Episode Seven: Birdies, Bogeys, and the LPGA
GOLF GOLF GOLF GOLF GOLF GOLF GOLF GOLF GOLF GOLF GOLF GOLF GOLF GOLF GOLF GOLF
The Oldest Individual Women’s Sport
Source: https://digital.nls.uk/golf-in-scotland/elite/mary-queen-of-scots.html
Mary Queen of Scots (pictured above) is widely believed to have been the first woman to play golf in the 1540s. She is also credited with coining the term caddie, when referring to her assistants. The first recorded golf tournament for women was on Jan 9th 1811 in Scotland.
Women’s Golf and the 1900s
The icons of early women’s golf. Women who shaped the game and blazed the trail.
Source: Conde Nast
Helen Hicks (above), was one of the 13 original founders of the LPGA in 1950. She signed with Wilson-Western Sporting Goods, becoming one of the first women to sign with a sporting goods company. She won two tournaments in 1937 and 1940 that would eventually become LPGA tour majors.
Source: IMBD
Babe Zaharias (above), made the first cut in three PGA Tour events in 1945, becoming the first and only woman to do so. She holds the record for most straight amateur wins at 14.
The Founding of the LPGA
Source: Makenzie Mack
The LPGA was founded in 1950 by 13 prominent golfers: Alice Bauer, Patty Berg, Bettye Danoff, Helen Detweiler, Marlene Bauer Hagge, Helen Hicks, Opal Hill, Betty Jameson, Sally Sessions, Marilynn Smith, Shirley Spork, Louise Suggs and Babe Zaharias. The LPGA is the oldest women’s pro sports league in the US.
Early LPGA Stars
ALTHEA FRIGGIN’ GIBSON!!!
Source: ESPN
Althea Gibson, the same Althea Gibson who was also a tennis phenom? YES! In 1964, Althea Gibson switched careers from tennis to golf and became the first Black woman to join the LPGA. She was also the first Black athlete to win a Grand Slam title in 1965 and was the only Wimbledon winner ever who was presented with the Wimbledon trophy by The Queen!!
Source: Wikipedia
Kathy Whitworth, (right), passed Mickey in Tour victories in 1985 with 88 total LPGA wins. Her 88 professional wins is the most of any golfer, male or female. She was also the first female golfer to reach $ 1 Million in career earnings in 1981.
Mickey Wright, (left), won 68 LPGA events in the 1960s and a career 82 LPGA tour wins.
Source: Golf Digest
Modern Golf Stars
Source: Southampton Golf Club
Lydia Ko holds the record for both youngest major winner at 18 years old and youngest tournament winner at 15 years old (in 2015 and 2012, respectively). She is the youngest golfer, male or female, to reach number 1 in the world. Lydia has 15 LPGA tour wins and 2 LPGA major wins. She also went viral for famously talking about her period to a reporter, shattering the shame and embarrassment women usually feel around talking about menstruation.
Source: CBS Sports
Michelle Wie West won the USGA Women’s Amateur at a record age of 13 in 2003, which made her the youngest to qualify for an amateur event and the youngest woman to win an amateur event. She has 1 major win and 5 LPGA tour wins.
Source: LPGA
Inbee Park has been the number one ranked player in Women’s World Golf Rankings for four separate runs (April 2013-June 2014, October 2014-February 2015, June 2015-October 2015, and April 2018-June 2018). She is only the fourth LPGA player to win three majors in a calendar year. She is the youngest player to win the US Open. She has 7 major LPGA tour wins and 14 other LPGA tour wins.
Source: LPGA
Lexi Thompson was the youngest golfer ever to qualify to play in the US Open. She’s won one LPGA major and 10 other LPGA tours. She set the record for youngest winner of an LPGA tournament in 2011 at age 16 — the record that Lydia Ko would break the following year.
Episode Six: Softball, Softball, Softball
Bobby Sox: Early Days of Softball
Vassar College became the first school to field two women’s amateur baseball teams in 1866.
In 1898, Lizzie Arlington became the first woman to sign a professional baseball contract when she signed with the Philadelphia Nationals men’s team!
The Philadelphia Bobbies – an 1890s women’s baseball team.
In 1904, Spalding’s Indoor Baseball Guide (which is what we were calling softball at this point) featured an entire section on women’s softball!
In 1943, Phillip Wrigley (who owned the Chicago Cubs) established the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, a professional women’s baseball league. It started as a substitute for men’s baseball while men were overseas in WWII.
After the American Girls Professional Baseball League folded in 1954, fast-pitch amateur leagues sprung up all over the country and were wildly popular. The New York Times described these leagues as “…no sissy sport played for laughs.”
Going Pro
Billie Jean King helped start a professional women’s softball league in 1975 — the International Women’s Professional Softball League. The league was the first professional sports league for women’s team sports.
Softball made its Olympic debut in 1996, where the US Women’s Softball Team took home the gold.
And again US Women’s Softball won gold in 2000….
And AGAIN in 2004.
The Women’s Pro Softball league was launched in 1997. In 2004, the WPSL was re-branded as the National Pro Fastpitch League.
The National Pro Fastpitch league includes teams with wonderful names like the Scrap Yard Dawgs.
Athletes Unlimited
Athletes Unlimited launched in March 2020 with the goal to “reinvent women’s pro sports” starting with softball. Athletes Unlimited wanted to create a new model for women’s sports, based on fantasy sports. The first season wrapped up in September and the second season will start in August 2021.
Athletes Unlimited structures its league differently. Players compete individually. After each week, the highest scoring player on each team (determined by an involved scoring rubric based on team and individual performance) form four team captains, and these captains draft their teams. That means each week there are new teams.
Cat Osterman, the winner of the 2020 Athletes Unlimited Softball Season.
Athletes Unlimited is an exciting new take on sports and we’re looking forward to next season!
And now… the Women’s College World Series
Softball is one of the few NCAA revenue sports, including men’s football, men’s basketball, and men’s baseball.
NCAA D1 Softball and the Women’s College World Series is a BIG DEAL!!! It is one of the best stages in the world for the best softball players in the world. Schools like UCLA, Arizona, and Oklahoma are absolute power houses.
Names to know…. some of the greats of College Softball
Stacey Nuveman, one of the greatest sluggers of all time by professional and olympic metrics.
Cat Osterman, holds the record for the most strikeouts pitched in a 7-inning games. she’s thrown 9 perfect games and ranks second in DI history with 2,265 strikeouts.
Lauren Chamberlain, holds the DI home run record at 95 and DI slugging percentage.
Rachel Garcia, both a fantastic pitcher and slugger. In the 2019 WCWS it was UCLA versus Washington and she threw 10 shutout innings and then hit a walkoff homerun to take UCLA to the championships…. talk about doing it all.
An Incredible Moment in WCWS History…
Episode Six BONUS: The Best of Humanity
In 2008, Sara Tucholsky, Mallory Holtman, and Liz Wallace made history winning the Best Moment ESPY.
In a softball game between Western Oregon and Central Washington that would determine who would make the NCAA Division II playoffs, Sara Tucholsky, a senior from Western Oregon, hit her first-ever home run in her college career. The three-run home run would put Western Oregon ahead of Central Washington. Sara was so excited she missed first base while rounding the bases and when she turned back to touch first, she tore a ligament in her knee.
She couldn’t move, but if she stayed on first base the hit would be ruled a two-run single not a home run. Her own teammates and coaches couldn’t help Sara around the bases because if they touched Sara she would be ruled out.
In an amazing show of sportsmanship, the first baseman for Central Washington, Mallory Holtman, asked the umpires if she could carry Sara to home plate. The umpires decided it would be okay. So Mallory and Liz Wallace, shortstop for Central Washington, carried Sara around the bases, lowering Sara down at each base so her foot could touch the base. It was senior day, the stands were packed with parents, and when they realized what was happening the stands explode.
Episode Five: Ace of All Trades – Tennis, Althea, and the Williams Sisters
Tennis is one of the sports closest to
gender equality in the world
Meet the tennis queen, Althea Gibson, with the actual queen.
Althea Gibson became the first person of color to win a Grand Slam event, the French Open, in 1956.
In 1957, Althea won the singles title at Wimbledon, becoming the first Black champion in its 80 year history, and the first champion to receive the winners trophy directly from Queen Elizabeth II.
When she came home, she became only the second Black American (after Jesse Owens) to have a ticker tape parade in NYC. One month later, she won the US Open.
After winning more than 11 Grand Slam titles in singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles, she was forced to retire from amateur tennis at the end of 1958 because there was no prize money in tennis for women. Althea has been voted into the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame, the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the Black Athletes Hall of Fame, the National Women’s Hall of Fame among many others.
Open Era and the Virginia Slims League
The women’s singles champion at Wimbledon in 1970 was Margaret Court and she received a $15,000 bonus for this accomplishment. The male champion received $1 million. Fed up with this type of treatment, nine of the most prominent women players boycotted a hard court tournament that agreed to a 12:1 pay difference and created their own tournament in Houston. With Billie Jean King leading, those nine women created their own circuit dubbed the Virginia Slims Circuit, which would eventually evolve into the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
The Original Nine
Battle of the Sexes
In September of 1973, Bobby Riggs e challenged world #2 Billie Jean King to a Battle of the Sexes after beating Margaret Court earlier that year. Although Billie understood that the entire match was a circus, she felt personal responsibility to play and win the match for the women’s liberation movement. It was a whole spectacle in the Houston Astrodome and drew more than 30,000 people in the stands, 50 million viewers in the US, and 90 million viewers worldwide. After a shaky start falling behind 3-2, King rallied to win the match 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. It provided invaluable exposure to women’s tennis with that audience and altered people’s stereotypes of women, both of which contributed to the impending expansion of women’s tennis.
The Greats
Billie Jean King
Chris Evert
Evonne Goolagong Cawley
Martina Navratilova
Steffi Graf
The Williams Sisters
aka The best sibling duo in sports
Stats of the Champions
Venus has won 49 singles titles, 7 grand slam singles titles
Serena has won 73 singles titles, 23 grand slam singles titles
Venus and Serena have won 22 titles when playing doubles together, including 14 Grand Slam titles and 3 Olympic gold medals
In 2002, Venus reached all 4 grand slam finals and Serena won 3 grand slam finals all against Venus
Venus won Wimbledon in 2005, 2007 and 2008
Serena won the Australian Open in 2005, 2007, 2009 and Wimbledon in 2009 and US Open in 2008
Venus, Wimbledon and Equal Pay
By 2005, the US Open and Australian Open paid men and women equal prize money but the French open and Wimbledon refused to pay equally. Venus met with the tournament directors and still they did not budge. On the eve of the 2006 Wimbledon tournament, Venus wrote an op-ed in the British newspaper The Times arguing for equal pay.
In response, the British PM and much of Parliament supported Venus and women’s tennis goals. Under enormous pressure from this letter and other sources, Wimbledon announced equal prize money in 2007 with the French Open following one day later.
Serena and the Quest for 24
In 2016, Serena tied the open era grand slam record, winning her 22nd grand slam at Wimbledon. Then in 2017, she broke that record winning the Australian Open securing her 23rd major (later on we would find out that she was pregnant at the time with her daughter Olympia). She is still seeking #24 after giving birth to Olympia, and the whole tennis world is rooting for her to do it.
The Next Generation
Naomi Osaka
Sofia Kenin
Madison Keys
Sloane Stephens
Coco Gauff
Ons Jabeur
Want more history of women’s tennis content?
Episode Four: Swoopes, Sues and Shots aka Basketball
1892 Women’s Basketball On The Scene
Senda Berenson founded women’s basketball at Smith College in 1892
Women’s basketball began as a three-zone game to maintain women’s Victorian ideals by limiting movement. It wasn’t until 1971 that women were considered hearty enough to play full court basketball.
The Red Heads were a team of female basketball players who toured the country in 1936 playing exhibitions against men’s teams.
WE GOT NEXT: THE WNBA and Modern Basketball
The 1996 Olympic US Women’s Basketball Team wins gold and ignites national interest in women’s basketball
Sheryl Swoopes was the first woman to have a signature shoe, the Nike Air Swoopes, released right before the 1996 Olympics.
Sports Illustrated looks back at the Air Swoopes 25 years later
The players of the 1996 Gold Medal Team
Lisa Leslie
Teresa Edwards
Ruthie Bolton
Dawn Staley
Rebecca Lobo
Katrina McClain
Jennifer Azzi
In June, 1997 Lisa Leslie and Kym Hampton took the ceremonial jump ball marking the official start of the WNBA.
The personalities of WNBA players shone and captured the excitement of fans. Below are some of the players who have left their mark on the WNBA or are still creating waves.
Becky Hammon
Tina Thompson
Debbie Black
Deanna Nolan
Elena Delle Donne
Lauren Jackson
Ticha Penicheiro
Sue Bird
Tamika Catchings
Yolanda Griffith
College Ball Power Houses
UConn Huskies
Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird
Breanna Stewart
Maya Moore
Oregon Ducks
Satou Sabally
Ruthy Hebard
Sabrina Ionescu
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Kayla McBride
Arike Ogunbowale
Ruth Riley
Baylor Bears
Brittney Griner
Tennessee Lady Vols
Candace Parker
The first women’s NCAA dunk
Chamique Holdsclaw
Tamika Catchings
WNBA Activism
In January 2020, the WNBA reached a ground-breaking agreement on an 8-year collective bargaining agreement that significantly increased player salary and benefits.
The WNBA has always been at the forefront of athlete activism.
Episode Three: Doris Freakin' Burke Et Al.
Ear Candy: Podcast Musts
All our favorite sports podcasts hosted by all our favorite female sportscaster superstars
Hot Off the Presses
All the sports content, hot takes, and incisive analysis in 280 characters or less.
Katie Nolan @katienolan
Taylor Rooks @taylorrooks
Mina Kimes @minakimes
Elle Duncan @ellduncanESPN
Sarah Spain @sarahspain
Jemele Hill @jemelehill
Random Clips Must Watch
(From Always Late with Katie Nolan)
On Always Late with Katie Nolan, Julie Foudy, Cari Champion, Maria Taylor and Sarah Spain induct Katie into a secret society of women in sports media. ✔ Subs...
Katie Nolan shows Mina Kimes the exclusive clubhouse for the secret society for women in sports media, featuring Sarah Spain, Dianna Russini, Sage Steele, Co...
Heroines of Sports Media featuring You Know Who
Doris Burke
Samantha Steele
Erin Andrews
Robin Roberts
Bonnie Bernstein
Hannah Storm
Beth Mowins
Laura Gentile
Phyllis George
Jayne Kennedy
Lesley Visser
Gayle Gardner
Mary Carillo
Gayle Sierens
Lisa Guerrero
Episode Two: Soccer
Kicking it old school style….
1917 Dick Kerr Ladies Soccer Team. Credit: Wikipedia
The first organized women’s soccer league in the United States was established in 1951. Credit: Slate
In 1982, the NCAA sponsored the first ever women’s soccer tournament.
1982 UNC Women’s Soccer Team that won the first NCAA women’s soccer championship. Credit: Ram’s Club
1985 saw the birth of the US Women’s National Soccer Team.
The 1985 US Women’s National Soccer Team. Credit: The 18
The Winning Starts
The first Women’s World Cup was held in China in 1991 and won by… guess who? The USWNT.
1991 USWNT at the first Women’s World Cup. From left to right, top row: Joy Biefeld, Carla Werden, Debbie Belkin, Michelle Akers, Mary Harvey, April Heinrichs. Bottom row: Julie Foudy, Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Shannon Higgins, and Carin Jennings. Credit: New York Post.
The 1991 USWNT in the airport in China for the Women’s World Cup. Credit: Front Row Soccer
The 1991 USWNT after the win. Credit: Duke University
Michelle Akers in the 1991 World Cup. Credit: Sports Illustrated.
Women’s soccer made its Olympic debut in the 1996 Olympics hosted in Atlanta. The USWNT took home the gold.
1996 USWNT after winning the gold medal. Credit: New York Daily News.
1996 USWNT after winning the gold medal at the Olympics. Credit: Crawford Family US Olympic Archives
The Giants of ‘99
The 1999 World Cup hosted by the United States, changed women’s soccer in the United States forever. Our team of superstars made sure no one would forget their names or their accomplishments with a stunning win.
1999 USWNT after winning the World Cup. Credit: Pasadena Star News
Credit: CNN
1999 USWNT. From Left to Right, Top Row: Joy Fawcett, Kate Sobrero, Cindy Parlow, Michelle Akers, Brandi Chastain, Briana Scurry. Bottom Row: Tiffeny Milbrett, Kristine Lilly, Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Carla Overbeck. Credit: New York Daily News.
Credit: FIFA.
Brandi Chastain’s celebration of ripping off her shirt after kicking the game winning penalty became memorialized as a symbol of female athletic triumph.
Brandi Chastain ripping off her shirt after scoring the winning penalty kick against China in the ‘99 World Cup. Credit: Getty Images
Brandi Chastain. Credit: Bleacher Report.
Brandi Chastain. Credit: Sports Illustrated.
The game deciding penalty kicks.
2011 World Cup
While the US fell to Japan in the finals of the World Cup, the semi final match against Brazil went down in history as one of the most dramatic soccer games ever. Watch the full match in all its glory here.
2011 World Cup last minute goal by Abby Wambach allowing the US to advance to the finals.
USWNT after beating Brazil and advancing to finals in 2011 World Cup. Credit: CBS Chicago
Abby Wambach after scoring goal in 122nd minute to tie the game against Brazil. Credit: Getty Images.
2012 Olympics
Winning is a habit for the USWNT. The 2012 Olympics was no different. We brought home the gold.
USWNT celebrating the Olympic gold medal. Credit: Getty Images.
Carli Lloyd after scoring one of two goals in the final against Japan. Credit: 97 Rock
2012 USWNT after winning the gold medal at the Olympic Games. Credit: Getty Images
Back to Back World Champs
The 2015 World Cup saw the first of two back to back World Cup wins for the USWNT.
2015 USWNT Cover for Sports Illustrated. Credit: Sports Illustrated
2015 USWNT after winning the World Cup. Credit: Vox
Then…. we had 2019. The World Cup victory for the USWNT marked the fourth World Cup title for the US.
2019 World Cup USWNT. Credit: USA Soccer
Credit: Getty Images
Credit: New York Times
USWNT paid tribute to their personal heroes on the backs of their warm-up jerseys. Credit: US Soccer
The US Professional Women’s Soccer Leagues
Credit: Wikipedia
The Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world’s first professional soccer league where the players were paid and was founded in 2000. The league folded in 2003.
Credit: Wikipedia
Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) was the second professional women’s soccer league in the United States. It started in 2009 and met the same fate as WUSA, folding in 2012.
Credit: National Women’s Soccer League
The National Women’s Soccer League picked up the mantle of professional women’s soccer in the united states. It was founded in 2013 and today has nine teams with plans for a tenth team.
Credit: North Carolina Courage
Credit: Washington Post
The Battle for Equal Pay
Fans clamor for equal pay at a 2019 NWSL game. Credit: Medium
Megan Rapinoe wearing her warm-up jersey inside out in protest of the unequal pay the USWNT faces when compared to the US Men’s National Team. Credit: Them
The USWNT wearing their warm-up jerseys inside out in protest of the unequal pay. Credit: WTHR
Episode One: The Sports Bra
The Early Days
The useless “Free Swing Tennis Bra” gets replaced by the “Jog Bra” in the 80s thanks to Lisa Lindahl, Polly Smith and Hinda Schreiber. Doctors Christine Haycock and LaJean Lawson bring bio-mechanics into sports bra development and research in the mid 80s.
Free Swing Tennis Bra by Glamorise.
Credit: Deadspin.
Patent for Lisa Lindahl, Polly Smith and Hinda Schreiber’s “Jog Bra.”
Credit: Eugeine Z. Lindahl, Hinda S. Schreiber, Polly P. Smith, inventor; Playtex Apparel Inc., assignee. Athletic brassiere. U.S. Patent 4,311,150, 1982.
Patent for Lisa Lindahl, Polly Smith and Hinda Schreiber’s “Jog Bra.”
Credit: Eugeine Z. Lindahl, Hinda S. Schreiber, Polly P. Smith, inventor; Playtex Apparel Inc., assignee. Athletic brassiere. U.S. Patent 4,311,150, 1982.
Inventors of the sports bra: Polly Smith, Hinda Miller (nee Schreiber) and Lisa Lindahl.
Credit: WCAX January 2020.
Dr. Christine E. Haycock.
Credit: AMWA 2020.
Dr. Christine E. Haycock.
Credit: Rutgers 2004.
Dr. LaJean Lawson.
Credit: Inside Fashion Design 2018.
Dr. LaJean Lawson.
Credit: Inside Fashion Design 2018.
Sports Bras on the Biggest Stage
The 1984 Olympics and 1999 Women’s World Cup bring the sports bra into the spotlight.
Joan Benoit winning the first women’s Olympic Marathon in 1984, showing off a white sports bra.
Credit: Tony Duffy / Getty Images.
Brandi Chastain after kicking the game winning penalty kick of the 1999 Women’s World Cup against China, leading US to victory 5 - 4.
Credit: AP Photo / The San Francisco Examiner, Lacy Atkins, File.
Breasts are a Non-Issue
The invention of the encapsulation sports bra, Enell, allows women with large breasts to pursue an athletic life. Sports bras take the very things that once made it difficult for women to play sports, breasts, and make them a non-issue.
Renelle Braaten, founder of Enell.
Credit: Enell.
Patent for Enell Sports Bra.
Credit: Renelle Braaten, inventor. Sports bra. U.S. Patent 4,816,005, 1989.
Patent for Enell Sports Bra.
Credit: Renelle Braaten, inventor. Sports bra. U.S. Patent 4,816,005, 1989.
Enell sports bras originally came in reusable cups. Linda Cetrone Levy showing off a 2005 Enell sports bras.
Credit: Billings Gazette.
Enell sports bra featured in a 2004 issue of O Magazine.
Credit: Enell.
Drew Barrymore and Kathy Kaehler’s endorsement of Enell sports bras in the Jan/Feb 2000 issue of Women’s Sport & Fitness magazine.
Credit: Enell.
Oh Wikipedia…
The Wikipedia page for the sports bra mis-classifies a swimsuit as a sports bra. Oy vey.
Wikipedia doesn’t know what a sports bra is and isn’t.
Credit: Wikipedia.
All of the sources
14 Years Ago Brandi Chastain Changed U.S. Soccer – For the Win
From the Jockbra to Brandi Chastain: The History of the Sports Bra – WBUR
A Comparison of Eight Selected Sports Bras – by LaJean R. Lawson
Creators of the Sports Bra Will Join Inventors Hall of Fame – Forbes
Christine E. Haycock, MD 1924 Papers – Rutgers Health Sciences: History of Medicine
Busty Business: Enell Owner and Founder Discusses Her Bra Invention – The Havre Herald
Oprah Show Mention Prompts Rush on Havre Company's "No Bounce" Bra – Billings Gazette