Published in the Daily Hampshire Gazette on Jan. 1, 2015
Every year there are trends in sports, good and bad.
Unfortunately, it seemed like the last 365 days had more arrests and court proceedings than broken records and underdog wins — not really something to brag about.
However, amongst the gloom, there were plenty of bright moments if you looked in the right place. My favorite was the rise of the young female athlete and the role of women in sports, outside the domestic violence charges.
The month of August was a glimpse at the future as two teenagers stole headlines and drew international attention.
Mo’ne Davis, who won The Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year award on Monday, stole the show at the Little League World Series.
The 13-year-old became the first girl to earn a win on the mound in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, leading the Taney Dragons to a 4-0 win over Nashville, mowing down batter after batter after batter. That was Aug. 15.
On Aug. 27, CiCi Bellis made waves of her own on the tennis court. While it took three sets, the country was talking about a different teenage girl when at the U.S. Open, the 15-year-old knocked out 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova, who was runner-up at the Australian Open.
Before the minors stole the show, on Aug. 5 Becky Hammon was hired by the San Antonio Spurs as the first paid assistant in the NBA. It was reported and ogled over for a day or two, but now that the Christmas day NBA games have past, it’s business as usual. I’m stuck in between wanting a midseason report and glad it hasn’t become the reason the defending champions are seventh in the Western Conference.
That was all in one month. The rest of the year had a laundry list of accomplishments.
In Sochi, the U.S. men’s hockey team didn’t medal, but the women skated to silver, falling 3-2 in overtime to Canada in February. Jamie Anderson won the first-ever women’s snowboard slopestyle gold medal.
In April, the UConn women’s basketball team completed a perfect season and won its ninth NCAA championship under Geno Auriemma. Six months later, the Huskies’ Breanna Stewart was the only college athlete on the USA’s winning FIBA World Cup team in October.
Caroline Wozniacki stepped off the tennis court and ran her first marathon in November, finishing the New York City Marathon in 3 hours, 26 minutes, 33 seconds. Her time was a Boston qualifier, but she has publicly said it’ll be awhile before lacing up anything but tennis shoes.
The list from 2014 goes on, but whether Mo’ne and CiCi could be the next superstars or just had an August they’ll never forget is left to be seen. Either way, they sparked some curiosity of what could be and I hope it carries over to the new year and beyond.