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Women's History
Sports
Women in Sports

Women's History
Women's History

Women in Sports
Print Women in Sports Reading Comprehension


Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 8 to 12
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   7.81

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    timeline, hosts, auto, croquet, softball, championship, golf, matches, tournament, interesting, founded, broadcast, rodeo, participate, ancient, goddess
     content words:    Olympic Games, Amanda Clement, Jennie Kelleher, Babe Didrikson, Woman Athlete, Kathryn Johnson, Little League Baseball, European Grand Prix, Anna Lewis, Diana Crump

Women in Sports
By Sharon Fabian 		  
1     It used to seem like sports were just for boys and men. When high school students went to watch a game after school, it was always a boys' team. Anyone who turned on the TV in the evening to watch the sports report would see the latest news about men in sports.
 
2     It is no wonder that everyone believed that sports were for men, not women. It seemed like there were no good women athletes and no important sports stories about women.
 
3     A little research shows that this never was true. Women have participated in sports and physical fitness activities since the time of the ancient Olympic Games. Even though women did not participate in the contests at ancient Olympia, young girls did participate in foot races in separate games in honor of the goddess Hera. The modern Olympics did not include women athletes when it began in 1896, but women did participate in the next Olympics held four years later in 1900 in Paris, France. The nineteen women who entered that year's Olympics competed in tennis, croquet, and golf. Since that year, women's participation in the Olympics has increased steadily. In the 2000 Olympics held in Sydney, Australia, over 4,000 women participated. They competed in 25 of the 28 Olympic sports.
 
4     At the same time that women's participation in the Olympics was growing, women were also taking part in a variety of other sporting events. Here are just a few highlights:
 
5     1904 -- Amanda Clement, age 16, becomes the first paid female umpire at a men's baseball game.
 
6     1930 -- Jennie Kelleher becomes the first woman to bowl a perfect 300 game.
 
7     1932 -- Babe Didrikson is named Woman Athlete of the Year for track and field.
 
8     1950 -- Kathryn Johnson, age 12, is the first girl to play Little League Baseball.

Paragraphs 9 to 23:
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Women's History
             Women's History

Sports
             Sports

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United States
             United States


    American Government  
 
    Black History and Blacks in U.S. History  
 
    Children in History  
 
    Government Careers  
 
    Hispanic Heritage  
 
    How Can I Help?  
 
 
    Immigration  
 
    National Parks and Monuments  
 
    Native Americans  
 
    Presidents of the United States  
 
    Women's History  
 

United States History
    A Nation Divided
(1840-1861) 		 
 
    A New Nation
(1776-1830) 		 
 
    After the Civil War
(1865-1870) 		 
 
    American Revolution  
 
    Cold War
(1947-1991) 		 
 
    Colonial America (1492-1776)  
 
    Lewis and Clark
(1804-1806) 		 
 
    Pearl Harbor  
 
    Spanish American War (1898)  
 
    The 1890's  
 
    The 1900's  
 
    The 1910's  
 
    The 1920's  
 
    The 1930's  
 
 
    The 1940's  
 
    The 1950's  
 
    The 1960's  
 
    The 1970's  
 
    The 1980's  
 
    The 1990's  
 
    The 2000's  
 
    The Civil War
(1861-1865) 		 
 
    The Great Depression
(1929-1945) 		 
 
    The United States Grows
(1865-1900) 		 
 
    The War of 1812  
 
    Wild, Wild West  
 
    World War I
(1914-1918) 		 
 
    World War II  
 

50 States

             Fifty States Theme Unit

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