Book Review for #InternationalWomensDay : RENA GLICKMAN, QUEEN OF JUDO

What better way to celebrate International Women's Day on March 8th than to amplify a notable woman . . . so my #sportygirlbooks pick for today is RENA GLICKMAN, QUEEN OF JUDO by Eve Nadel Catarevas and illustrated by Martina Peluso (Kar-Ben Publishing, 2022).

While some sports fans might not immediately recognize the name Rena Glickman (1935-2009), this might help -- her full name is Rena “Rusty” Glickman Kanokogi, and she can be described as the mother of women's judo and a sports pioneer who has inspired many girls and women around the world.

This significant picture book biography tells the story of Rusty, a Jewish-American, from her early childhood in New York, including how she earned her nickname “Rusty.” From a young age, she wanted to be like her brother, Charly, so she lifted weights and did push-ups just like him. In the 1950s, people chastised her for being “unladylike,” and she found herself getting into fights with other girls, so she “was always trying to improve her self-defense skills.”

Luckily for her and many young women of that era, the YMCA provided an outlet for physical activity, and she learned they offered judo classes. However, to her dismay, she learned that only men were allowed in the judo class. This is where persistence comes into play as she talked her way into the class, and when it came time to enter her first competition in 1959, she had to disguise herself as a man in order to compete. (Can you think of any other female athletes who had to do something similar in order to participate in a sport? I immediately thought about Kathrine Switzer who signed up to run the Boston Marathon as K.V. Switzer in 1967 since women were not allowed to participate and since she didn't use her first name the officials did not know she was a woman.)

There are many “firsts” associated with Rusty Kanokogi — the first girl to participate in her YMCAs judo program — first woman to train at the world-famous Kodokan in Japan — first woman to become a seventh-degree black belt in judo — and the first coach for the U.S. Olympic Women’s Judo Team in 1988.

The Queen of Judo tells the story of a remarkable woman who found her passion for sports as a young girl and it has a resonating message: believe in your abilities and never give up on your dreams. A bonus is the Author’s Note which includes more information and photographs of Rusty Kanokogi.

For more information about Rena “Rusty” Glickman Kanokogi

Sporty Girl March Roundup

It is officially spring, and I've been told that there are some people who actually have warm temps and flowers. Here in Maine, I'm looking out on ever-present mounds of snow and listening to Siri telling me how it "feels like" ten degrees. Nope. Not jealous at all. With spring comes spring sports, and spring training and amazing photos of people getting out and about. So let's get right to it!

March is Women's History Month and this year was the 35th anniversary of the celebration with the theme "Weaving the Stories of Women's Lives." You can read more about the women honored by the National Women's History Project here. 

In the world of sports there are many storytellers. The talking heads who grace our TV screens, give us the play by play, and profile athletes are often men but there are some wonderful standout female reporters on the beat. Mary Carillo is one of my favorites. 

A correspondent for NBC Olympics and a tennis analyst since the 1980's, Ms. Carillo was a was champion doubles star herself garnering wins at the French Open, the US Open and the US Clay Court Championships. 

From her NBC bio:

"Carillo has received two coveted Peabody Awards, one of television’s highest honors, one for work on the HBO documentary Billie Jean King, Portrait of a Pioneer and the other for co-writing with Frank DeFord the HBO documentary Dare to Compete: The Struggle of Women in Sport. Carillo was named “Best Commentator” by Tennis Magazine (1988-91), “Best Commentator” by World Tennis Magazine (1986) and “Broadcaster of the Year” by the WTA (1981 and 1985). She has co-written two books—Tennis My Way with Martina Navratilova and Rick Elstein’s Tennis Kinetics."

We at Sporty Girl Books seek to honor the stories of women and girls in sports and March has been an exciting month for that.

March 8th was International Women's Day and World Rowing put out the following challenge for photos on Twitter. If you'd like to see more, search for #womeninrowing on your twitter feed!

World Rowing Celebrates #womeninmotion for International Women's Day - tweet your photos using #womeninrowing pic.twitter.com/HlidXfCJCz
— World Rowing (@WorldRowing) February 24, 2015

From NPR's "Only A Game" broadcast comes this article about JV baseball player, Sydney Dore. Sydney Dore is a 14 year old at McKeel Academy of Technology, a charter middle and high school in Lakeland, FL who showed up at Red Sox spring training to thank her inspiration Dustin Pedroia. My fave quote is from coach, Lorne Wheatcraft. "She tried out and there was no way I could say, 'You are not good enough to be on this team.' There was just no possible way to do that." Of course this is just another in a wonderful long line of girls who are being allowed to play baseball. We happily covered Mo'ne Davis and her wonderful showing at the Little League World Series.

I want to note here that we at Sporty Girl Books are also are huge fans of softball. Coaching softball since 1985 is Carol Hutchins, from Michigan. This article about her 1,400th career win comes from the NCAA website. "Michigan head coach Carol Hutchins earned her 1,400th career victory in memorable fashion as the No. 4-ranked Wolverines cruised to a 20-0, five-inning rout over rival Ohio State on Sunday. Hutchins is just the third coach to reach 1,400 wins in NCAA softball history; she is the second winningest active coach." 20-0? Congratulations to Coach Hutchins and the team!

And finally (also from NPR's, Only A Game) is a story about a women's sports team that regularly outdraws many Division I male basketball teams. Utah Gymnastics is the only program that has reached the national championships every year of that event's existence (39). With a pep band, in-between-routine videos and spectator games it has averaged over 10,000 fans for the last 20 years and according to the article had already sold 7,500 season tickets.

In fact, because of scheduling conflicts in Arizona, the 2015 PAC-12 Women's Gymnastics Championship took place last Saturday at the University of Utah where they were the first team to earn back-to-back championships. I'm sure they had plenty of psyched fans! Sadly, one of their leaders and captains, Tory Wilson, suffered an injury and could not finish with the team. Click here for more on that story and enjoy this video of the highlights!

Post by Utah Gymnastics.