#sports representation

[regulusrules]

as a national winning athlete, I am fucking dying from the perfect representation of athleticism in Challengers (2024). no one is talking about this because there are more important stuff going on there, but Yeah. It is EXACTLY like that sometimes. You go insane with focused determination to be the best, to win, and sometimes you feel you're naturally talented, and sometimes you feel like nothing at all.

the movie really shows you athletes in different parts of our lives, and makes you able to relate to all three stages. i relate to patrick in him being a natural, and yet I relate to him in being misguided and not knowing what he could actually do with his talent. I relate to Art when i feel second-best in my sport, and how yet I still get glory thrust in my hands. I relate so fucking much to tashi, because yes the game is sometimes a relationship more important to me than any other in my life, because i am haunted by my injuries just like she is, and because of how afraid i'd have to one day lose it because of the recovery. and let me tell you? that positively breaks your fucking spirit if you're an athlete.

it's so uncommon to find proper representation for this, but god this movie went places.

[townpostin]

Bidyut Mahato Distributes Certificates to Students on National Sports Day

Jamshedpur MP Bidyut Mahato honors Aditya Institute students representing companies through sports. MP Bidyut Mahato distributed certificates to students of Aditya Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur, who represent companies in sports on National Sports Day. JAMSHEDPUR – On National Sports Day, MP Bidyut Mahato awarded certificates to students of Aditya Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur. The…

[afrotumble]

Jasmine Jordan Builds Her Career Behind The Scenes While Preserving The Jordan Brand Legacy

[internetadmedia]

From Selling Jerseys Out of His Car to Representing the Biggest Names in Sports: The Inspiring Story of Rich Paul

Learn about Rich Paul, the founder of Klutch Sports Group and one of the most successful sports agents in the world. Discover how he became successful, the impact he’s had on the sports industry, and his close relationships with some of the biggest names in sports. In the world of sports, there are a handful of names that stand out as game-changers, and Rich Paul is one of them. From humble…

[cy-cyborg]

I realised my recent paralympics posts could be read as, "i hate the paralympics" kind of stuff and thats not what i wanted. Its important to be able to critisise the things we love, and the reason why i had so many strong feelings/opinions is because i do genuinely love and care about the Paralympics and disability sports as a whole. So with the paralympics due to start in a few weeks (the 28th of August) please, if you're able to, tune in, even if it's just for the highlights.

The Paralympics themselves have a lot of issues which I already talked about, but a good amount of those issues stem from a perceived lack of interest/care from the public and the idea that "no one will care" if things arent right for us. It's much harder to justify not paying the athletes as much as their abled counterparts when they get the same publicity, it's harder for the organisers and people behind the scenes to get away with mistreatment when there's more eyes watching and more pressure to fix the issues. The athletes deserve respect, they deserve equal pay (which mostly comes from advertisers/sponsors, which depend on viewership) and their hard work deserves to be seen as more than just a funny joke or inspiration porn tear-jerker. Engage with places that treat the event and participants with the dignity it deserves.

If you're in Australia, channel 9 will be showing and streaming the highlights for free, but Stan Sports will be showing everything from every event - which is an absolutely MASSIVE thing. The entire paralympics have never been televised in Australia before, its only ever been highlights and some of the games of the more well-known sports. It sucks its locked behind a premium paywall but so was the full Olympics coverage this year, so it's not fully unique to us at least.

As for international viewers, try and find where things are for you and if they aren't being shown, put pressure on your TV networks/streaming services to include it for next time, or to include similar things like the disabled events at the commonwealth games (for those in commonwealth countries) or other global disabled sporting events - which can include sports not in the Paralympics!

[hyenabeanz]

I'm not crying about hockey again, you are.

I think this is the first thing I've seen straight up saying CJ is nonbinary. ❤️

Boston Globe article is paywalled but here's a workaround link

I really hope we get to see them in net eventually.

[imagine-to-be-a-pike]

Mf by like: we love good ED and queer representation, We need more exclusivity and understanding

And then they love him

[dailytransitiongoal]

transition goal <3

[vyeoh]

What if I make a good omens figure skating au but instead of making them go to the Olympics they're literally just regular skaters at some club in Indiana or something

[scoliosisgoblin]

Summer doodles feat. Beth and Morty :)

[altschmerzes]

one day my wife and i are gonna compile our enormous 'this is why this is garbage and everyone who wants to kiss this author's ass should so some serious personal reflection and also read another book im fucking begging you' review of all for the g/ame and then it will be over for all of us

[chasingshadowsblog]

"I'm no lady, I'm a Duck!" - Female Representation in 'The Mighty Ducks' Franchise

The Mighty Ducks trilogy may not be the first movies that spring to mind when considering female representation. After all, it is a trilogy in which there are only ever two girls at a time on each line-up of the Ducks team. However, these three girls, in their equally shared screentime with the rest of the cast, come across as considered, well-established characters with a diverse range of talents and personalities, who, depite their gender, cannot be considered as simply the girls on the team, but as players on the team. In D1 they were Connie Moreau and Tammy Duncan; in D2 Connie stayed and was joined by Julie 'The Cat' Gaffney, who both survived to D3. Each of these girls brought something special not only to the Mighty Ducks team but to The Mighty Ducks movies, and each is memorable for their own individual reasons and moments.

"Let's show these Hawks something really different." Movies like The Mighty Ducks are usually aimed at boys, and as such, the odd time a girl appears, they are the annoying older or younger sister, the bratty, sneering, cajoling, motherly, concerned, unattainable love interest girl character. Always on the margins, to be ridiculed, pined after or fought with briefly then forgotten about while the rest of the story happens. Depending on the role, they'll appear again at the end of the movie, achievement unlocked. While none of the girls in The Mighty Ducks are like this, Tammy Duncan, who could so easily have been the annoying older sister or the pretty love interest, is not portrayed in this way. Tammy is a figure-skater, recruited by Bombay, along with her younger brother Tommy, after he sees Tammy's figure-skating skills before a practice session. Bombay sees Tammy and imagines applying her skills to the hockey rink. "What do I know about hockey?" she demands angrily of her brother, after Bombay convinces her to give it a try. "More than you think," says Tommy, as he lays sprawled out on the ice after being knocked down by his sister in her anger. In the pivotal final game against the Hawks, Tammy and Tommy perform a goal-scoring trick using one of Tammy's figure-skating techniques. Tammy scores the goal. Tammy is an older sister. She is a girly-coded figure skater, compared to the traditionally boyish hockey players. She is scouted by Bombay for her talent and her potential to bring something alternative to the team. She joins in on the classroom fight, ending up in detention with everyone else. She insists that Bombay refer to them as "people" not "guys" and he complies (because she's there, too and she's proven willing to stand up for herself). Tammy is not annoying, or spoiled, or motherly, or a love interest for any of the boys. She is a part of the team and brings something unique to it. She's talented and tough, and, like Connie and Julie, her femininity is neither lost to her nor emphasised. She's a Duck.

"I wanna play. When am I gonna get my chance?" Julie 'The Cat' Gaffney is introduced to us in D2 as having "won the state championship for Maine, three years in a row" - single-handedly, I would assume, because it only takes her one hand to save the deciding goal against Gunnar Stahl and win Team USA the final game against Iceland. Nicknamed 'The Cat' or 'Cat Lady', for her quick reflexes in the goal, Julie is side-lined in D2 for almost the entire movie in favour of Goldberg. While it can be frustrating to watch this faster and (let's say it) superior player sit on the bench in favour of Goldberg, something important happens in the middle of the movie that brings depth to Julie's character - an admirable thing to do for a newbie in a sequel, let alone a female character. Julie goes to Bombay's office and demands to know when he's going to let her play. "I left my team in Maine to show the world what I can do," she says earnestly and justifiably, in an effort to convince Bombay to give her a shot. In this scene, Julie fights for her rights as a player on Team USA. She was scouted by Hendrix as being one of the best players in the country in their age bracket. It's only in anger about Goldberg's poor performance against Iceland that Bombay first lets her on to the ice - an opportunity she ruins by taking a dig at two of the opposing players before the game starts again. She could have easily stayed quiet, she was a new face in the Ducks-heavy team, but the writers gave Julie a chance to speak up for herself. As the second goalie, she is in a different position to all of the other new players - Kenny, Dwayne, Portman and Luis can all hop off and on the ice throughout a single game and get a chance to play, Julie has to wait for Goldberg to be out of the action. She knows she's talented, she's ambitious and she's frustrated that she isn't getting the opportunity to show that talent off. It's only by the end of the final game, in the shoot-out with Gunnar Stahl, that she finally gets to do that. It's only one goal, but it's one goal that wins Team USA the game. Is it frustrating that Julie is on the bench for most of the movie? Yes. Is it justified by her winning save at the end of the movie? Somewhat. I would argue, however, that it isn't the save that fortifies Julie's role in the movie as more than a "girl character", but her certainty of her own skills and her willingness to fight for her corner.

"I'm no lady, I'm a Duck!" Unlike Tammy and Julie, Connie has no unique or specialised skill to bring to the table. She is simply a solid, consistent hockey player, like Averman, Guy or Jesse. A fact which is just as important as Tammy's figure-skating or Julie's goal-keeping abilities. It's just as important to have these filler roles (for lack of a better term) be played by an array of genders, races and sexualities, as it is to have them up front and shining. It normalises the idea of a young woman, a person of colour, or someone from the LGBT+ community being there, being a part of something and not being special. Connie Moreau is a reliable player, who works hard and gets as much ice time as anyone else on the team. After Bombay meets the District 5 team for the first time, Connie is the first person to approach him with any kind of friendliness, she introduces herself with a smile, and proves to the audience that while none of the team shows any promise yet, she knows enough about hockey to talk stats. Connie isn't here to tick a box, she's here because she likes ice hockey. It's important to mention Connie's relationship with fellow player, Guy Germaine, in the context of this topic. A romantic relationship doesn't automatically weaken a female character, it's when the woman is defined by her relationship to a man that a romantic sub-plot becomes an issue. Fortunately, this is not the case with Guy and Connie. The two have a cute but subtle little romance arc throughout the trilogy that never over-shadows either the main plot or either of their own personalities. Like Guy, Connie maintains her autonomy as a person and a character outside of her relationship, and their relationship never gets in the way of their performances as hockey players. The romance could be deemed unnecessary but in this case it is handled so deftly that it only ever acts as a cute background detail to the wider story, it's a positive embellishment that fleshes out the setting and the story, as arcs like that should be. "Oooh, the Connie-meister! The Velvet Hammer!" Throughout the franchise Connie comes across as an open, kind and supportive individual, which is smoothly juxtaposed with her willingness to fight anyone who tries to mess with her team. She proves again and again that she will stand up for herself and her team mates no matter what, against the Hawks, against Iceland and against the Varsity Warriors. It is also worth mentioning, that in the 2021 reboot, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, an adult Connie Moreau (excuse me, Senator Connie Moreau) is shown briefly showing two of the girls on the Don't Bothers team the best way to tackle a player that's bigger than you. Connie represents a wonderfully colourful character. She is caring and supportive (traditionally feminine qualities) and displays her affection for her team mates by standing up to opposing players, off and on the ice. Connie may not have a flashy skill like Julie or Tammy but it is her entirely realistic and relatable personality that makes her stand out.

It might be difficult to hear this, but The Mighty Ducks movies aren't perfect. While they should be celebrated for their equal treatment of the main cast and the naturally gender-blind writing of all of the kids, there are a few instances that, while they don't diminish the good work done, shouldn't be ignored either. Interestingly, the majority of these shortcomings occur in D3 - notably, the only script in the trilogy not written by Ducks creator, Steve Brill.

D3 is often thought of as the best of the two sequels; D2 pulls a few fast ones on the audience in terms of internal hockey logic, while D3 holds up in that regard. While this can't be argued with I do think it falls short in some areas. D3 pulls back on the hockey content and focuses more on the kids, now teenagers and freshmen in a private school. It gives less time to the Ducks and more time to Charlie (their stand-in main character now that Bombay is out of the picture), and his battle with the new coach, new school and new team image. It's easy for something like female representation to get lost underneath everything else that's going on in the movie, but when you're looking for it there's something to see - and it's not great. Connie and Julie are largely left unscathed by the plot. Julie gets a very light romantic sub-plot with Scooter, the Varsity goalie, but I would argue that so little happens between them that, like the Connie and Guy romance, it doesn't detract from Julie's character but adds a bit of fun to the overall setting. She initially ignores his attempts at conversation after their first game, and when he approaches her at the end of the movie, she looks surprised but pleased and the scene is so brief it doesn't diminish either of their characters or the ending.

D3 does, however, introduce us to Linda, a student at Eden Hall who catches Charlie's attention. And… that's it. I like Linda, but she is the opposite of what Julie, Connie and Tammy represented in the first two movies. Linda is introduced in D3 asking Charlie to sign a petition that will change the name of the school's offensive 'Warriors' moniker. When she realises that Charlie is a jock she turns away, but Charlie doesn't back off. Later on, they interact again and he manages to wear her down; she attends a hockey game and despite Charlie's behaviour during that game, begins to fall for him. After the Varsity game, Linda approaches Charlie and they kiss, after she thanks him for having the "demeaning Warriors name" replaced by a new Eden Hall version of the Ducks logo, which…Charlie had nothing to do with? Linda is a textbook "girl character". She is completely innoffensive, appears initially as a foil to the sports-loving Charlie, but in a single scene is charmed by his wiles(?) and tries better to understand him. She never interacts with another Duck, other than being present at the hearing, then appears again at the end of the movie, completely won over by him, without Charlie having done anything other than talk to her on a bench.

A similar character appears in D2, Maria, Team Iceland's trainer (the "Iceland is nice" lady). Maria's presence is brief in the movie, much shorter than Linda's, yet she only really appears as a passing love interest for Bombay, but not really for Bombay. His interest and their date seem to happen only so that Gordon can be caught by Portman and Fulton, and to supply another reason for the kids to lose their faith in him. After this, Maria is largely left to stand in the background with the rest of Team Iceland, without anymore play in the story. Compared to the other adult woman in D2, Michelle McKay, Maria's role is clearly there to serve a purpose relating to her gender. I would argue, however, that in this instance Maria is less a victim of the male gaze as she is a victim of narrative convention.

Outside of the main cast, there are two more women that share significant screentime with the Ducks, and both represent the negative and the positive aspects of the Ducks scripts when it comes to writing women. First there is Casey Conway, Charlie's mother and Bombay's love interest in D1. Casey disappears in D2 with a throwaway line about her marrying some random guy, and so she is no longer Bombay's love interest or present in the movie. As well as that, the kids are away from home at the Goodwill Games and so Charlie doesn't need his mother for now. Casey returns again in D3 to act as the adult influence in Charlie's life while Gordon is absent. Like Linda, there is nothing inherently wrong with Casey, but she is only present for her relationships to the men in her life - Charlie mostly, Gordon briefly. If she was meant to be the grown up voice in Charlie's head during D3, then why have Charlie ignore her advice and admonishments and why bring Bombay back to give him the speech that changes his mind?

"CHANGE IT UP!" In D2 we have Michelle McKay, who is brought to the Goodwill Games as the team's teacher. She is a foil for Gordon during his Air Bombay phase, but is otherwise her own character. I would argue that she is more defined by her role as a teacher (with no interest in the Goodwill Games) and her relationship with the kids than she is by her interactions with Gordon. Ms. McKay listens to the kids, develops a relationship with them and confronts Gordon when they can't. She is soft-spoken and doesn't seem to be interested in sports, although she does enjoy her brief stint as Coach. She is supportive when Gordon is neglectful. And while she does act as a foil for him for a lot of the movie, once he is back to normal again, she retains her personality. Bombay kisses her on the cheek in thanks for jumping in as coach, but nothing romantic comes of this. Their relationship is entirely platonic and no one will ever convince me otherwise. Like Tammy, Connie and Julie, Michelle retains her femininity (through her traditionally feminine traits as well as her physical appearance, dress and mannerisms) without becoming defined by it. Her personality survives intact to the end of the movie; she is there for the kids and isn't won over by Gordon or the sport.

I'm sure that female representation was the least of everyone's concern when The Mighty Ducks reboot, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, was announced, but it's clear that the good work done in the trilogy is being carried on here. While we haven't gotten to know these girls as well as their predecessors, Sofi, Lauren and Maya continue to represent a diverse range of personalities and talent levels, while holding their own narratives on the screen. As well as this, what Game Changers does differently - and which is representative of the eras both products were made in - is show girls playing on the rival teams. While the girls of the trilogy were wonderfully fleshed out characters, they were also the only girls. No other team in the franchise had a girl playing on it - something I've always thought was meant to reaffirm the Ducks as being the good guys and everyone else as the bad guys. In Game Changers, none of these girls ever speak, but neither do the boys - in The Mighty Ducks no one on a rival team ever speaks unless they are on the rival team. Like Connie had to do on her own thirty years ago, the addition of female players, simply in the background, normalises the idea of young women appearing in sports-oriented media (and movies in general), without making a big to-do or having to justify their place in the world.

The Mighty Ducks franchise is not without its problems when it comes to female representation but these movies deserve to be noted for their treatment of their female characters. In the few moments where they are singled out for their gender, those moments, and the characters involved, do not go unpunished. Early in D2 Portman refers to Julie condescendingly as "babe" and is immediately called out by Adam then, most notably, his future Bash Brother Fulton; during the first USA-Iceland game, Gunnar and another skater laugh at USA for sending Julie into the goal, for which she knocks them over and is disqualified for the rest of the game. These scenes are not meant for laughs, each one highlights the perpetrator as being in the wrong. Portman's behaviour causes a fight between the team and the instance during the Iceland game only reaffirms to the audience that these are the bad guys. The Mighty Ducks does not take its female characters for granted, none of them are there to tick the token girl box. The fact that there are only two on the team at a time may even be representative of the interest levels in girls' youth hockey at the time (this I can't say for sure as I wasn't alive when these movies were being released). There's a quick scene in D2, around twenty-nine minutes, that follows Connie as she skates circles around the Trinidad and Tobago players then passes the puck to Kenny, resulting in a score. During those few seconds of Connie handling the puck the camera cuts briefly to a girl in the stand cheering her on. If D1, D2 and D3 are representative of the time they were made in then I hope that Game Changers is also indicitave of the growth and current levels of interest and access for young girls in hockey. I'd also be interested to know how much The Mighty Ducks had an impact on that growth.

[100gayicons]

GAY ICONS CAMPBELL HARRISON

Campbell Harrison is a sports climber who represented Australia in the 2024 Olympic in Paris. During the trials where he clinched his spot on the team, a photograph was taken of him kissing his boyfriend Justin. The photo was posted on social media. Immediately the trolls targeted Harrison with hateful comments and homophobia.

His response was strong - a reminder that Gay Pride is more than annual parades.

“We often tell ourselves that society as a whole is becoming more progressive, or that things are ‘getting better’… But the reality is there’s a reason why you see so few out, queer athletes in sport…. That’s because we're still not safe here… yet. 'Pride matters. Representation matters.”

He added:

It’s homophobes and bigots that should feel unwelcome in sport. Not me. Not Justin. Not queer people just trying to live our lives without having to lie about and hide who we are.”

[thedisabilitybookarchive]

Lis Hartel- Disabled Olympian, Equestrian Champion

Olympic season is in full swing, so it seems only appropriate to give a little love to some of history's most notable disabled Olympians as the games get underway. What better place to start than with the story of Lis Hartel and the impact she had upon equstrian sport.

[ID: A book cover. The cover art shows a brown horse being led by a woman in a black dressage suit. The background is light blue. A beam of light is shining on the woman and horse. Text above them reads: The title “Jubilee” in large red writing, “The First Therapy and an Olympic Dream” below in smaller black writing. “By KT Johnson” and “Illustrated by Anabella Ortiz” below in smaller, black capitals. /end]

🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎 [22 horse emojis]

Hartel was trained in the art of equestrian sport from a fairly young age, regularly competing in showjumping and dressage competitions by her teens, and, eventually becoming the Danish dressage champions in 1943 and 1944. In September of the latter year, at the age of 23 and whilst pregnant with her second daughter, Hartel contracted polio.

The disease left her paralysed below the knees, though she decided to continue her equestrian career against medical advice.

In 1947, then, Hartel finished second at the Scandinavian championships. She would then win a silver medal in individual dressage at the 1952 Olympics, becoming one of the first four women to compete in Olympic equestrian sport against men, and only losing out on the gold by 20 points, coming second to Swedish rider Henri Saint Cyr. At the 1956 Olympics, she would go on to be awarded another silver medal in individual dressage, again only coming second to Henri Saint Cyr.

Hartel was also the Danish dressage champion from 1952-54, securing the title again in both 1956 and 1959.

She eventually retired from competitive riding sometime later but continued to coach, give demonstrations, and raise money for polio survivors and therapy riding for disabled people.

In 1992, Hartel was inducted into Denmark's Hall of Fame. Two years later, in 1994, she became the first Scandinavian to be inducted into the International Women's Hall of Fame, and, in 2005, she was named one of Denmark's top ten all-time athletes, an honour she still holds today.

Hartel would pass away in 2009, at the age of 87, but her legacy as a decorated Olympian, equestrian, and great disabled athlete continues to live on.

The Lis Hartel Foundation in the Netherlands continued her work in the disabled community, by creating and providing riding opportunities for disabled riders.

Her Olympic success and position as a disabled athlete was greatly admired at the time and inspired many other "fledgling" movements, including the momentum that would eventually lead to the formation of the Riding for Disabled People's Association in the UK.

She has been written about countless times, with her story even being transformed into a children's educational picture book by KT Johnson (information for which can be found in the archive).

Yes, Hartel's impact on both equestrian sport and sporting history as a whole can never be denied. And so let us close out this Disability Pride Month by honouring a great disabled champion:

[ID: Black and white photograph of Lis Hartel riding a horse. /end]

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

[casismybestfriend]

[nerdyydragon]

It’s been several hours but I’m still stuck on the fact that Loki’s first appearance was (as a result of his own insecurities) basically him trying to “free” the world from freedom, and now he is responsible for all worlds being free.

Nobody touch me I’m fine this is fine I’m fine.