[VIDEO] FEMALE HIGHSCHOOL PITCHER SIGNS NATIONAL LETTER OF INTENT
High school varsity baseball pitching sensation Marti Sementelli is no stranger to media attention. Since her days playing Little League at age five with the boys, she has regularly garnered attention from local and national news media. At age 10 she made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, striking out the host and, in 2007, appeared in a Nike commercial. At 15, Marti was the youngest girl to play for the U.S in the Women’s Baseball World Cup where she allowed only one run in the U.S victory over Australia for the bronze medal. This spring, she again made history starting in the first all-girl high school pitching match-up that featured her school, Birmingham High, and USA Women’s Baseball teammate Ghazaleh Sailors of San Marcos High School. In a world where the diminutive pitcher regularly plays against boys who are now a foot taller and 100 pounds heavier, it was really no surprise last week when she agreed to accept a baseball scholarship and signed her National Letter of Int [Read More]published June 14, 2011 at 1:19pm CDT
ASK PATTY GOES MOBILE WITH MOBILE TATTLETALE!
Ask Patty is always watchful for the hottest things that you, our readers, are going to be crazy about, and now we've partnered with our first mobile app. This smartphone app doesn't help you decide where to eat, or connect you to all your social media, nor does it have anything to do with birds, angry or otherwise. This app has only one purpose - to stop texting while driving. Intrigued? I thought you might be. Hit the jump for details. Okay, so here's how this works: This is an app for moms with teen drivers. Today's teens have learned how to drive a car with a phone in their hands, and distracted driving statistics nationwide are terrifying. Lives are being lost, and laws against cellphones while driving don't help the problem. Why? Because they don't deter drivers from using their phones, they just force them to hide them while driving, causing a more severe distraction than simply using the phone would be. This app, which retails for $4.99 per year, is ins [Read More]published April 18, 2011 at 4:45pm CDT
IS HIGH SCHOOL READY FOR GIRLS’ WRESTLING?
For high-school wrestlers across the country, February is the stuff of dreams. Sectional meets leading up to state tournaments begin this month, and thousands of hopes will be realized while thousands more wind up dashed. Megan Black, a sophomore wrestler at Ottumwa High School in Iowa one of two females who made history at the state wrestling tournament this year. Black wanted to become the first girl to win a state high-school wrestling title against boys. That honor went to Michaela Hutchison of Alaska five years ago but Black was hoping to be first girl to win a title in Iowa. Also turning heads on the mat this season is Cassy Herkelman, a freshman at nearby Cedar Falls High School. Since the Iowa High School Athletic Association began sanctioning the event in 1926, no girl has ever qualified for the state wrestling tourney. This year both Black and Herkelman made the cut. According to the National Wrestling Coaches’ Association and#40;NWCAand#41; database, Herkelman takes a 20 [Read More]published February 23, 2011 at 11:38am CST
NYC HIGH SCHOOL SPRINTING STAR IN DESPERATE NEED OF BONE MARROW DONOR
I started my running "career" as a sprinter, way back in the day. and#40;Actually, my first running was from the batter's box to first base, but that's a story for another day.and#41;Today, when I write feature articles about runners, one of the questions I often ask is what their favorite "discipline" is within the sport: cross county, roads, track or trail. My very unscientific study has found that often the first discipline introduced is the favorite. For example, I have many friends who love cross country. When I ask why that is, they'll often recount how it was the first sport they tried out for in high school.For me that sport was track and it's what I always answer as my first love and#40;followed closely by road racing.and#41; And within track, although I went on to run middle distance in college and dabbled in distance racing post-collegiate, I always think first of my sprinting days.My decades-long interest in sprinting and#40;and sprintersand#41; is why this NYDailyNews.com story about [Read More]published December 7, 2010 at 8:15pm CST
A CHICK’S GUIDE TO STUDYING ABROAD
If there is a single person whom absolutely no one would ever suspect to study abroad, that person is definitely… me. But come September, I will be boarding a plane to London, where I will be learning to navigate the Tube and#40;the transportation system, that isand#41; and better understand British English, and also where I hope I will fatefully run into Robert Pattinson or Daniel Radcliffe. Yep, I’m scared out of my mind. But at the same time, I couldn’t be more grateful for my sudden epiphany that this might be my one and only chance to travel before I gear up for the “real world.” So, Chicks, if you haven’t already considered spending a semester abroad, I suggest you start now! Why should I study abroad in the first place? Saint Augustine once said, “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” I’ve never heard a truer quote. Honestly, I’ve never been out of the US before, but I can’t believe how ignorant I was about the rest of the w [Read More]published November 24, 2010 at 6:01pm CST
NAWAL EL MOUTAWAKEL ON EDUCATION OF WOMEN AND GIRLS
LAURA WALDEN / Sports Features Communications TAMPA/NEW YORK, Sept 22: IOC Executive Board member Nawal El Moutawakel was speaking out at the UN Millennium Development Goals Summit being held in New York to support of education for women. The Olympian is also a United Nations Children’s Fund and#40;UNICEFand#41; Goodwill Ambassador and has dealt with many of her own trying experiences growing up in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s in Morocco. El Moutawakel is also the first Muslim woman to win an Olympic gold medal on the 400 meter hurdles and has even served her country as Minister of Sports. Speaking to the UN News center today she said: “I personally lived these difficulties… access to education, women’s empowerment, environmental protection, improvement in health. I had experiences in all these fields linked to my personal life, to that of my country.” “An educated woman is an educated family and an educated country since women represent more than half the population in most [Read More]published September 24, 2010 at 1:32pm CDT
published September 8, 2010 at 8:19pm CDT
A TITLE IX MUST-READ: GETTING IN THE GAME
Hot off the press! Getting In the Game is a new book by Title IX expert Professor Debbie Brake from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. In the book, Brake examines how Title IX has affected and continues to affect many facets of college and scholastic athletics for men and women. Chapter by chapter, Brake identifies and analyzes the hard and interesting questions that Title IX raises, including the appropriateness of separate teams in the first place, whether and when girls should be able to try out for boys' teams, how to measure equal opportunities and#40;the three-part testand#41;, what counts as athletic opportunities and#40;including the cheerleading issueand#41;, the effect of Title IX on men's sports, the effect of Title IX on women of color and#40;for more, see hereand#41;, what constitutes equal treatment, the tension between equal treatment and acknowledging sex-differences and#40;the pregnancy issueand#41;, and general aspects of the law, such as protection against sexual harassm [Read More]published August 27, 2010 at 4:14pm CDT
A SAVVY CHICK’S GUIDE TO APPLYING FOR GRAD SCHOOL
First, I want to start off by sending out a big congratulations to all chicks about to begin their senior year. You have survived three years of term papers, 8 a.m. classes, all-night cram sessions, and a slew of co-curricular activities. It’s time for some fun! However, before you start the party, you have a very important to make about the next stage of your life. You can either choose to go out and into the workforce or you can choose to pursue a higher level of education.If you want to be a doctor or a lawyer, you have already resigned yourself to several additional years of schooling, but, for other chicks, the decision of whether or not to commit themselves to another few years of schooling can lead to more questions than answers. It can almost feel as if you have reverted back to your senior year of high school when you were selecting your current college or university. Can I afford it? Do I really want to delay my career with more schooling? Where do I even begin? How do I kn [Read More]published August 23, 2010 at 2:33pm CDT
FIRST LADY LAUNCHES PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL ON FITNESS, SPORTS AND NUTRITION
First Lady Michelle Obama has put together a powerhouse group to serve on the “President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition” including Billie Jean King, Michelle Kwan, and Dominique Dawes. From the official press release comes all the details: WASHINGTON, DC – First Lady Michelle Obama joined kids from the Washington, DC area to launch the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition and introduce the 2010 Council co-chairs and members. In conjunction with the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative, this year President Obama has broadened the scope of the Council, formerly known as the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, to include a focus on healthy eating as well as active lifestyles. The President signed an Executive Order outlining the Council’s new emphasis on both good nutrition and physical fitness. The President has named Drew Brees, quarterback for the New Orleans Saints, and Dominique Dawes, three-time Olympian and former [Read More]published June 29, 2010 at 6:36pm CDT