March is Girls Sports Month. Celebrate your strength and power.
 After some time off for holiday fun and traveling, and devoting endless hours in revising my textbook, I'm back at it. Today I celebrate National Girls & Women in Sports Day. I celebrate the opportunities girls and women have to be a respected athlete, to be adventurous, and to follow their dreams. While I was writing Meeting Her Match, I was constantly reflecting on my childhood of being called a "tomboy" because I didn't like typical girlie activities. I was the girl on the right.....and I'm proud of it.
 Who knew? While traveling this summer I saw this mosaic covering a floor of a room in a villa in Sicily. It dates to the 4th century! Even without Title IX these gals were into their sports! The best part is the artists decided to celebrate them with this intricate, time-consuming mosaic. It's not ESPN, but pretty impressive.
Rev. Mary Ann Macklin was so moved by Meeting Her Match that she spoke about it on an NPR radio program in Indiana. It is awesome how so many people have been affected by my story. So many former women athletes can relate! Click on the link below to hear her 5 minute interview.
http://indianapublicmedia.org/arts/mary-ann-macklin-wfiu-book-club/  While traveling in Europe I was invited to a summer cookout hosted by the Activities Director at Sunny Canadian International School located in Prague, Czech Republic. Since their curriculum has a strong emphasis on English language education, I donated a copy of Meeting Her Match to their school library. I'm now INTERNATIONAL!  I am only ONE of millions of "fierce women!" Check this out:
http://sheisfiercehq.com/fierce-women/fierce-woman-debbie-powers/ When Title IX became a law in 1972, over 90 percent of the coaches of girls' and women's sports were female. Today that number is just over 40 percent. Where have all of the women coaches gone? Answer: They are being replaced by men! Please advocate for females coaching females. Better yet, if you are a female, get involved as a coach in your community. Our girls need female role models who show a passion for sports.  GREAT NEWS! Meeting Her Match is now available in Kindle form. Share the good news.
I just returned from the Women's NCAA Final Four held in Tampa. At the coach's convention I had the opportunity to meet up with former Indiana University teammates, Jorja Hoehn and Tara VanDerveer. Only Tara is still coaching. It was amazing to witness the changes in women's basketball. Not only are the players taller and stronger, but they enjoy so many more resources and opportunities than we had 40+ years ago. Our passion for the game was just as intense, however, as my teammates and I reminisced about our "gym rat" days of old.
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