It isn’t a surprise that women today are excelling in sports. It isn’t only the men because women can also be amazing athletes. Female participation in sports dramatically rose in the twentieth century since there were significant changes in modern societies that showed equality in genders when it came to the sports scene. Depending on the country though, the level of participation and performance still varies. But still, there is an appreciation and acceptance of women in sports in our time and day.
As we talk sports, women pretty much can be included in all types of sports. But the Top 5 female sports in our time are widely researched about. In the United States, these are the popular sports that women are starting to excel at which a high level of participation. There has been an increase in appreciation and passion in sports for women as the decade pass. Nearly all schools actually require their students to participate in sports so that makes girls exposed to sports at a very young age.
1. Soccer
There is a reported estimate of around 29 million women participants in the world of soccer. If men dominate in soccer until today, women can also stand up and say that they can play just as well. In the United States, there is a range of 18 million individuals that play soccer, and 40% of those people are actually women. The reason for the rise of this top female sport is a big thanks to the U.S. Women’s National Team.
The U.S team won the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1999 and everything went up from thereon. With that event, there has been a significant rise in the participation of women in this sport. A few of the world-famous female soccer players are as follows; Lisa Blumenfeld, Mia Hamm, and Birgit Prinz.
2. Tennis
In the U.S, tennis has been very popular especially today. An estimated 30 million people are playing tennis and more than half of that population are actually women. Tennis is one of the sports that have always welcomed female players. Imagine, in a list of 100 top tennis players of all times, both men and women, the 3rd overall was Steffi Graf, one of the greatest female tennis players of all time.
Then followed by Martina Navratilova, being in 4th place and Margaret Court ranking in 8th place overall. The ranking was determined by an international panel of judges. In 2010, Serena Williams was said to be the greatest female tennis player of all time.
3. Basketball
Although basketball is diversely popular in men, basketball has also attracted a large number of female players. THE WNBA has been quite popular nowadays for everyone all throughout the world. An estimated 6 million women are said to be playing basketball and doing it just as well as the men. It has been spreading from the east to the west coast. You can account for women’s basketball in 1892 at Smith College. It was taught by Senda Berenson, a college instructor in that college, who taught basketball to her students with the goal to improve overall physical health.
In the 1970s, women’s basketball was noticed by the International Olympic Committee and they, therefore, added basketball for women as an official sport for the Olympics, that was in 1976. The best of the best women’s basketball players of all time are the following: Lisa Leslie, Cynthia Cooper, and Brittney Griner.
4. Softball
There are an estimated 40 million people in the United States that play softball. Half of the said population are actually women. If baseball is the more prominent sport for men well softball is the sport for women. The difference is that softball is played with a bigger ball on a smaller field. Today, this sport is still increasing in popularity. It could be played both indoor and outdoor. If you think that only the younger portion of the population are the only ones that play this sport, well you are wrong. Surprisingly, there are also a number of senior citizens that engage in this sport. Softball originated in Chicago and the first official women’s team for softball was started in 1895.
Back then, slow-pitch softball was more accepted for women because it was thought that women were too fragile and the sport could break bones for women. But were they wrong, fastpitch softball is now more popular nowadays because women are not thought of the same way as before. The best female softball players are Cat Osterman, Taylor Schlopy, and Nikki Nemitz.
5. Volleyball
We all know that volleyball is one of the most popular sports in the world, especially for women. An estimated 46 million play in the U.S alone of which 40% of the players are females. Volleyball started way back in 1895 by William G. Morgan, a physical instructor director at the YMCA. It went through countless changes in terms of the rules of the game and later on evolved into the modern-day game of volleyball. In 1984, the U.S. won their first medallists at the Olympics in Los Angeles.
The women won silver. While in 1986, the WPVA (Women’s Professional Volleyball Association) was created. After those significant events, volleyball for females has risen in popularity. Some of the world-famous female volleyball players are Paula Weishoff, Regla Torres, and Logan Tom.
In our world today, the battle of equality between men and women is still on-going especially in the world of sports. Although, there has been a great acceptance of women in sports especially the top female sports listed above. Sports today have seen and will continue seeing a rise in the popularity of a higher profile for female professional athletes especially in so-called “male sports.” We will continue to see more successful female athletes in the future, a for sure fact indeed! These top female sports may be the top 5 but there are also other sports that females excel in very well especially in our world today.