Women In Sports

"The more you prepare before you start, the more you will be relaxed. You have to recognise that you might be scared, you might be stuck, not knowing what to do. You might feel uncomfortable. You might get distracted by something in the audience. Mostly, I just accept that if that happens I am not going to try to resist it."

"I just went ahead and followed what was true for me because it was sincere. I figured out that people were wrong judging me. The inner authentic choice I made was to follow my passion in this way. Very early on, I realised that I should not assume that the judgments, culture, or even traditions are right for me."

"It is who I am. Who I have always been. I have embraced this attitude as a young girl. They used to call me a tomboy when I was small. I thought that label was kind of insulting because it was taking away the fact that I was a girl and a woman. Calling girls a tomboy makes it seem that you are less of a woman just because you have athletic skills."

"Concentration is the biggest thing I learned through my career. You can’t succeed if you are not focused. Climbing taught me that. You never let it go. Concentration in each instant, each minute, each second."

"I didn’t want people to say it was the first female ascent, I wanted to be the first person to climb the Eiger onsight and solo in winter (though I don’t know for sure that I was!)."

"I realized I don’t like aid climbing. It was boring. But I learned a lot about myself: [It was] long, four days of bad weather, couldn’t go out of my portaledge."

"I did the American Direct (ED1 5.10+ A0, 1,100m) on the Dru when I was 17. I was just an amateur. I was climbing because I liked climbing, but I didn’t know I would be able to do what I did after. It was just pleasure. I was still a child."

"When I’m free soloing, I feel O.K. I always have a big safety margin, I’m not struggling. You feel quite powerful and calm. If I ever felt afraid, I wouldn’t go. I don’t like to bet. That goes for everything. I don’t run after luck. With my publishing company, it’s exactly the same. I go step by step and build something."

"After college I went on to play football for Chicago Force Women’s Professional Football Team as the starting quarterback and I was quarterback for Team USA where I was able to lead the U.S. Women’s National Team to three gold medal wins. But even through this experience, I faced gender stereotypes, lack of funding and sponsorships, no unified league, and no awareness or recognition."

"Like I said, my teammates were amazing…many times they backed me up when an opponent spit on me, kicked me or called me names. The entire experience of having a female on the football team was new for my teammates, coaches and the parents. All I wanted was to be treated equal."

"I played ball during my freshman and sophomore years at RHS, I was a quarterback. My teammates and coaches were incredible, but there were many instances where I was not given the opportunity to play, likely because I’m a woman."

"I still feel that love and passion for it and when you've got teams like the Black Ferns Sevens girls and the Black Ferns 15s girls, they make it so enjoyable that you really don't want to leave. You want to ride until the wheels fall off!"

"For my Dad to go and play for the All Blacks, he was a dad at 16, married at 17, coming from a really small town. He never really gave up on his dreams and that's what my parents have always instilled in me. Anything is possible if you work hard, dream big and chase everything."

"The greatest thing that my parents ever gave me was to dream big and that nothing is impossible."

"My relationship is just as normal as anyone else’s. I go about my day the same way anyone else would -in the same way, a heterosexual couple would go about their day. I wake up in the morning. I tell my wife I love her. I go to work. I come home. We cook dinner together. This is normal. As any husband would love his wife, or any wife would love her husband -that’s the same way I love LaTaya."

"It is important because obviously these guys playing National Champs, Varsity [Netball], their set up is not the same. So, to come into our setup it's totally different. So, they need someone who's already in the setup. Someone who's gonna guide [them] like a leader. I think that's what we doing as leadership in the Spar Proteas setup."

"So, I think for me while I'm still active, it's my job to help the youngsters and then when I step off at least there's no gap."

"If I'm still strong, I can still go and play. I can say I still have five more years. There are youngsters coming in so I think for them to come while I'm still active, it's a good bonus for the players and share what I learnt with the experience I have with those players before I step off."

"No one should say I have to do it, it should come from my heart to stop netball. I cannot just sleep and wake up and say, now I'm done"

"It is about taking that experience and telling the next player: ‘Hey, It is just another match, focus on our goals, focus on what is important.’ If you keep focusing on what your job is and what you do next, you will forget about everything else."

"The more games you play, the less stress and nerves become. The pressure will always still be there"

"So, it is just another tournament; whether it is the Commonwealth Games or a World Cup, the name really doesn’t matter. It is just a matter of playing against 16 countries and trying to be the best."

"It is very overwhelming to play in your first world cup, but for me, it is the third one."

"This time, I told them (Gems) to get out there, play to enjoy the game and whatever the result is, be ready to work harder again tomorrow."

"Schools play an important role in crafting the society, values and culture around us."

"Being part of the Surrey Storm family is phenomenal, apart from moulding me as a player, a lot has also changed socially and at home"

"Whenever I step on court, I play my heart out and enjoy the game and whatever comes out of it is a bonus…this is what I did in both World Cup appearances,"

"To me, netball is life and everything else because everything that I have in this life is motivated or influenced by the sport"

"After several years of working at different schools and educational organisations, there’s one thing that has become clear to me: education is key for our sense of community, and our sense of community is an essential aspect of our wellbeing. I’m thrilled to join HundrED as the Community Coordinator since this is an area where I hope I can foster a sense of community -especially among our Youth Ambassadors- while addressing educational matters"

"I’m interested in exploring matters related to gender, social justice, the environment and educational policy. I love spending time in nature, roaming around forests and swimming in the sea"

"It was tough, but I liked the course today, it’s nice, not super super tough but there were some hard sectors in there and this type of course I really enjoy. And there were good crowds out there."

"They got across just at the bottom of the first QoM, so I had to suffer a little on that one, but by the second one I was not with the front group anymore!"

"I have indeed enjoyed it, I just wish I got company on one of the times would be nice. It’s a long way on open roads with the wind today, but it’s good time trial practice. You’ve got to gamble and just try, we’ve got to keep the attacks coming because we’re lacking that strength for the GC, so maybe one day it will go to the finish, but you never know"

"And if they excel as a cyclist, swimmer or in the sporting arena, it becomes a huge bonus"

"I derive satisfaction from seeing how a shy youngster blossoms and gains confidence through sports coaching"

".Building confidence from an early age lays the foundation for good character and for success in the sporting arena"

"There is so much more freedom and enjoyment in a very different way. When you make your passion your job, it’s difficult to stay in love with that. This stage has brought it all back, fulfilled me again"

"They’re climbing within their comfort zone, and mitigating these risks, and choosing to do something that keeps them fit, active, healthy and happy."

"Climbing is such a natural thing as human beings. It’s part of how we used to survive"

"On one hand you know you can hang around and recover to work things out, but hanging around too long and half-trying a move over and over again depletes your power levels."

"Mentally commit 100%. Redpointing requires a different approach to onsighting and you need to change your mindset. I am not a natural redpointer as I want things to happen quickly: I’m not particularly patient. But I’ve learnt that the routes do come if you persist and train appropriately. Once you can do all the moves on a project, it’s a case of trying to link them together in longer overlapping sections. It’s surprising how quickly this stage can come together."

"To be honest, I don’t have the best memories of the summit. When I think of my successes on Everest, I don’t think of getting to the summit, I think of other scary moments, working together as a team. By that point, I’d had all the experience I needed. The summit has been hyped up by the media – there’s so much more to Everest than reaching the peak."

"In September 2009 I climbed Mount Manaslu, the world’s eighth-highest mountain. It was, without a doubt, my toughest climb to date. I was so far out of my comfort zone. There were moments when I thought I just couldn’t do it. Each day was the hardest day of my life. I’ll always look back at that trip and remember the pain, the fear."

"I’ve always been an active child – I was the one on school trips clambering up rocks and getting stuck while others complained about blisters and heavy bags – but more adventurous climbing was never on my radar"

"Writing, becoming a successful writer, was a different matter but not unique in the trade. We don’t choose a course in life; our genes dictate the route. I wasn’t born to be a climber and a writer, rather I was inclined to both genetically and the influences arrived: a supportive parent, a perceptive English teacher, favourite authors."

"But the basic pleasure in the hills is the natural environment which can be as fulfilling in later life as rock climbing was in one’s heyday. Equally dangerous when old (and particularly solo) and thus most satisfying to the spirit because the delight in challenges and the pleasure in calculating risks never dies."

"The best things about climbing? Unlimited space. I know where I am in mountains. The stillness: not silence because there is always some sound even if it’s no more than a breeze over rock, but there is no noise. Solitude is fine but, even better, just one companion: the other person on the rope with whom there is a bond that transcends any other relationship: trust, faith, an intimacy that is asexual but essential because in the last resort you are each responsible for the other’s life."

"Was I proud to be a pioneer? Apart from my being the first woman guide I wasn’t that different from my peers. Women mountaineers went way back and then there was the generation immediately before me: role models who formed an all-women club three years before I was born."

"I do not climb to put myself in real danger like that. I climb because it is a lifestyle. It is fun. If I had to risk my life every time I climb, I would not think that would be fun"

"I fought for it with every possible effort. I can feel that I could reach 68m. That's a fair result for me and will make me feel more confident"