This has led to an increase in girls’ interest in sports at younger ages, which in turn has led to improvements in school and select programs. Basketball in particular has offered young girls a chance to show off their athletic talents. But though it is becoming easier to be a young woman in the world of hoops, there are still challenges to be faced.
Luckily, there are many resources specifically available to help girls improve their basketball game, and the internet is a treasure trove of such resources. These are some of the top resources online for female hoops players.
The AAU is a nation-wide non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and developing amateur sports and providing insurance against injuries during sporting events. From third grade to twelfth grade, players can purchase memberships to the AAU and then receive assistance locating a team in their area to play for.
While the responsibility for finding an appropriate team ultimately lies with the player, the AAU provides a great resource through their database of AAU events across the country.
GBall produces a bi-weekly newsletter geared towards girls who are passionate about the game of basketball. They provide a searchable database of basketball camps around the country, a collection of trivia about women’s basketball, tips on how to improve your game, and questions to readers each week.
They also pull together a collection of news featuring women’s basketball athletes from across the World Wide Web, and feature the blog entries of high school player Katie Peterson of Ithaca, New York.
In short, GBall is a fun, friendly portal to women’s basketball on the internet, and girls who want a biweekly dose of hoops sent to their email can sign up for free.
Girls looking for basketball clothing and shoes that fit their needs can visit Girls Got Game, a clothing distributor that supports breast cancer research with every sale. Girls Got Game researches the best innovations in basketball styles and sells it at very reasonable prices in one convenient location. Coaches of girls’ teams can use this site as a resource for purchasing all of their team’s warmup gear, team shorts, and equipment bags, and recommend it to parents as the place to buy appropriate footwear.
The veritable library of basketball drill and conditioning instructions available online is staggering. There are even some designed specifically for girls interested in improving their game; a quick search will reveal a plethora of links that could keep a whole team busy for an entire season.
From offensive drills to sharpen layups, fast breaks, and dribbling to defensive drills designed to help with rebounding, jumping, and aggressive maneuvering, there is something for every player.
Finally, one of the most important and easily accessible resources for girls wanting to improve their game is the official WNBA home page. This is not a recommendation that young players spend their time dreaming, but rather a suggestion that imitation is a great way to learn. Girls can study their favorite players’ techniques and strengths, then mimic what they see to add to their own skillset.
The site features videos of game highlights; a section dedicated to working out like various players, with advice in the form of question-and-answer sessions; and the full official rule book available for download.
All of these can boost girls’ confidence that they, too, can reach the top level of athletic ability and fame. Of course, there is always the option to purchase WNBA tickets to see the world’s best in action!