No one thought a baby born three months premature and weighing just 2lbs 15oz would go on to become the starting point guard of Farmingdale State College’s basketball team (or any other college team). And 
they definitely didn’t expect her to do it at her full-grown size: 4 feet 6 inches tall, 90 pounds.
Tiffara Steward is an inspiration in every sense. Not only has she overcome the obstacles that are inherent in her own body (which include blindness in one eye, scoliosis causing one leg to be shorter than the other, and partial deafness), she doesn’t even regard them as obstacles. They are merely facts in her life.
Fact: Some of her vertebrae never developed. Fact: She averaged 16.3 points per game last season (her junior year). Fact: She was born missing a rib. Fact: She averaged 2.5 steals per game.
Believed to be the shortest player in the country, Tiffara has a strength far beyond the size of her stature. Looking at a life marked with what others call disabilities, Tiffara sees opportunities. She has always loved basketball and excelled at it. Therefore there was no good reason not to pursue it. Perhaps a joke to the opponent each time she steps on the court, Tiffara is all business in the game. Her teammates and coach recognize her as a wonderful 3-point shooter and a stellar defensive player.
We, at iatg, love her for the passionista she is, pursuing her dream regardless of what others may think when they look at her or how she appears to fit in on the court. This gal steps through her life in power and in confidence.
11
Apr
Jayne Appel: Keeping the Fight Alive No Matter What
0 Comments | Posted by thatgirl in That Girl
In order to get into this year’s NCAA Final Four, Jayne Appel scored a school record 46 points in Stanford’s 74-53 win over Iowa State. She was on fire and her teammates, recognizing this, kept feeding her the ball. 
But her outstanding performance against Iowa State has little to do with why Jayne is this week’s That Girl. No. Rather we recognize Jayne for the character she portrayed during the next game, the Final Four game, in which Stanford was clobbered by eventual champion University of Connecticut, 76-54.
This Berkeley Regional MVP proved her worth both on and off the court when she continued to fight, muscling through her opponents to throw in a basket, with just minutes left in the game – by which time the game was obviously lost and Stanford’s season was over. Appel fought just as hard, if not harder, despite knowing the likely outcome.
Jayne’s performance and perseverance encourages us to drive on, keep the fight, and keep going no matter what. When things don’t look good, even when things look hopeless, you never know what may happen. And if things don’t end up going your way, go out in style, knowing that you did your best to succeed and take pride in that. No one in the sports world can look down on Jayne Appel for what she did during this year’s NCAA tournament and, by following her example, we can all say the same about the efforts in our own lives…on and off the court.
3
Mar
WPS is Already Skirting the Issue
by Kenzie Rochelle
1 Comment | Posted by thatgirl in Making Waves
I was shocked not to hear more about it really. It came and went without comment. No, I’m not talking about the league itself but the unique twist Puma put on the WPS uniforms which were released last week. And that’s a “wrap.” At least, that’s what the WPS is officially calling the piece of removable fabric on the uniforms of the Los Angeles Sol, Boston Breakers, FC Gold Pride and Sky Blue FC. The so-called wrap, when worn, makes the athletes’ shorts look more like skirts. <Insert jaw drop here followed by flashback to A League of Their Own.>
“The uniforms will have a cut more tailored to a woman’s body,” says commissioner Tanya Antonucci. I’m not quite sure how to take that in light of the wrap.
I’ve never thought of female athletes as the type of girls who’d be quick to show their femininity on their turf of choice: court, field or otherwise. Out on the town may be a different story but when it comes to sport it’s all toughness. That’s why we play with the boys and punch (not slap) them when they defend us with half their strength, or when they give us a bonus shot. We want to be taken seriously as competitiors, not sex symbols. Nothing less and nothing more.
Tracy Hamm, a defender with FC Gold Pride, was somewhat dumbfounded when she attempted to describe her first reaction to the idea of having a skirt associated with the soccer field. “I don’t want to say demeaning because it’s not the right word,” she said, “but I think it’s a little bit, I don’t know, ridiculous isn’t the word either. I definitely think it skews the image that professional female athletes are going for.”
The images from the modeling show in Manhattan on Tuesday, where players from each team adorned home and away jerseys, turned the girls in skirts into models rather than just professional soccer players. And though surely a girl can be both, she shouldn’t have to be.
The WPS will officially tell you that she doesn’t have to be; that’s why the additional piece is optional and removable; it won’t be worn in matches. But that misses the point. The skirt, excuse me, the wrap tells onlookers that these fierce women aren’t just here to entertain with their athletic talents but with their feminine looks because women, ultimately, are supposed to be looked at and admired for their physical attributes. The messages are dangerous and conflicting for the thousands of girls who will surely be fans of their local WPS team, who will idolize the WPS players.
The players themselves may find them demeaning, ridiculous or just comical. They may use them for joking around and end up ridiculing the idea of the wrap rather than being ridiculed themselves. And though the wraps may be cute in and of themselves, when they’re part of the official uniform of professional sports franchises, fun for jest and cute for leisure are no longer the issues. Now the issue has become why an optional piece, not to be used in matches, that arguably disparages the image of women in sports would ever be put in the line up to begin with. It should have been cut from the team during try-outs.
photo by howard c. smith / isiphotos.com
Aimee Mullins is a model, actress and best known for being an extraordinary collegiate-level athlete. While you may first be shocked by her physical beauty, if you look at her “perfect” body, you’d see that she’s missing both legs from the knees down. Born without fibula bones, she had both legs amputated below the knee when she was a year old, but this certainly didn’t stop her from making her dreams come true and competing at the highest inter-collegiate level in track.
Most models doing the catwalk are worried about blemishes, or whether their legs are long enough, not whether they have them at all. Aimee was not hindered by anything and never used excuses. She was one of the first people willing to compete against “able-bodied” athletes in track and field and set major records running against the fastest college athletes.
On top of pursuing modeling and acting, she made sure to attend one of the most prestigious colleges, Georgetown and currently is the President of the Women’s Sports Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to inspiring young girls through sports. This beautiful, intelligent, articulate girl is currently on a New York billboard proudly showing the beautiful body she was born with, not trying to fit our culture’s unrealistic, boring mold of “perfection.”
She has a great sense of humor, has a different pair of legs for different occasions and doesn’t know the concept of complaining or wishing that her circumstances were different. She is the author of her own life and reminds us that we are all PERFECTLY FLAWED, and it is those flaws that serve as differentiation from the norm and are truly what make a person beautiful.
