Women make up around 50 percent of the population, so when people undervalue the importance of women’s sports, they are undervaluing 50 percent of the population’s athletic ambitions.

According to the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSf), the U.S. women’s soccer team generated $1.9 million more than the men’s team in 2016. At this time, the women’s team was getting paid significantly less than the men’s team. If the women’s team was bringing in more revenue, it would only make sense they should have gotten paid more than the men’s team. 

According to the Burea of Labor Statistics, women earn 81 percent of what men do. This pay gap is expanding in the athletics world. Not only in soccer is financial equality an issue, but in most national women’s sports, women are dealing with financial discrimination because of gender. According to Payscale, the discrepancy in the pay gap in sports is averaged at 94 percent. If women are given the proper recognition they deserve, then it is very possible the pay gap will become less severe and maybe even equal one day. 

According to a Purdue University study, 95 percent of sports coverage is male rather than female. When women do not have equal representation in the media, it can be hard for them to have the motivation needed to carry on playing such a demanding sport. 

Women’s sports deserves more recognition in the media. Whenever talk shows are on in the background or a highlight clip is being shown, it is most of the time about men’s athletics not womens. When people talk about who the greatest of all time is for specific sports, it is never, or very uncommonly, a female. Girls can put in the same amount of effort into their sport as boys, yet not be half as well-known or well-paid. 

Nowadays, females have more rights than they have in a long time. Part of this is because of empowering female role models younger generations look up to. If women have more recognition, then there are more opportunities for important figures the youth can look up to. This would further the fight for equal rights among the genders. 

Many people say that men should be paid more because they are usually better, but what they mean when they say they are better is that if the girls’ team and boys’ team were to play each other, the boys team would win. However, that has nothing to do with the fact that the ratio of how good the girls’ team is to other girls’ teams, and how good the boys’ team is to other boys’ teams; it is very different. Just because the boys’ team might beat the girls’ team directly, it doesn’t mean that the girls’ team is worse. Boys have a biological advantage that girls can not do anything about. 

As a female who plays a sport, watching the boys’ teams get more resources and attention than my team is very sad. I put everything into my sport, and to know that I may not get the same opportunities, recognition and pay just because of my gender is a travesty. 

Women’s athletics takes the same amount of dedication, practice, talent and work ethic as men’s sports. So, women’s sports are very important, and they deserve the same recognition as male sports.