If you let me play sports

I will like myself more;

I will have more self-confidence,

If you let me play sports.

If you let me play,

I will be 60 percent less likely to get breast cancer;

I will suffer less depression.

If you let me play sports,

I will be more likely to leave a man who beats me.

If you let me play,

I will be less likely to get pregnantbefore I want to.

I will learn what it means to be strong.

If you let me play sports.

If you let me play sports.

This was the text of a Nike advertisement from a few years back directed to women, and it's one of the few ads that has stuck in my mind - - I think it conveys a powerful message about the benefits of participation in sports - for all young people, but young women in particular.

I wish I appreciated this message when I was young, but it wasn’t until I was in my 30s and 40s that I started to work out, run, surf, ski/snowboard, and golf. I’d felt all my life like I didn’t belong when it came to athletics; that I was too uncoordinated and untalented to participate. I was the last one picked for a team on more than one occasion. Maybe it was just a matter of becoming less self-conscious; realizing that no one laughs at the gal running slow, that no one scoffs at the lady trying to learn to hit her driver at the range . . .

In fact, I have found that people are just the opposite - encouraging. And I’ve just recently come to believe that I may actually be able to become good at something athletic. For the first time in my life, I am really trying to improve at a sport - golf. Taking lessons, hitting the range, making an effort to get out and play.

My instructor tells me that I need to start swinging like I know I’m going to hit the ball, instead of swinging like I think I’m going to miss it. By gaining that confidence in my swing, I am hitting it farther, and becoming more competitive.

So, now when I hit the range, I tell myself to swing through the ball, extend my arms, and swing hard. Hit it like I know I can, and that is a beautiful thing.