Spanning the first half of the twentieth century, Deportes uncovers the hidden experiences of Mexican male and female athletes, teams and leagues and their supporters who fought for a more level playing field on both sides of the border. Despite a widespread belief that Mexicans shunned physical exercise, teamwork or “good sportsmanship,” they proved that they could compete in a wide variety of sports at amateur, semiprofessional, Olympic and professional levels. Some even made their mark in the sports world by becoming the “first” Mexican athlete to reach the big leagues and win Olympic medals or world boxing and tennis titles. These sporting achievements were not theirs alone, an entire cadre of supporters—families, friends, coaches, managers, promoters, sportswriters, and fans—rallied around them and celebrated their athletic success. The Mexican nation and community, at home or abroad, elevated Mexican athletes to sports hero status with a deep sense of cultural and national pride. Alamillo argues that Mexican-origin males and females in the United States used sports to empower themselves and their community by developing and sustaining transnational networks with Mexico. Ultimately, these athletes and their supporters created a “sporting Mexican diaspora” that overcame economic barriers, challenged racial and gender assumptions, forged sporting networks across borders, developed new hybrid identities and raised awareness about civil rights within and beyond the sporting world.

From its humble beginnings in 1887, when it was invented in a Chicago boat club and played with a broomstick, to the rise in the 1940s and 1950s of professional-caliber company-sponsored teams that toured the country in style, softball's history is as diverse as it is fascinating. Though it's thought of today as a woman's sport, fastpitch softball's early years featured several male stars, such as the vaudeville-esque Eddie Feigner, whose signature move was striking out batters while blindfolded. But because softball was one of the only team sports that women were allowed to play competitively, it took on added importance for female athletes. This book chronicles its history.

From the Diary ofAnne Frank to Anne of Green Gables, young women love to read stories about real girls who faced incredible challenges and shared indelible truths about the human spirit. Jan Cleere has compiled a wonderful collection of such stories, for a wide range of readers from ten-year-old girls to older readers fascinated by women’s history. Meet Laurette Lovell, born in 1869 with a severe leg deformity, who at age thirteen started on her path to be a renowned pottery artist and painter. Edith Bass, born in 1896, began wrangling mules before the age of nine, leading pack strings up and down the dangerous paths into the Grand Canyon. These two young women, and nine others, are profiled magnificently alongside historic photographs. Today’s readers love to read bold adventures. They’ll never forget these stories of real girls who conquered the West in their own style, spending most or all of their childhood in Arizona. Jan Cleere is a historical researcher and the author of More Than Petticoats: Remarkable Nevada Women, among other books. She lives in Oro Valley, Arizona.

This truly monumental work maps the literature of women's studies, covering thousands of titles and Web sites in 19 subject areas published between 1985 and 1999. Intended as a reference and collection development tool, this bibliography provides a guide for women's studies information for each title along with a detailed, often evaluative review. The annotations summarize each work's content, its importance or contribution to women's studies, and its relationship to other titles on the subject. Core titles and titles that are out of print are noted, and reviews indicate which titles are appropriate as texts or supplemental texts. This definitive guide to the literature of women's studies is a must-purchase for academic libraries that support women's studies programs, and it is a useful addition to any academic or public library that endeavors to represent the field. A team of subject specialists has taken on the immense task of documenting publications in the area of women's studies in the last decades of the 20th century. The result is this truly monumental work, which maps the field, covering thousands of titles and Web sites in 19 subject areas published between 1985 and 1999. Intended as a reference and collection development tool, this bibliography provides a guide for women's studies information for each title along with a detailed, often evaluative review. The annotations summarize each work's content, its importance or contribution to women's studies, and its relationship to other titles on the subject. Most reviews cite and describe similar and contrasting titles, substantially extending the coverage. Core titles and titles that are out of print are noted, and reviews indicate which titles are appropriate as texts or supplemental texts. Taking up where the previous volume by Loeb, Searing, and Stineman left off, this is the definitive guide to the literature of women's studies. It is a must purchase for academic libraries that support women's studies programs; and a welcome addition to any academic or public library that endeavors to represent the field.

The book focuses on how, when, where and why the US-based professional sports leagues extend their brands and penetrate markets in nations across the globe. The book examines the strategies, progress and expectations of each league despite the cultural, economic and political barriers that exist between and within countries and areas. It offers a model of the sports business and, where appropriate, the emergence, evolution and growth of prominent women's sports leagues are documented. This book is unique as there are no other academic publications that study and report the global ambitions of this special group of organizations in one volume. Readers such as college and university sports history, management, marketing and international business professors, students and researchers can use and apply the book, as either a teaching supplement, reference and/or literature source. It will also appeal to targeted groups beyond the academic community with strategic economic incentives to learn about sports capitalism, such as sports entrepreneurs and league officials.

Joan Joyce will always be known as the unbeatable pitcher for the Raybestos Brakettes and the Connecticut Falcons, whose numerous career records--including an incredible 150 no-hitters and 50 perfect games--made her the best in the game. However, she was also one of the most gifted athletes the state has ever produced, as she also set records in basketball and later went on to a stellar career in the LPGA. A true pioneer of women's sports, Joan is currently the head softball coach at Florida Atlantic University. Join author Tony Renzoni as he profiles the multifaceted career of one of the country's greatest athletes.

There has been an explosion in the quantity of sports history literature published in recent years, making it increasingly difficult to keep abreast of developments. The annual number of publications has increased from around 250 to 1,000 a year over the last decade. This is due in part to the fact that during the late 1980s and 90s, many clubs, leagues and governing bodies of sport have celebrated their centenaries and produced histories to mark this occasion and commemorate their achievements. It is also the result of the growing popularity and realisation of the importance of sport history research within academe. This international bibliography of books, articles, conference proceedings and essays in the English language is a one-stop for the sports historian to know what is new.

Connecticut has a long history of producing outstanding sports teams and athletes. Two of the greatest teams to come out of the state are the legendary Brakettes and Falcons women's fast-pitch softball teams. In their seventy-six-year history, the Brakettes are considered the most successful and longest-running organized women's sports franchise of all time. With forty national championships, three world championships and eleven Olympians, their dynasty remains synonymous with softball excellence. Likewise, the Connecticut Falcons were the most dominant team of the Women's Professional Softball League, winning the championship title all four years of the WPS existence. The most famous and iconic product of these two teams has been Waterbury's legendary Joan Joyce, who is considered by many experts to be the greatest female athlete in sports history. Join author Tony Renzoni as he interviews former players and highlights the accomplishments of these two renowned teams and their legendary athletes.