Women Sports USA® Articles

A borrowed glove can help a girl begin, but keeping her in sports takes more. Explore how rising costs, travel, and training demands affect families—and how communities can support lasting participation.

Before she had a word for it, Linda Herron knew she loved to compete. A personal reflection on childhood games, wanting to win, and giving girls room to discover what they can do.

High standards can help an athlete grow. But when every mistake feels like failure, those expectations deserve a closer look. Explore how to pursue ambitious goals while protecting confidence and making room to learn.

Not hearing your name in the starting lineup can hurt. Learn how to ask for useful feedback, build confidence, and stay ready while pursuing more playing time—and discover the lessons you can carry beyond the bench.

Starting again takes patience and trust in what you already know. Women Sports USA shares life lessons from sports about respecting today’s progress, carrying experience into a new chapter, and finding the courage to take the next step.

Meet the women who helped shape sport psychology, from Dorothy Hazeltine Yates’s early work with boxers to Dorothy V. Harris’s leadership in research and education. Their contributions helped build our understanding of the mental game.

A broadcast left decades of women’s lacrosse out of a university’s story. I asked the local news station to recognize those athletes through a trailblazer series. When no response came, I decided to tell their stories myself—and Women Sports USA® was born.

Field hockey gives girls opportunities to build confidence, find friendships, and discover what they can do. On National Field Hockey Day, Linda Herron celebrates the people who make those experiences possible—and the next generation carrying the game forward.

Long before she earned a title, she was learning to lead. Through teamwork, responsibility, and the courage to speak up, sports help girls recognize their influence—and carry those leadership lessons into their careers, communities, and everyday lives.

Great coaching includes helping athletes handle the moments between plays. Discover how coaches teach confidence, focus, and practical mental skills that athletes can carry into everyday life.

An open calendar can offer young athletes something valuable: time to recover, explore new interests, strengthen friendships, and rediscover the joy of playing.

Before college teams and recruiting, there was the simple joy of playing. Linda Herron reflects on growing up with different sports—and giving girls room to discover what they love.

Sports build far more than athletes. Discover how participation helps women develop confidence, leadership, resilience, strength, connection, and skills that can last long after the final whistle.

Perseverance in sports is not always about pushing harder. Linda Herron shares how athletics taught her to navigate setbacks, accept support, adapt to change, and keep taking the next meaningful step.

Long before wearable technology, strength coaches, sports nutrition, and recovery programs, women athletes trained with determination, repetition, and the resources available to them. Explore how women’s athletic training evolved through the decades—and how generations of female athletes helped shape modern sports science.

Sports gave Linda Herron far more than competition and memories. In this personal From Linda’s Desk® reflection, she shares how discipline, confidence, resilience, teamwork, and leadership stayed with her long after the games ended.

Sports teach female athletes how to communicate, overcome setbacks, support different people, and lead with confidence and humility. These valuable lessons continue shaping their careers, families, businesses, and communities long after the uniform comes off.

Women coaches do more than develop athletic ability. They build confidence, teach leadership, strengthen resilience, and create a sense of belonging that athletes carry throughout their lives.

Women’s sports create an impact far beyond the field. Discover how female athletes strengthen families, connect schools and communities, and inspire future generations.

Sports do more than create athletes—they build confident leaders. Discover how participation in sports empowers girls and women with lifelong skills that shape success both on and off the field.