Sports Make Girls Resilient, Says U.S. Olympian Angela Ruggiero

SportsMoney Sports Make Girls Resilient, Says U. S. Olympian Angela Ruggiero Angela Ruggiero Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

I write about the intersection of sports, business and technology. New! Follow this author to improve your content experience. Got it! Jul 12, 2022, 07:30am EDT | Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Title IX’s 50th-anniversary celebration was a great moment in women’s sports.

Social media was buzzing with advocacy, stories of progress, and camaraderie from people of all ages, and for one day we had a small preview of a world in which men’s and women’s sports receive equal attention. As part of the celebration, I joined Front Office Sport’s Title IX Virtual Summit with WWE champion Bianca Belair and former NWSL athlete Haley Kopmeyer (who is now a team member of the very wonderful Just Women’s Sports team). We discussed our paths to the pros, and what the future holds.

But most importantly, we covered why we should be fighting for women’s sports. Sports Innovation Lab CEO and Co-founder Angela Ruggiero participated in the Front Office Sports . .

. [+] Title IX: The Next 50 Years virtual summit on June 23, 2022. Front Office Sports One of my reasons why comes from my own personal journey: Sports teach young girls how to overcome the adversity they’ll face for the rest of their lives.

I grew up in Southern California in the late 80s, which isn’t where you expect an Olympic hockey player to come from. As the story goes, my dad went to a local rink to sign up my brother to play. The team was desperate for kids to fill out the team and told my dad they’d give him a discount if he signed me and my sister up, too.

So he did, even though at the time it was almost unheard of to have a girl playing hockey – let alone on a boys team. All of that didn’t matter in his eyes; once you hit the ice, everyone is a player. A few years later my sister pursued other interests, making me the only girl in my age group playing in the entire state of California.

It doesn’t get more isolating than that, but I didn’t care. I fell in love with the game and had an amazing family around me that supported my dream to go pro. MORE FROM FORBES VETTED The Best Women’s Perfumes In Every Scent—Floral, Citrus, Musk And More By Jennifer Ford Forbes Staff The 15 Best Cameras For Everyone—From Beginners To Pro Photographers By Dave Johnson Forbes Staff But being the only girl playing came with its challenges.

Opposing boys called me names, which you’re used to as a nine-year-old kid, but surprisingly parents were adversarial to my presence. This led to a foundational moment in my life that shows the value of sports in a girl’s life. Canada’s Caroline Ouellette (13) and United States’ Angela Ruggiero (4) skate for the puck during .

. . [+] the Four Nations Cup women’s hockey tournament championship game in Lake Placid, N.

Y. , Sunday, Nov 9, 2008. Team USA won the championship 3-2 after a shootout.

(AP Photo/Todd Bissonette) Copyright 2008 AP. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

I was a top player on my team but got cut – undoubtedly because I was a girl. As I cried in the car on the way home, my dad told me, “you can either quit and prove them right or you can keep going and be the best player out there next year. ” It was an obstacle, but happening at such a young age turned out to be the best thing for me.

It made me focus and kickstarted what ended up being an amazing athletic career. I went on to win four Olympic medals from 1998 – 2010, became the all-time leader in games played for Team USA, and became the fourth woman ever to be elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame (and only player from California). At one point I even played for a men’s team – the Tulsa Oilers – and became the first woman to play in a regular-season professional hockey game in North America at a position other than goalie.

TULSA, OK – JANUARY 28: Defenseman Angela Ruggiero #4 of the Tulsa Oilers battles with center Jason . . .

[+] Hawes #19 of the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees on January 28, 2005 at the Tulsa Convention Center Arena in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Ruggiero became the first female skater to play in the Central Hockey League, during a game against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. Tulsa won the game 7-2.

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) Getty Images That confidence carried over into the boardroom, where I became a member of the International Olympic Committee and was elected the Chairperson of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, the body that represents all Olympic athletes worldwide. Ever since being cut, I have faced setbacks with resilience. Whenever I’m the only girl in the room and know I have to be twice as good, my attitude has been “bring it on.

” Whenever I have a challenge in front of me, my instinct is to face it instead of shrink from it. That’s not only served me as an athlete but now in business as co-founder and CEO of Sports Innovation Lab , and it’s one of the best skills we can teach our children. The Growth of the Women’s Sports Community title page.

Sports Innovation Lab Whether you’re cut from the team, down 28-3 in the Super Bowl, or just trying to learn something new, sports are a valuable playground to learn lessons that serve us throughout our entire life. So protect youth sports. Invest in the growth of the women’s sports community .

Go out and play something yourself! The results are worth it. Click here to watch the full discussion , message me on Twitter @angelaruggiero with your favorite story of overcoming adversity, and subscribe to the Fluid Fan Podcast for more insights from the world of sports. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn .

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