The Road Less Traveled
I guess it was in the late 1990’s. I was watching one of my nieces play T-Ball. A little girl swinging the bat was obviously stunned that she actually hit the ball. It was well into August and the season was about two months old, but this little girl’s career was just beginning.
Seeing as to how the hit was totally unexpected, she was a bit confused on what she was supposed to do next. Finally, at the advice of her screaming coach, she darted toward first base with a full head of steam. Between home plate and third base, another young athlete-to-be picked up the ball and after a second or two of consideration, she decided that throwing the ball all the way to first base wasn’t possible. So she too headed to first base, ball in tow, as fast as she could move.
At first base was our third heroine. She knew full well what to expect, but she wasn’t happy to oblige. So with all her courage, she stood on first, held out her glove and closed her eyes, hoping the ball would somehow land in her glove. I don’t know if we were supposed to laugh or cry at what happened next. At an exact moment in time, all three girls collided at first base. The ball broke loose, and the batter was safe…the onset of her career.
What goes through her mind as she stands there, safe on first? For little boys, we know. Every male child on that field is picturing himself a few years down the road as a major league All-Star. Few will make it, but they have something to aim at.
When Henry Aaron retired, he referred to his 755 home runs as something for the kids to shoot for. Aaron had faced obstacles that the rest of us can’t even imagine, and he spent his post-baseball life helping to ensure that no one else would have to face those obstacles. At his neighborhood player development program, he taught children of all races, male and female, the proper techniques of baseball. But he knew that for girls, the dream was nothing more than a unrealistic fantasy. Title IX didn’t change that, but it created a path. Today, schools are required by law to recognize female athletes with equal rights, including athletic scholarships.
And cheerleaders are finally recognized as the athletes they truly are, and they can now compete for championships…just like the boys. Or are they? In reality, they are what polite bigots used to call “equal but different”.
Women’s tennis has become a name brand sport, thanks to pioneers of camera persona in the 1980’s and 90’s. Billie Jean King had fought for women’s rights, but the charm and friendly appeal of women like Chris Evert and Carling Basset took the cameras, the headlines and the fans away from men in droves, just like Olga Korbut and Nadia Comneci had done in gymnastics.
But the major sports were still “male only” and cheering was still referred to as “not really a sport” although the athleticism required was beyond what most noted athletes could imagine.
In 1996, USA Today captured a 10 year old Atlanta girl in a picture watching warm-ups for the new American Basketball League, wearing a t-shirt that read “Little Girls Dream Too”. It appeared that girls were finally going to have a dream to chase. The following year, the NBA formed it’s own women’s league. It’s unfortunate that the onset of women’s pro basketball started with legal issues and league threats, but at least it started.
Today, more girls than ever can dream of becoming pro athletes, and many of them work hard toward what is now a realistic goal. And it’s not just basketball. Very few athletes, male or female, make it to the pros. But they do earn a college education and go on to lead productive and valuable lives. For every basketball star, there are a hundred lacrosse players, swimmers and volleyball players who are just as much an athlete as the superstar. The most unappreciated are the cheerleaders.
In the late 1980’s, Vance Senior High School had a group of cheerleaders who were such a part of the community that they were probably more recognizable than the elected city officials. When I first wrote about them 30 years later, I could remember almost every name and face. I located most of them and found them to be the same smiling faces who loved Henderson that I had met back then. And through them, I met some younger cheerleaders. Unlike their predecessors, these young ladies were part of cheering as a competitive sport. When MacKenzie Terry (pictured on the right) became Oxford Prep’s first Division I athlete, I thought it was a big deal. Not only was she going to be Division I, she was going to an ACC team.
I think back to that little girl getting her first T-Ball hit. What was going through her mind? Little did she know that she was part of history. It was the hard work and dedication to a team that these girls engaged in, knowing there was no future, that led to dreams today being realized. They set the standards. I have a niece (Victoria) who plays softball. On the very day I’m writing this, she’s at the hospital with a game related concussion. But she’s already talking about her return. She dreams too…just like the boys do. She can do it because of that little girl who played T-Ball. And whatever her dream is, even if it’s 756 big league homers, I’ll be pulling for her and encouraging her. Just like the Hammer would.
In a few years, MacKenzie will leave North Carolina State with a degree in hand, and she’ll go on to what I’m sure will be a world of her making. She’ll leave behind an open spot on the Wolfpack cheerleading squad; what Henry Aaron called “something for the kids to shoot for”. One day, some little girl in Henderson is going to recognize the name MacKenzie Terry as the person who opened the door for her and she’ll aim even higher. Because little girls dream too.
