As even the most fluff-filled biopic will tell you, you’re more likely to find a trailblazer who had to fight an army of naysayers on their way to making history than one who didn’t.
But even after their trails have been blazed, it’s not as if their detractors have gone away. Even in recent years, it’s still hardly unheard of for women in typically male-dominated professions to get dismissed or ridiculed no matter how capable they are.
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But one thing that sexists who do this tend to learn is that a lot fewer people support what they’re doing than they might think. And while it can satisfying to see trolls embarrassed by their own mothers for their actions, it’s even more powerful when an entire crowd stands up to support someone who’s been treated this way.
And it’s for that reason that the community around Mars Area High School has a lot to be proud of lately.
On October 28, a goalie on the Mars Area High School hockey team in Mars, Pennsylvania was subjected to slut shaming and sexually explicit chants from students supporting the opposing team.
According to ABC News , this incident resulted in a near-blanket ban of students from Armstrong High School attending hockey games because between 50 and 60 of them were responsible for the chants. The school’s hockey team was also placed on probation.
For Mars hockey coach Steve Meyers, the incident was particularly baffling since the goalie in question was far from the first girl on the team.
As he told Good Morning America, “With all the training we’re required to do as coaches about safe sports and sportsmanship, this should not happen. For it to fail this badly, it’s really disappointing.”
And it seems that the local hockey community agreed because she received a much different reception when she returned to the ice of November 8.
While it’s typical for a high school hockey game in this area to draw a crowd of about 200, the goalie — who remained unnamed to protect her privacy — ended up compelling 1,000 people from her school and beyond to turn up and show their support for her.
And in case there was any doubt that the crowd was there for her, we can see that many of them came with encouraging messages.
In addition to supportive signs reading “girls rule” and ones decrying bullying, others spoke to the goalie’s strength in refusing to be intimidated by the sexist chants she heard before.
It’s hard to put it better than the sign reading, “She overcame everything that was meant to destroy her.”
After this show of support, the Mars hockey team released a statement expressing appreciation to “all in attendance for making this a special night.”
This statement also commended the goalie herself, saying, “We have a lot of respect for the way our goalie has handled herself and how she refuses to let any of the recent events keep her off the ice. Her determination is admirable.”
h/t: Good Morning America
