Raising Our Athletic Daughters
How Sports Can Build Self-Esteem and Save Girls' Lives
by Jean Zimmerman and Gail Reavill
List Price: $14.00
Pages: 256
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0385489609
Publisher: Main Street Books
Jean Zimmerman collaborated with Felice Schwartz on Breaking with Tradition:
Women and Work, the New Facts of Life and was the author of Tailspin:
Women at War in the Wake of Tailhook. Her husband, Gil Reavill, is
a freelance journalist. They live in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, with
their daughter.
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As we were working on the book, we found we really enjoyed talking with parents and with girls of all ages--so much so that we wanted to continue these conversations once Raising Our Athletic Daughters was in print. We decided to include an address for e-mail and conventional letters, so that we would continue to hear stories about girls and sports. In the past year, we have had an overwhelming response from parents and from young athletes. Some of the letters are heartwarming, others thought provoking.
One mother, for example, wrote to tell us about her oldest daughter, who is serious about cheerleading. She wrote, "What I have discovered is that this is no sport for wimps. She is expected to run daily, weight train, lots of exercises and perform some rather frightening stunts. She appears to be in better shape than at any time prior to this. The past captain of the cheerleaders was awarded a scholar-athlete award (the first given to a cheerleader) and upon her HS graduation, received a full scholarship to University of Virginia which she passed up in order to attend Harvard. I am now a believer in this and desperately wish there was some way to convey the sheer athleticism of this to the general public."
Another mother described her experiences starting a girls' lacrosse team for second to eighth graders; she got an unexpectedly big turnout at registration. "It demonstrated to me the desire of girls to try out and play a new sport--any sport! After seeing this desire and reading your book, I am more committed to providing an outlet for girls of all shapes, sizes and abilities to get out there and PLAY, without the huge focus on winning and forming the division between the elite and non-elite player as soccer had, to the exclusion of most of the girls in the town."
A woman with no children of her own wrote to tell us how important athletics were to her upbringing, and to say that she was looking for opportunities to serve as a sports mentor. A father asked if we could make a case for coed play over single-sex. Is one preferable?
We continue to be interested in hearing stories from the field, and welcome reader responses. Please write us at athleticdaughters@yahoo.com
© Copyright 2012 by Jean Zimmerman and Gail Reavill. Reprinted with permission by Main Street Books. All rights reserved.
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