From the second her title was referred to as through the WNBA draft, Caitlin Clark has turn into one of the crucial distinguished faces of the league, serving to to shatter attendance data and rankings. A new book, “On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women’s Sports,” takes a deeper dive into the previous Iowa Hawkeyes star’s profession and the place she’s headed subsequent.
Christine Brennan, who was elected the primary president of the Association for Women in Sports Media, wrote the book.
Brennan notes that Clark is greater than a basketball participant; she’s an entertainer recognized for her thrilling taking part in fashion, together with long-range capturing and artistic assists.
“The means she performs, the enjoyable, the enjoyment—that is an entertainer and that is leisure. And that is what transcends sports activities. And that is the place grandmothers and grandfathers in the produce part who’re speaking about their night plans and ensuring to look at the Fever, similar to the best way it was with Tiger Woods,” Brennan mentioned. “I lined him the size of his profession, identical factor, the place individuals who could not care much less about golf watched Tiger—identical right here. And that is why we see the unbelievable file TV rankings and attendance and simply the nationwide outpouring of affection and fandom for this one 23-year-old athlete.”
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Brennan famous that there was a sea change in how ladies’s sports activities are considered. One instance is how Indiana Fever residence video games final 12 months attracted a bigger common attendance than 5 NBA groups.
“The nation has fallen in love with what we have created with our daughters and our nieces and the lady you wave at in the driveway as she’s lugging her volleyball gear after which altering to her soccer gear in the automotive earlier than going to play lacrosse. This is a nationwide phenomenon. And Caitlin Clark actually is far more than only a sports activities story,” she mentioned.
One topic Brennan touches on in the book is the problem of race and the way Clark is ready to attract vital consideration in a league that’s predominantly Black. Brennan mentioned there may be basic settlement that Clark’s rise to stardom would have been totally different had she been Black. However, Brennan sees Clark’s addition to the league as a optimistic for all gamers.
“It additionally shines on all of these fantastic gamers, most of them Black, who deserved consideration for years however by no means acquired it from the male-dominated mainstream sports activities media. They’re getting it now,” she mentioned. “A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston—so many of those nice gamers who have been ignored—are actually getting the eye they deserve. The rising tide lifts all boats.”
