Bio
What was your experience in youth athletics? Were there opportunities available to you?
I grew up in South Jersey. Depending on which sport you wanted to play there was a pretty significant amount of youth sports programs where I came from.
What about field hockey?
Field hockey was very big, my high school coach conducted a clinic during field hockey season on Saturdays for basically anyone who was interested. Any age, starting from pretty much kindergarten on up she would allow to come to the clinic.
How did an Ivy League experience affect your athletics pursuits?
I think it affected me both ways, it affected me positively because it was kind of a challenge to have both the academics and balance the athletics at the same time.
Is the balance of trying to do athletics and academics at a high level the major challenge?
I think trying to be, depending on the type of athlete, trying to be as serious and motivated as you’d like to be in athletics and at the same time maintaining your academics at the highest level you want to attain, is the biggest challenge. It was for me the biggest challenge, I don’t know for anyone else.
What obstacles still stand to young women who want to participate in athletics?
I think looking farther into their future, as far as being able to play in college and at a higher level. I think the funding that is available for women’s athletics is a big challenge. I also think that now as women’s athletics has become much more popular the competition for scholarships in women’s athletics is going to become much higher and it is going to become harder for women to actually play sports where they would want to be in college.
What do you see in the future for women's athletics, will it continue to expand?
I see it expanding more. I don’t know how women’s athletics is going to fit in professionally in comparison to men’s athletics right now. But I think it is definitely going to get bigger and it’s going to become more popular as more women become more independent and that’s what they want to do and they love their sports, it’s more important to them.
What has athletics done for young girls that choose to participate?
A few words come to my mind. I think of confidence. It gives women a lot of confidence in any aspect of life. Whether it’s talking to your boss, peers or young people, it just gives them a sort of confidence that only years ago you would see men walking around the streets with. I think it really is starting to become equal with men’s athletics, which is really where we want to be.
