In honor of International Women’s Day, my love for sports has compelled me to show some love to my three most influential women athletes right now and highlight their careers. While women’s sports is a hit or miss league in terms of entertainment/viewership, you love it or you don’t, there are multiple female athletes making their mark on their respected game and deserve to be talked about today for International Women’s Day.
Serena Williams
Arguably the biggest name in women sports right now and rightfully so. Even if you are not a tennis fan or sports fan in general, you have heard the name Serena Williams and know who she is.
She is the face of women’s sports for Nike and they just came out with a commercial, titled “Dream Crazier” with Williams narrating throughout the video. The commercial came out on Feb. 24 and is already making a huge impact on the women’s sports community.
As for Williams and her game, she is one of, if not the best tennis player ever. Over her 24 year career so far, she has won basically every award you possibly can name. She turned professional at age 13 and hasn’t slowed down at all, despite becoming a mom recently after playing pregnant and having a baby, this 37-year old has proven she is a force to be reckoned with.
Williams has 23 career Grand Slam victories and is undefeated in Grand Slam doubles championship. She is 14-0, with all her victories coming with her sister, Venus, as her partner.
In a previous commercial Nike released, titled “Dream Crazy” in September 2018, Williams is highlighted and was a narrator as well. Here is what Colin Kaepernick had to say about Williams, “If you’re a girl from Compton, don’t just become a tennis player, become the greatest athlete ever. Ya…that’s more like it.”
Carli Lloyd
The Co-Captain for the U.S. Women’s Soccer National Team, Carli Lloyd is the heart and sole for her team. She is one of the most well-known women soccer players in the country and will lead the United States into France, the home of the 2019 Women’s World Cup. The World Cup is set to kick off June 7 and is until July 7.
The United States team enter the tournament as the favorite to win it all again, something they accomplished during the last World Cup in 2015. They defeated Japan in the championship game 5-2 with Lloyd scoring a hat trick (3 goals) in the game.
Over the course of her career, Lloyd has won 2 Olympic gold medals (2008 and 2012). She scored the game-winning goals in both 2008 and 2012 gold medal matches. Along with her 2015 World Cup 1st place finish, she has been named FIFA Player of the Year in 2015 and 2016.
Lloyd has made over 260 appearances for the U.S National Team and scored 105 goals. She enters the 2019 World Cup as the physical and emotional leader of the team and is ready to defend her title.
Candace Parker
Whether you are a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) fan or not, you have heard the name, Candace Parker at least once in your life. She is arguably the biggest name in the WNBA and has been for the past decade.
Parker’s basketball success started early in life. In high school, she was awarded the Gatorade National Girl Basketball Player of the year award her junior and senior year. She became the first high school girls basketball player to win the award twice.
Her college career lived up to the hype. She attended Tennessee for 3 years, where she would go on to win 2 National Championships and 2 National Player of the Year award.
Her WNBA career began when the Los Angeles Sparks selected her first overall in the 2008 draft. Her first season in the WNBA was a historic one. She won not only the WNBA Rookie of the Year award but the Most Valuable Player as well. She became the first woman to ever win the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in the same season.
Parker has gone on to win one championship in 2016 and is still playing for the Sparks. She has changed the WNBA more than any other player in history.
