerment and a conduit for the marginalization of girls and women.

A critical analysis of women's participation in sports has not received the proper attention which it deserves from most of the Indian scholars. Men have played their dominant role in society as well as in sports which smacks of masculine superiority whereas women have been sidelined to lay a minor role. They were considered delicate, submissive and emotional. For these "clinging vine" creatures to compete in sports was unthinkable because they occupy a secondary status in Indian society. Moreover, society does not attach value to bring women into the sports field. The evidence of what the status of women was in the earliest history is found in the sacred Hindu texts, the Vedas namely Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Atharva Veda and Saam Veda. Each one of these texts is quite voluminous, the Rig Veda being the largest and the oldest. It is important to note that the hymns contained in these texts were composed by various eminent sages and during different time periods.