National Women in Sports Day was Feb. 4, 2026, and female athletes around the world are celebrated during the month of February. Here at Lambert, there are a myriad of women’s sports – from lacrosse to dance to wrestling – and each provides opportunities for students to better themselves and prepare for their future, whether it be athletically or not. Senior Nisha Venkatesh is currently on the Varsity Girls Tennis Team, and she feels as though tennis has helped her grow in many aspects of her life even outside playing tennis.
“I definitely can work with others and in groups better because when you join, you have a team,” Venkatesh said. “So you have to talk more, you have to be more extroverted and more outgoing towards people.”
However, athletes are part of a team but are technically individual players can struggle with competitiveness even amongst their own team members, something which Venkatesh advises young athletes to not fall into.
“Don’t compare how you play with how others play because everyone’s strengths are different from another,” Venkatesh explained. “You cannot lose confidence or get to yourself and think you’re playing bad or you’re going to lose – you have to stay positive.”
Comparisons can especially intensify in women’s sports, and many athletes feel like they are being compared to male athletes, whether it be for playing styles or physical strength. Even though not many sports at Lambert involve the girls teams directly playing against the boys teams, the stereotypes can harm the athletes’ confidence as well.
“When it comes to serves, people think men serve way harder,” Venkatesh recounted. “But I think it’s just how long you play and how much you practice that really counts.”
These stereotypes on strength and differences in treatment in male and female athletes are even clearer when looking at a traditionally male-dominated sport such as wrestling. Lambert just started a girl’s wrestling team a couple years ago, which was a huge step forward for all girls who were interested in playing but never had the opportunity to.
“I feel empowered but it’s kind of difficult because you have to work harder to prove yourself in those kinds of sports, and you’re still not really looked at the same,” wrestler Peyton Lee commented.
As a girl who has wrestled for Lambert, Lee knows how being underestimated and put down can hurt athletes’ confidence, but she pushes all female athletes to remind themselves of their own power.
“You know your own strength, and it’s important that you block out anyone who tries to say ‘you’re not that strong’,” Lee emphasized.
As National Women in Sports month comes to an end, it’s important to recognize female athletes not only in February but year-round. At Lambert, many women’ s sports such as lacrosse, soccer and tennis are in season, and Lambert wishes them the best of luck in their seasons and hopes all female athletes remember that they are always enough.
