The Most Successful Women's Basketball Team

Hope Solo, a goalie for the United States Women’s National Team, as well as the Seattle Reign FC in the National Women’s Soccer League, is widely regarded as the best goalkeeper the women’s game has ever seen. With over 100 career shutouts on the international level, and numerous individual and team awards including two FIFA Golden Glove awards and a World Cup, it’s hard to deny her prowess. Solo has been on the national stage for over a decade now, and while heralded as a world class player, her career has been fraught with controversy. Solo: A Memoir of Hope was published in August 2012 and provides a unique look into the major events in Hope Solo’s life through her own eyes.

“We Got Next”. This phrase is most commonly used around the asphalt when vying to play the next game of pick up basketball. Founded on April 24, 1996, the NBA Board of Governors approved the concept of a Women’s National Basketball Association. The Women’s National Basketball Association is the most prevalently known professional basketball league in the United States for women, most commonly referred to as its’ acronym WNBA. It was finally the ladies’ turn as they made their statement that they would be playing the next game. The first season for the Women’s National Basketball Association began in 1997. Sheryl Swoopes, one of the league’s first sixteen players, was the first player signed by the WNBA on October 23, 1996. She signed with the Houston Comets, one of the eight teams in the

Most of our youth playing AAU basketball have the dream or drive of playing at the next level. The next level could be college or professional; the idea is that playing in more tournaments will increase your exposure to scouts. European and players born outside of the U.S. have been a steady addition to professional basketball in the US. San Antonio Spurs coach Greg Popovich prefers the European player because they are, "fundamentally harder working than most American kids (Wickersham, 2013)." The image below shows the Spurs championship roster from 2014 and the balance of European to American players. The Spurs have won 5 NBA championships since 1999, which is tied with the Los Angeles Lakers over the same period for most in basketball.

UCLA has a world renouned sports program, consisting of highly ranked and successfully teams. UCLA carries a huge reputation on its back in sports, molding Lakers point guard Lonzo ball and producing hall-of-famers in almost every one of their Sports. Are you worthy to live up to 100 NCAA titles, or a count of 261 Olympic medals? UCLA’s girls basketball team is ranked number 11 in the entire woman's NCAA program. Due to the incredible coaching by Corey Close, amazing training facilities, and very gritty players willing to strive for excellence causes them to acquire athletic domination. The way of coaching implemented by and iconic coach named John Wooden is the pyramid of Success, which pushes all athletes to succeed soon enough to become as iconic like players such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Jackie Robinson.

From a young age, children are conditioned to always think about what they want to be when they grow up. Many of them dream to be a ballerina, firefighter, or an astronaut. With age comes maturity, and those aspirations pass, but simultaneously new, more realistic ones arise. To reach these new goals, these children work toward their dream through dedication, which can be seen in the studying or training they do. In today’s society females have more opportunity to do what they dream. There are young women who are assiduously working to get a college degree and a steady job. Then, there are also women who are training to become a professional athlete, with the aspiration of becoming a member of the United States Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT). In today’s society, women can pursue their goals, however, if compared to men’s sports, there can be differences seen that keep women from reaching full potential, equality, and their dreams.

The University of Oklahoma is a four year Division 1 public university located in Norman, Oklahoma, and is home to the Sooners; “Boomer Sooner”. The University of Oklahoma’s Womens Softball team won the 2015 Women’s College Softball World Series, and their football team is ranked 1st in the Big 12 rankings. Kansas State University is a four year Division 1 public university located in Manhattan, Kansas, and is home to the Wildcats; “EMAW - Every Man A Wildcat”. Kansas State University has just recently added a new Women’s Soccer program! I have a 3.4 GPA, I participate in Link Crew which is a program offered at Campus High School that helps with freshman orientation, and basically helps many different freshmen sculpt/decide the path’s for their futures based on their decisions now in high school. I have played soccer for 13 years, and am currently playing club soccer at Sedgwick County Soccer Association for the ‘99 Wichita Cheetahs Elite, and I also play on the girls Varsity soccer team at Campus High School. Kansas State University is a better choice and fit because it is in-state, there are many degrees, and options to choose from, the acceptance rate is higher than the University of Oklahoma’s, and there are minimal standards on applying/enrollment requirements, and there are ways to earn many scholarships whether it be through academic scholarships or earning it through athletics, and the tuition and

The pay in both the professional women's soccer team and the professional men's soccer team is very unequal. The players on the women's team get paid nearly a fourth less which is very surprising considering how good they are. Both teams play the same game do the same sport and represent the same team so why aren't they payed the same? I believe the women's team should be paid the same as the men's or even more because of their amazing results.

There are many high school basketball phenoms that are scouted by pro teams even when they are in high school. A select few in the past have gone straight to the NBA out of high school and had a lot of success, while some players go to college all four years to develop their skills at the next level. However, there are athletes that will waste one year at the college level just so they could get to the NBA. Why would you waste one year of your life when you could have already been in the NBA a year earlier? Basketball players should either go to college all four years and enhance their skills and get a solid education. If not, skip college and go straight to the NBA, rather than wasting a year of your life, and possibly a classroom seat for a person who wanted to get an education.

The Women’s National Basketball Association, more commonly known as the WNBA, is a professional basketball league consisting of 12 teams spanning across the United States. The league was founded in 1996 but didn’t officially kick off until 1997. While it’s not the first major women’s professional basketball league in the United States, the WNBA is the only league that has received full backing from the National Basketball Association, more commonly, the NBA. Now in its 20th season under the direction of league president Lisa Borders, the regular season is played from June to September with the playoffs spanning through the remainder of September into the middle of October. Although they have the full backing from the NBA, there are still a few discrepancies between the two leagues. Even though WNBA games are not as exciting as NBA games, the players of the WNBA deserve equal pay because the team mindset makes the game more challenging, players continue to show their hard work in the offseason by playing overseas, and they inspire young girls by providing for charities as a result of their work.

I attended the NIU Women’s Basketball game against Ball State. This game was part of the Play 4kay cancer organization game. Kay Yow was created on honor for Coach Yow, who had a “vision to unite a nation of coaches, players, and the women’s basketball community to do something for the greater good that far exceeds wins and losses on the court.”(Womack). During this game everyone had pink on from the players to the coaches. NIU’s full uniform was pick while the opponents had pink shoes, their dancer had multiple pink outfits that they changed into. During the time outs and half times they had a lot of activates, golf putting, kids shooting free throw for money donations, cancer survivors acknowledgements, and the NIU dancer performances.

Men’s and women basketball teams are now into their season, and they are both showing some positive signs. The women’s team is showing grit, as they recently have won some close games. The highlight of the season so far has been a close win against Brown. The men’s team has also been able to pull together a couple of good wins on their own, including a comeback win against Yale last week. Both teams are setting themselves up nicely for conference play.

In most cases black women receive less recognition when it comes to higher positions in sports. McDowell & Cunningham (2009) suggested black female athletic administrators provide important acumens into their experiences in intercollegiate athletic departments, it is important to consider the aspects of their lives and identities' and explore how these women negotiate their identities. This notion is important for the sake of sport organizations because it gives them more insight on the point of view for black females in the realm of the sports world.

Dedication. Teamwork. Leadership. Success. Those are four traits the U.S. and the 1992 U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball Team, also known as The Dream Team, have in common. Without question, The Dream Team was the best team to ever be assembled in the history of sports and it was created after a devastating third place in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. Ready to come back winning, the U.S. compiled eleven all-star NBA players (Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, etc.) and one college player (Christian Laettner) who is known as the best college basketball player ever.

The Pulaski Girls Basketball team is hoping for another successful year of hoops. Last season the team was robbed in the regional final game against Southwest by a last second half court shot. On November 9, the team begins practice and their first game is against Wausau West at home on November 19. The Raiders host 12 home games this year leading up to regionals on February 23.

“I love sports, I try to participate in them even if they are not my best sport, and I want to be active,” the junior said recently.