Around the world women are faced with a societal impediment simply because of their gender. Frequently there is a hierarchy of the genders in social settings and women most commonly fall short in this sequence; the issue of gender equity is more prominent in foreign societies where there is male dominance, though it is still prominent in the United States. Women can standardize this unjust social normality through the participation in sports. The activist of the past fought for women's rights and lobbied for legislation like Title IX, which gives women incredible opportunities today; ones that they did not have in the past. Women's participation in sports is vital to their social and physical development. By engaging in sports, women prepare for the workplace while learning skills and lessons that are used throughout life. 

In the United States, we see inequality between the genders through the roles of employment at principle positions; we also see it in pay difference, and in the hiring opportunities of women in general compared to men. But in male dominate societies, it is much more common to see the oppression of women. In these male dominated countries, the women are affected differently. They do not even have the chance to be hired or argue their pay because they are not allowed to work or do not meet the qualifications it takes to work. Many girls are denied the access to education, and the choice in whom they will marry. Women face discrimination everyday and the rules that are in place make them primary victims of violence. In countries where Islam is commonly practiced, women face many restrictions and regulations. For example, the piece "Women Playing Sports: Guidelines, Conditions, and Risks" breaks down exactly how a woman of Islam should go about participating in sports. The methods suggested are very restrictive and limited, mostly referring to modest dress and the risk of male spectators. Muslim women are instructed to avoid showing any skin, and may only participate in sports with and around other women. No men may be present. Men do not have to adhere to these strict rules and may exercise freely in front of whomever and wearing whatever they would like. So, it is evident that there is an imbalance of power in countries where there are strict religious beliefs. In these countries, male dominance later leads to inequality in the workplace, if women are allowed to work at all. In these forging countries, like Israel for example, women can participate in what are called safe groups (Bernstein). Women meet and play sports while also having the opportunity to ask questions about things they are curious about, like sex and politics. These topics are forbidden to talk about in any other setting, and these women have a safe place to satiate curiosities, get healthy social interaction, and enjoy participating in sports (Bernstein). 

In life, many life skills are learned through experience. So for example, when students prepare for high school, middle school teachers slowly expose their student to high school life, allowing them more freedom and increasing the workload. Therefore, they will be more prepared for increased freedom and work in a higher education setting. We also see this in the home through chores that are in place and learned at a young age; this is a simulation of how they are expected to do the skills when they are on their own. Much like these examples, women prepare for the work place thorough experience. Sports can provide the important experiences needed for workplace preparation. A woman will learn teamwork, discipline, and focus through her participation in sports and these are the fundamentals of being an effective employee.

 Many sports are team oriented, meaning they rely on more than the individual to achieve a common goal. Teams depend on the outcomes produced by a coexisting unit. Teamwork is initiated through taking what are initially strangers and forcing them to work together to achieve a common goal: winning. If a team fails to work together then the ultimate goal is never reached. The workplace also requires teamwork, in that employees must work together on problems and projects for the good of the company. Like in sports when members of a team fail to work together, goals are never reached. This could lead to the incompletion of projects or even the decline of a company. Prior to being in the workplace women will have already built up these teamwork skills that are required. 

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary discipline is defined as "control that is gained by requiring that rules or orders be obeyed"(Merriam-Webster).  Through dedication and commitment women can acquire discipline, which is essential when one is a part of a team or trying to be the best they can be. Regardless of playing on a team or as an individual, discipline is required to reach one's full potential. In the sports setting, discipline is enforced by coaches and through rules of the game. Within the workplace discipline is defined as one's ability to listen to the request made by a superior. When a part of a work team, it is necessary to have discipline, so that orders can be completed in a timely manner. Discipline is enforced by bosses and people of high rank within a company through the implementation of rules and regulations. When women participate in sports they learn the skill of discipline and are able to apply it smoothly in the work place. 

Focus is a skill that is very difficult to learn, it is a skill that is one hundred percent mental. It can be judged and evaluated by others but only ones self can truly determine how well the skill is being executed. This is one of the most important skills that participating in athletics can teach. Not only must the athlete be focused on the task at hand when executing a skill or playing in a game, but also they must stay focused when off the court. During a sporting event the focus is on winning and doing ones part in helping the team reach it's full potential, likewise in the work place the focus is on completing task and helping the company reach it's full potential. By learning focus through sports early on a women can be prepared used that same skill later on in the workplace.

Sports impact women's lives in more ways than just preparation for the workplace, they help the overall development of a woman's social skills. As a team member, a woman is exposed to many social situations where skills like respect, communication, and emotional expression are developed. These skills that are learned in sports will directly transfer over in to a woman's work life. When a woman becomes a part of a team it is likely that she may not know a single person on the team, but through the days spent practicing and playing oftentimes these strangers grow to be friends. It is worth noting, however, in some cases there differences that can not be overlooked and in these times the individuals do not get along, but for the good of the team they must respect each other and learn to look past the differences and work together for the team to be successful. Similarly, this is the very situation a woman in the workforce faces when she is new to a business or office is. Over the time she works for a particular company, it is very likely that she makes some friends. But it equally as likely that there are people that she will not get along with, but must put differences aside to do what is best for the company so it can reach its goals.

In life there are many skills that are important to function successfully, and communication is a necessity. Communication is a skill that is used everyday and those who have mastered this skill can get what they want and things done in the most efficient way possible. When it comes to communication on a team it is a skill that is indispensable. Communication takes place amongst the coaches, amongst the players, and between the coaches and players. The importance of communication is so high because it is the only way for important messages to get relayed and situations to get talked out, which leads to success. This is a skill that is directly applicable to the workplace. The communication that happens between coaches mimics communication between bosses and leaders of a company. The communication between the players is a replication of communication between coworkers. Communication between coaches and players also follows the same pattern that is learned through sports. Because this is such an important skill, it is necessary to have experience with it before entering the workplace. By playing sports women will have mastered this skill.

Expressing emotions is something that is extremely hard to learn, it can be projected on someone all their lives but when actually put in a high tension situation it is very practical that these lessons are quickly forgotten and one acts on impulse. The best way to learn how to express or control one's emotions is to practice in a secure environment. The best environment to practice this is through sports, where every emotion will be exposed. Overabundant happiness can be felt especially after a great win or achieving something that one has been working on and striving towards and once these goals and victories are achieved one must control these emotional to and keep their opponents feelings in regard. There are also times when great sadness is felt and the athlete must keep one's emotions in check and act in a respectful way. One of the most common and hard to control is anger, when a call does not go one's way or another team or a teammate makes a player upset that player must stay calm. Learning to control these emotions will help tremendously in the workplace; women are stereotyped as being more emotional than men and by having a handle on one's emotions before entering a professional setting will give a woman an advantage. 

Sports also help one's social and self-development; a girl's confidence is something that is very fragile especially during adolescence. But once one gains her confidence it is something that is hard to take away, and it also makes the girl mentally stronger compared to a girl with very low confidence. Sports teach girls confidence through successful repetitions and positive things that allow them to start to believe they can do things, which then translates to others areas of their lives. This is directly applicable to the workplace because a confident woman that is sure of herself and her work is much more valuable than one that is not confident. 

The summer of my junior year I joined my club volleyball team on a trip to Costa Rica, where we paired with Courts For Kids, an organization that specializes in providing multisport courts to underdeveloped towns of third world countries. The town we visited was a volleyball town and was in need of a court for the children to play on safely. Until we arrived, they had to walk twenty minutes to a local high school, where they would play between all the other sports practices. This town was poverty-stricken and ran under a patriarchal system. We worked from six o'clock in the morning until nine o'clock at night, the days were long, with intensive labor, where we would level the area and pour the concrete court. We worked along side a Peace Corps member from the town we were working in and others that had came in from other towns and members form the community. We had twenty-five members of our group with only three of them being boys. This was a great example form these young girls to see women doing "dirty work." It was amazing to see the transition of the town even in the little amount of time we were there; everyday we had more people there to help us and the Peace Corps from the town said that there were "girly-girls" that would never think of getting dirty out there helping us pour concrete. One of the first nights, we were there we made the trip to the local high school to play with the community members; once we arrived the little girls began to play and shortly after that the high school men's team arrived. As soon as the walk in all the girls even the older ones take a seat on the bleachers and wait for them to finish so they can play again. This was not one of their practices and to us this was shocking. Never would a group of boys walking make us stop playing. We challenged them to a game of volleyball and they were good but in the end we beat them and this shocked the girls, as they had not seen girls beat boys. They were so excited for us; the next day our club director and leader of our trip wanted to make a point, so we had all the boys sit and let the girls play, you could see it all over the girls faces they were so thrilled that they were important for once. We kept in touch with many of the community members and Peace Corps members and we received a letter form one of the girls in the town that, her dream was to be a banker but she had to go to university (similar to college in America) first. In her letter, she told us that she was going to university and she was using volleyball as an avenue to help pay for schooling; she also thanked us for coming to help her community and inspiring her.

The social impediments that women face everyday around the world based upon their gender will be eliminated through women's participation in sports. But their participation in sports will do more than just break these social norms of inequality between the sexes. Sports will teach lesson such as disciple, focus, and communication, they will also help a women's development including their social development. Sports will do this through improving confidence also learning and practicing how to have control over ones emotions. Sports also allow opportunities for great friendships to be crated and maintained. All these improvements will have a positive affect on a women's life. But the most important thing that sports will do is preparing the woman for the male dominated and somewhat frightening workforce. By participating in sports at a young age the women will have great experiences and lessons. For example dealing with a coach that is similar to dealing with a boss, dealing with teammates is similar dealing with coworkers. You also practice the same discipline skills that are necessary for the workplace. 

