In the weeks that have followed Megan Keller’s backhanded gem of a goal in overtime that gave the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team the gold medal at the recent Winter Olympics – the program’s third gold and first since 2018 - it would be interesting to measure the increase in sales of hockey equipment for girls throughout Chester County, and indeed, all over the nation.

Similarly, it may be worth an inventory check of local sporting goods stores to gauge the number of sales of girls’ figure skates – or perhaps a jump in skating lessons – following the majestic Olympic performances of Alysa Liu and Amber Glenn. 

Further still, could there be an uptick in interest in alpine skiing by girls following the gold medal effort by Breezy Johnson, or for slalom skiing in the wake of Mikaela Shiffrin, and have we shelled out enough praise for the courage and resilience of 41-year-old Lindsey Vonn to overcome serious injuries to even attempt to compete?

One must have sequestered oneself in a catacomb of silence over the past several weeks not to have witnessed the majestic talent displayed by our women’s Team USA members at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games. They did not just define these games with their high-altitude energy; they infused their performances with the poise of a veteran and the enthusiasm of a child to completely dominate the Games. From overtime nail-biters to ballerinas on ice, the American women took home 17 medals, including six golds, while the U.S. male athletes won four golds and 12 total medals. 

What happened in Italy is a mere reflection of an athletic movement in this country that is – at long last – evening the playing field and in some respects, tilting the pendulum in favor of women. The facts are found within the plain truths of records: U.S. women have won more golds and more medals than U.S. men for the past four consecutive Summer Games, going back to the 2012 London Olympics. At the Paris Olympics in 2024, U.S. women won 65 percent of the 40 gold medals won by Americans, and won 68 medals overall, as compared to the men, who left France with 52 medals.

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If the recent Olympic games have served to shine extraordinary focus on the increasing success of women athletes in the United States, it’s a mere microcosm of what we continue to see here at home. On January 30, a sold-out crowd of 20,000 jammed the Xfinity Mobile Arena in nearby Philadelphia to see Unrivaled, a fast-paced three-on-three women’s professional basketball league.

A look at the bedroom walls of hundreds of young girl’s rooms from Oxford to Chadds Ford will no doubt reveal the posters of WNBA stars, each of whom have become household names in homes where girls’ youth basketball is played. In direct contrast to the modern NBA game of endless three-point attempts, matador defense and load management days off, the WNBA has been drawing record crowds to see its top talent provide sound and consistent team play. 

Currently, 16 members of the women’s Olympic hockey team play in the Professional Women’s Hockey League, which was formed in 2023 and now features an eight-team league that has seen a dramatic increase in attendance, including breaking several records for attendance this season. 

Need more proof? Look at the youth playing fields of Chester County. Over the last several years, girls’ participation in youth sports continues to rise significantly, while boys’ involvement shows a slight decline. 

If there is one intangible responsible for the rise in the popularity of women’s sports, it is not found on a playing field but in the court of fairness and free speech. What icons like Billie Jean King spoke out about generations ago is now the beneficiary of larger megaphones, and with each new female athletic hero comes a new voice, championing the cause of women in an American society still being proliferated by a pro-male jockocracy. The open door has not just Title IX to thank; more women athletes are stepping up to the mike to sound off on the lingering inequalities between men and women in our society.

They have become our nation’s new role models – strong, resilient and proud - at a time when young women all over Chester County and the United States yearn for heroes who look like they do. Their images hang in our daughters’ bedrooms like testaments to power, and they have changed the landscape of American athletics forever.