Courting Fitness

It may seem like such a dark-ages way to be, but it really wasn't all that long ago that women were told that playing basketball isn't "ladylike". Times have definitely changed, and today women on the mature side of life are making up for lost time on the basketball courts, according to an article in today's Eagle-Tribune in North Andover, MA.

The article tells about Jewell Chapman, a 62-year-old grannie who plays for the Hot Pink Grannies, a team who's uniform includes black bloomers and hot pink socks. The article says, "Nearly 50 years later, Chapman is back on the court. She's 62 and plays for the Hot Pink Grannies, joining about 10 other women on a team whose uniforms are black bloomers and hot pink socks. They play in the Iowa Granny Basketball League.

The article goes on to explain, "It's one of dozens of basketball leagues for women over 50 that have sprung up across the country. For some, it's an opportunity to exercise and socialize; for others, it's a once-denied chance to compete."

"You see more and more senior women's teams participating in state and national competitions, and more recreational leagues," said Michael Rogers, an associate professor in sports studies at Wichita State University. "In the future, it will be commonplace to have leagues like this."

According to the Eagle-Tribune, "Annual surveys by the National Sporting Goods Association indicate the number of women 55 and older who play basketball at least 50 times a year has grown from 16,000 in 1995 to nearly 131,000 a decade later.Groups are scattered through much of the country, including California, Connecticut, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C."

To read the entire article, go to http://www.eagletribune.com/pulife/local_story_022120323?keyword=secondarystory