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Welcome to the refreshed Swish Appeal! To celebrate the new look and feel of our sports communities, we’re sharing stories of how and why we became fans of our favorite teams. If you’d like to share your story, head over to the FanPosts [link here] to write your own post. Each FanPost will be entered into a drawing to win a $500 Fanatics gift card [contest rules]. We’re collecting all of the stories here [https://www.sbnation.com/why-we-are-fans] and featuring the best ones across our network as well. Come Fan With Us!
I wanted to be just like her. I wanted to wake up every single day and play the game I loved, basketball. There are girls all around the world who want to be just like the women who play in the WNBA. When asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” a young female basketball player, wide-eyed with a big grin on their face, responds by saying, “I want to be Sue Bird one day.”
You can hear the passion oozing out of their voice and the love for the game sparkle in their eyes. That was me when I was eight years old. I wanted to be her – the WNBA player.
The WNBA isn’t just a game. It is an inspirational platform that sets a standard for young female athletes everywhere. When a young girl says she wants to play in the WNBA, she immediately has a big dream. A dream that requires hard work, dedication, resilience, and the list goes on and on.
However, many of those WNBA dreams do not come true, but in a different light, gets redirected. You see, when a young girl instills those traits within herself, she has set a standard for greatness. A standard that is carried on in other aspects of her life: school, future jobs, etc. The reality is that many little girls who say they want to one day be in the WNBA, don’t actually ever get to play in the league.
Yet, what they do get to do is open doors for success, and it all began when they watched Diana Taurasi, Tamika Catchings, Becky Hammon, and many other memorable WNBA players. And although I am not a WNBA player myself, it was the Women’s National Basketball Association that opened my eyes to the fact that women can be anything that they want to be in today’s world.
The sky is the limit for women everywhere, and it all can start with watching the women who play in the WNBA, the ones who make the little girls out there realize, dreams really can come true. That is why I love women’s basketball; it isn’t just shooting an orange ball into a hoop, it’s where passion was instilled in me and carried out into my daily life.
My love for the game will always exist, I will continually have “eyes on her,” as I become the best woman I can be like the women who set a standard for me, and all the other aspiring ballers out there.
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. SB Nation Why Are You a Fan Reader Sweepstakes starts on 8:00am ET on May 25, 2017 and ends at 11:59pm ET on June 8, 2017. Open only to eligible legal residents of the United States, 18 years or older. Click here for Official Rules and complete details, including entry instructions, odds of winning, alternative method of entry, prize details and restrictions, etc. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. Sponsor: Vox Media, Inc.