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Historically, women are often depicted as damsels in distress. They are in need of a knight in shinning armour to captivate them, to save them from dreadful boredom and to take care of them. Today, a little of that is still in us. However, we can empower ourselves to break the stereotype. One way is through competitive and non-competitive sports.

Sports can be classified in two ways, team sports and individual sports. Team sports such as, basketball, volleyball and soccer are in need of people to play. These are the typical numbers; five on a basketball team, two or six on a volleyball team and a soccer team needs eleven players. Team sports instills many positive character traits in individuals. These traits can be good sportsmanship, getting along with others, dependency on others to do their part or play their position, trust building and group dynamics just to name a few. Individual sports is just you. You have to be the one to go the distance. A few good individual sports are; jogging, bicycling, swimming, golf, dance and weight training. They instill self-motivation, self-sacrifice, self-determination to stay active and to continue.

Being active in any sport is good. The benefits are many.

Ill list a few: better oxygen volume, toned muscles, maintenance or a better ideal weight, induce sleep, release of feel good hormones, prevention of disease, better focus and vision. So what ever you decide make play apart of your day.

Karen Sargent is the creator and designer of a web site for women's sport apparel. She's a physical educator and health teacher in a public school system in Illinois. http://www.womensportapparel.com