Women are taking over the sporting world. We are doing it with class, style, and enthusiasm that is driving more traffic to sporting events each and every year. With that comes money and recognition. It comes with more jersey sales and more Grand Prix tickets sold. It comes with support for underdogs and passion for veterans.
It also comes with a large magnitude of hate.
It comes with angry comments left on posts for drivers who are considered the more “conventional” route for new “fangirls”. It comes with the question, “Why do you support them? A glory hunter or what?”. Mind you, my team finished sixth this season. It comes with the string of questions about what you do and do not know. And it definitely does not come with any thoughtful help to expand your knowledge and love of the sport.
But this is the harsh reality of a woman in sports.
As women in sports there are far more expectations for us than for men who enjoy these same sports. There is far more pressure. Pressure to know it all, be involved in it all, and pressure to make sure that you always say the right thing. You always have to have the right answer, the civil response, and the fake smile and the nod after having something explained to you that you already know. You are always on guard.
What will they say when I say that I support this team? What comment will they make about my favorite driver? And how will they look at me when they find out that I’m passionate enough to want a whole career in this?
Then there is a whole way I could off about the men in my comments section. The men who criticize not only what you say, but how you say it. Everything must be polished, perfect, and 100% correct. Your opinion should be opinionated but not too far leaning for a driver or a team one way, but not so in the middle that you sound like you don’t have one at all. You should never refer to a footballer by the nickname that everyone in the world calls him, and you should never make a comment about a driver that you love because then you’ll come off obsessed with him. And, when they make fun of your team and driver you are supposed to just take it on the chin and move on.
For women who enjoy sports, there is no grey; only black and white. You can like a driver, but don’t you dare say anything about his looks. You can support a football team, but just remember that you weren’t here for their good and bad years. You can like sports, just don’t like them too much.
And you know what? I think it’s bullsh*t.
A few months ago I was applying to different grad school programs that I thought could help me further my career into the sporting world. I even had an interview with a prestigious Football Journalism program that literally brought tears to my eyes when I got accepted. Tears in my eyes… and you know what I did? I declined the offer.
See, the man who gave my interview was the lead lecturer for what would have been almost all of my courses and I remember going into the interview as a ball of nerves just hoping that they would take a chance on the American girl who loved English football. Along with his condescending tone, his rude remarks about how this love for sports wasn’t a “hobby” but an actual career for some people (Like bro… why do you think I’m applying???), and his complete dismissal of any of my answers to the questions he was asking me, he also reminded me that “It’s hard enough for a girl to break into this field, let alone an American girl”.
I shortly declined the offer after my acceptance to the program because I knew I was meeting a quota. I declined the offer because I thought that maybe he was right. But I also declined it because I remember leaving the interview wondering how I could impress this man? How could I make him see that I was serious? How could I make him take me seriously?
I am tired of it.
I no longer wish to be surrounded by men who think, talk, or act in that manner when it comes to women in sports. I don’t want to impress men who think they’re better than me because they think they know more. Maybe they do! But I was put onto this Earth with a wild love of learning, and it is something we all do every single day. I do not want to have to prove how serious I am about my love for Football and F1. Was my showing up for the interview and my portfolio of Football and F1 related content not serious enough? Was applying for the program not serious enough? My dedication to working through international time differences (I got up at 5am for the interview and he knew that) and the smile on my face when I talked about my love for sports just… not enough?
I do not want to have to hide my personality and the funny nicknames, the funny theories, and the overall silliness that I partake in when it comes to being the #1 gaffer for Chelsea Football Club and the Rightful Team Principle of McLaren Formula 1 Team! (I am also Max’s race engineer but he doesn’t really need my help… that’s why I passed the baton to GP).
Because in all seriousness, do you really think I get up at 5am on a Sunday just because I think Lando Norris is cute? Like do you really, in your heart of hearts, think that???? Do you think I’ve spent as much money as I have on Chelsea jerseys and tickets to see them in the states just because I fancy Ben Chilwell? If it was that simple, I would have just stayed at home and watched the games for free and slept in to find out what happened at the race through twitter!
After going to my first F1 race, which I will write a separate article about, I knew that I was in much deeper than even maybe I had thought I was myself. There was something so electric about being there. A feeling that I cannot even describe. A feeling that I have had before when watching Chelsea play in person. I will never ever forget the feeling of watching Lando win in Miami. I will never forget the feeling the first time I saw Chelsea on the pitch in front of me. I will never forget the feeling of having Jenson Button answer a question of mine (and yell at me to get off my phone). I will never forget meeting the Chelsea players in the middle of the street in Vegas.
Because it is a feeling I have chased every single day since it all happened, and I will continue to chase it until I have made whatever sort of mark I am supposed to make on the motorsport and Football world. It’s just that simple.
I am not going to prove to anyone that I know every world champion or that I could name all the goal scorers of Chelsea’s 06-07 season. I am not going to let a man tell me what I do and do not love about the sports that I follow. I am not going to even let other women tell me about what I do and do not know or do and do not love!
What I am going to do?
I am going to keep being a woman in sports. I am going to keep posting my content (though my haters pray on my downfall literally everyday). I am going to keep learning. I am going to keep fancying Lando Norris and Ben Chilwell. I am going to do season two of Han of the Match. I am going to be more consistent with my race debriefs. I am going to network. I am going to reach out. I am going to make new friends. I am going to keep doing exactly what no one wants women in sports to do.
I am going to keep going.
I won’t be stopping anytime soon. So… if you really hate Chelsea Football Club that bad and you think that women do not belong in Formula One then you are about to get really tired of me. But when I am in the paddock and on the pitch, that will be something that I never get tired of.
The sports industry needs me in it. For the future of women in sports, I am making a difference. And to all my other girlies out there? You are too. The industry needs you just as bad as it needs me. We’ll get there together. We’re all in this together.
Just keep going.
Mwah!
Hanᡣ𐭩
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