Jewelle Gomez reflects on her childhood experiences with segregated high school sports and the inspiration they provided her as women athletes. She highlights the historic significance of attending a WNBA game featuring the Golden State Valkyries, especially noting their coach, Natalie Nakase, the first Asian American to win a WNBA title. This moment resonated deeply with Gomez as it represented progress in women's sports. She emphasizes the rarity of women's spaces in sports, where a dominant female energy cultivates a unique cultural environment. The joy of both young fans and elderly attendees at the game showcased the intergenerational appeal of the sport.
Even believing in them as I did, I couldn't imagine a future in which they were professional ball players like my (then) beloved Celtics were, except maybe in fantasy fiction.
Being in a women's space has been increasingly rare and this was definitely that. A women's space doesn't mean there are no other genders present, only that the dominant energy is female and the cultural effect is slightly different from another space.
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