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"Kelly Kulick's win at the PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) Tour's Tournament of Champions is not only historic, it serves as a motivational and inspirational event for girls and women competing at all levels all around the world."

--Billie Jean King, former tennis superstar and head of the Women's Sports Foundation, comments, January 24, 2010

I am not a bowler or even a championship bowling enthusiast, and I didn’t know about this historic win. That doesn’t make it any less significant. What was historic was that Kelly Kulick beat all 68 men in the 2010 PBA Tournament of Champions. It was also historic that Billie Jean commented on the win, and that Barack and Michelle Obama invited Kelly to the White House in honor of her victory. These are all markers of a positive development that’s happened in my lifetime.

I was 20 when Title IX was passed, and I’m sorry I missed out on school sports. I played individual sports in both high school and college, but there wasn’t much razzmatazz to it: tennis, skiing, swimming. We girls simply didn’t have team sport options. We got to play a few team games in gym class and I loved it. But we didn’t have a single girls team sport. I feel I missed out. And when I read about the sports break-throughs females are making every day, I can’t believe that the Dark Ages were only a few decades ago.

The increase in girls playing sports has been documented ever since, and it’s translating into greater female sports audiences. Today nearly as many women enjoy watching football as men: 77% to 89%. The even greater surge has been in the numbers of women participating in sports, and well into their later years. Since the passage of Title IX, ten times as many girls play sports as we did in the early 70’s. And more than three-quarters of the younger women continue to stay interested in sports as they age.

There has been talk over the years that women are increasing their skills at a rate faster than men and could one day overtake men in sports. I looked that up, and the simple answer is that it could happen, but only with gene manipulation. What fun is that?

My feminist husband asked this morning, Why would I ever watch women’s sports? So I am trying to find an answer, and the answer is nuanced. You would, if the sport is not just a contest of speed and strength: equestrian, water, and sailing sports have more to do with skill, timing, and experience. You would, if the sport is based on female strengths: ultramarathon runners are often female. You would, if teamsmanship, especially national chauvinistic teamsmanship, is more important than individual break-throughs, such as the U.S. women’s soccer players demonstrate. You would, if precision moves are more successful than force and speed: skating, rock-climbing, and racecar driving. You would, if individual sports is your thing, like tennis. If you enjoy sports entirely of the brain, then female chess players are doing just fine.

And what is the #1 most popular sport in the Olympics? Women’s gymnastics.

If your worldview is limited to football, basketball, and baseball, well, you’re right, men have got that beat. But just as we are learning in every other aspect of our lives, a broader perspective enriches all our lives. Sports are good for women, and women are good for sports.