MEGHAN MAIWALD AND THE SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAM

BAWSI is currently in our eight-week spring BAWSI Rollers program at Oster Elementary School serving about 40,1st andndash; 5th grade children, who are deaf or hearing impaired. This spring season we have been lucky enough to have the San Jose State University Womenandrsquo;s Soccer team volunteering at Oster for the entire eight-week spring season. The SJSU Women's Soccer players are committed to using their platform as collegiate athletes for good in the community. There work with BAWSI and the children at Oster Elementary School has been truly inspirational. and#40;*2011 SJSU Women's Soccer Teamand#41; Along with the SJSU Womenandrsquo;s Soccer Team, our site manager at Oster is the former goalkeeper for the Division 1 SJSU Womenandrsquo;s Soccer team, Meghan Maiwald. On top of having incredible athletes volunteer as coaches, Meghan serves as a perfect role model for the children at Oster because she too is a deaf athlete. Through hard work and dedication, Meghan, the former Spartan, is now [Read More]

published April 18, 2012 at 7:31pm EDT

WOMEN'S USA DEAF NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM HOLD FUNDRAISER WITH COLUMBUS CREW

My name is Meghan Maiwald, a goalkeeper for the USA Womenandrsquo;s Deaf National Soccer Team and#40;USWDNTand#41;, and this is my first of many blog posts for Women Talk Sports. I was born deaf, along with my brother in a hearing family. I am fluent in American Sign Language and#40;ASLand#41; and I can speak fluently as well. I wear hearing aids on both ears which give me approximately 70-80% normal hearing. Without it, Iandrsquo;m completely deaf. Iandrsquo;m a proud junior college transfer; Santa Barbara City College and#40;SBCCand#41; and now currently a senior student-athlete at San Jose State University and#40;SJSUand#41; and just exhausted my college soccer eligibility. Also I am entering second season with the California Storm of the Womenandrsquo;s Premier Soccer League and#40;WPSLand#41;. I also work for Bay Area Womenandrsquo;s Sports Initiative and#40;BAWSIand#41; as a school site manager at Oster Elementary Schoolandrsquo;s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program. Yes, there is a USWDNT. Truly the best team you ne [Read More]

published April 17, 2012 at 3:15pm EDT

QATAR ADDS THIRD WOMAN TO OLYMPIC ROSTER

Photo: Reuters Qatar, like Saudi Arabia, has never sent a female athletes to the Olympics. That will change this summer. Two women had been scheduled to go after receiving wild cards from the IOC. A third has just been added. Bahia al-Hamad, who also received a wild card, will participate in womenandrsquo;s air rifle. She was Qatar's most successful athlete at the 2011 Arab Games. [Read More]

published April 9, 2012 at 12:21pm EDT

ATHLETES GIVING BACK!

As the Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative and#40;BAWSIand#41; Rollers Program Manager I have been launching the eight week spring season at all of our sites over the past month. BAWSI Rollers is an adaptive sports and confidence building program for children with physical and/or cognitive disabilities. Last week part of the Santa Clara Cross Country team and their coaches were able to be volunteer coaches at Montague Elementary School. At Montague Elementary we work with approximately 20 students between first and sixthandnbsp; grades with ranging cognitive disabilities. The SCU athletes did an amazing job teaching the children games like sharks and minnows as well as sports like soccer. After the one hour session was over, all the volunteer athletes were radiating with excitement. It made me so happy to see these athletes so enthusiastic about serving their community even though student-athletes are notoriously busy! I am very proud of the athletes that are using their platform for such go [Read More]

published March 12, 2012 at 7:51pm EDT

BLACK HISTORY MONTH – FEMALE ATHLETES WHO CHANGED THE WORLD

Could you imagine sports without the Williams sisters or Jackie Joyner Kersee? Itandrsquo;s pretty difficult to picture, but there once was a time when women werenandrsquo;t allowed to compete.andnbsp; And there was also a time that black athletes werenandrsquo;t allowed to be on the same playing field as white people. Fortunately, there were African-American women who ignored the racial slurs and death threatsandnbsp; and focused on making the sports world a better, equal place. This month, to celebrate Black History Month, weandrsquo;d like to honor some of the women who have contributed to the soul of sports. Pioneers Althea Gibson was a pioneer in both amateur tennis and professional golf. In 1942, Althea entered and won her first tennis tournament. In 1947, Althea won the first of ten straight ATA National Championships. In 1956, she won the French Championships and, in 1957, won the All-England Championships at Wimbledon and U.S. National Tennis Championships at Forest Hills. Althea retired [Read More]

published February 9, 2012 at 3:00pm EST

OLYMPIC HOPEFUL MIXES MUSLIM FAITH AND FENCING

World-class fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad hopes to compete in the 2012 London Olympics. If she qualifies, it is believed that she will be the first practicing Muslim to represent the U.S. in women's fencing, and the first American to wear Islamic head-covering while competing. She speaks with host Michel Martin. Copyright andcopy; 2012 National Public Radioandreg;. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:We want to turn our attention now to sports. Ibtihaj Muhammad is currently training about 40 hours a week, hoping to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. Her dedication and skill would cause her to stand out, anyway, but there's another reason she does: her hijab, which she wears while competing. She hopes to become the first American Muslim woman to compete and hopefully win at the Olympic Games wearing a hijab.And she was nice enough to take a break from her busy schedule to talk with us more about her sport and he [Read More]

published January 8, 2012 at 10:04am EST

A CASE OF THE DEFUNCT KABADDI TEAM

By Fawad HussainTides have change in recent times when it comes to women taking part in sport and even going on to represent the country on global arena.Besides various indoor games, the nation is represented in cricket, football, tennis and even athletics, but when it comes to the most talked-about cultural sport of the region andndash; kabaddiandndash; itandrsquo;s only the men who don the greens and have taken Pakistan to being a major force along with India and Iran. Pakistanandrsquo;s involvement in the kabaddi World Cup was a credible effort, ending third in the event. The World Cup Kabaddi Championship, solely for the women for the first time, will be held in March where 16 countries will showcase their skills for the title. But there will be no female participation for Pakistan despite a huge following of the sport complemented aptly by effort. The simple reason: Pakistan do not have a female kabaddi team. The reason behind it is very complicated: a potential threat for those who show [Read More]

published January 8, 2012 at 10:03am EST

ESPNW'S TOP TEN PLAYS OF THE WEEK

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published October 24, 2011 at 1:35pm EDT

IBTIHAJ MUHAMMAD COULD BE FIRST AMERICAN MUSLIM TO WEAR HIJAB AT OLYMPICS

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published October 23, 2011 at 10:02pm EDT

AMY DOES PARKOUR IN MELBOURNE - THAT MEANS SHE PRACTICES BUILDING-LEAPING. YES.

This is great! Only a few minutes long, it's the best explanation I've heard for why some people are addicted to leaping buildings. Another sport I wish I had tried when I was 17 and thought I was invincible. Filmed in Melbourne, lovely shots of the city as well as Amy show us what she does.Have a healthy weekend! Diminutive documentaries profiling extraordinary women. Meet Amy: A writer and Parkour fan. Watch her scale walls... Directed by Phoebe Hartley. Produced by Brendan Lee. and#40;Cand#41; Copyright Paper Plane Films 2011. paperplanefilms.com.au/extraordinary [Read More]

published October 14, 2011 at 2:00am EDT