Sports and Gender Equality: A Self-Reflection
Originally written on 2018/02/13 in Waterloo, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada for SheScores.ca
An excerpt from Self-Reflection: Many Worlds Within The Self, Many Selves In The World (2026) by Jonathan M.W. Klassen
Jonathan’s Musical Soundtrack Recommendation for this Reflection: Stadium Love, Metric
Sports have always been a big part of my life. You can see my love of sports in the things I often wear, the conversations I often have, how I often choose to spend my free time, and admittedly the people I often become close friends with. Ever since my dad and uncle took my twin brother and I to our first Kitchener Rangers junior hockey game way back when I was five years old, I’ve been obsessed with both watching and playing sports.
There are just so many things about sports that keeps me hooked as a fan. The continuity of sports. The chance every year that this might be the year, the chance every game that something might happen that’s never happened before. The universality of sports as almost anywhere you go in the world you can find some sort of sports league, team or stadium that people are going to for entertainment. The feeling of being part of a fan base, the feeling of being part of an event that thousands or millions of other people are watching. Following all the different narratives that play out within each game and within each season, learning about each player’s unique story. Being a dedicated fan and feeling like you’re going through the same pains and struggles as the players as well as the goose bump-inducing joys and celebrations when your team is victorious. These are all reasons why watching sports is so exciting, exhilarating, and addicting to me.
Of course as much as I love watching sports, it’s not quite the same as playing them yourself. Playing competitive sports has helped teach me the importance of always putting full effort into everything I do and that hard work pays off. It has also taught me the importance of setting goals, and how good it feels to when you achieve them. Not to mention the health benefits and pure fun from playing them. It feels so satisfying to to work my body to its full extent, sacrificing it when I need to, to try to score a goal, help my team, or beat a personal best.
Why I Care
You may be wondering why some sports-crazed guy is posting on a blog called She Scores. What does he know about women’s sports? Well to be honest, I really haven’t paid much attention to women’s sports until recently.