National Girls & Women in Sports Day

February 3rd marked a day to celebrate women in sports.

So why am I talking about it?

If you know me personally, you know that I love sports. I grew up playing multiple sports and eventually focused on my obsession with volleyball. I eventually coached club volleyball, and enjoy it so much.

Besides volleyball, I am a huge football fan. I grew up in a family that did not talk when the Colts were playing and refused to have Super Bowl parties out of fear of missing a second of the game. I learned every rule and could talk strategy and plays with the best of fans.

In 2016, one of my favorite players won the Super Bowl and ended a legacy that changed the quarterback position forever. I admired Peyton as a Colt and was proud of him when he won the big game with the Broncos. I literally named my cat Manning.

The day after the Super Bowl, the NFL Facebook page immediately started talking about how Peyton winning with multiple teams helped him establish GOAT (the greatest of all time) status against Tom Brady. It was a way to get people talking, so I threw my opinion in the ring.

People give Tom Brady more credit than Bill Belichick. Belichick is a genius.

Whether or not you agree, what happened next was absolutely heinous.

Little did I know, my opinion immediately wasn't going to be taken seriously.

My lifelong passion for the sport did not matter.

My knowledge of the game was not taken into consideration.

The fact that I am a woman made my comment suddenly unimportant.

Below are some of the replies to my comment:

Back to the kitchen, please

Kitchen

It's so cute that you think you know what you are talking about.

You are only bashing Brady because you have a crush on him ;)

Go back to watching keeping up with the kardashians you r*****

Don't you belong in the kitchen?

You're absolutely incorrect but I would definitely have sex with you.

Yikes, right?

This is in response to one comment on one post on one page.

This doesn't include all of the messages that I received telling me that I was stupid and that I should kill myself.

---

I don't bring this up because I think that women are not making strides.

In fact, there are more women referees and coaches now than ever before.

I bring it up because of the trolls and fools that might have attacked your opinions on something male-dominated from behind their computer screens.

Sexism exists everywhere, but especially in sports and especially on social media.

The people that were rude to me that day did not take away my passion for sports. They don't have that kind of power or control over my life.

And I hope that no matter what people might say to you, you also don't give up on your passions because of the ignorance and bigotry of others.

You have a spot on the team.