When I started playing, there were no teams and no structure, so I had to play with the boys. I get very emotional when I think about the humiliation that I've suffered playing football.
Interpretation
Marta reflects on her challenging experiences in football and the emotional impact of playing in a male-dominated environment.
Marta's quote highlights the difficulties she faced as a female football player in a time when women's sports lacked the structure and support that male counterparts enjoyed. She expresses a deep emotional connection to her experiences, acknowledging both the challenges and humiliation she endured in pursuing her passion in a male-dominated sport, which sheds light on the broader issues of gender inequality in athletics.
In practice
During a sports seminar, I shared the quote to inspire young female athletes.
Some boys accepted me, some didn't. And my family had comments made to them. Brazil is still a very macho society, and sports are mainly for boys, so people would say to them: 'What is this girl doing? Why is she always out there in the soccer games with the boys?'
I didn't know there was such a thing as professional soccer, but I knew that Brazil had a women's team that competed against other countries, and I wanted to be on that team.
I don't care how many championships you've won or how many records you've broken - if you've had a hand in pushing forward not only a game but women in sport's movement, then I think that's pretty darn good.
You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and five the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all.
I realize now that there's a strength in dunking that I can use to my advantage. When you dunk all the time it isn't as demoralizing to the opponent, but when you dunk at a key moment in the game you can use it to change the momentum.
Arnold's place in history will be as the man who took golf from being a game for the few to a sport for the masses. He was the catalyst who made that happen.
To be brutally honest, it's simple economics. If they want to come into cycling, sponsors need to know the team they are funding is clean, otherwise the risk is just too great.
The AAU doesn't care about the athletes; why should I care about them?
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.