Women in Sports – Gadsden County spotlights

Wednesday, February 2 was National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Throughout history, female athletes have faced their own set of challenges when faced with the world of sports - as far back as Ancient Roman culture, women were not permitted to compete or event spectate at the Olympics. First observed in 1987, National Girls and Women In Sports Day spotlights and acknowledges the adults and youth women who promote equal athletic representation by their presence in athletics. In honor of the day, The Havana Herald is showcasing some of the talented women who are involved in Gadsden County’s high school sports.

Determination To Always Do Better - Me'Yauney Peoples: Gadsden County High School

On the track and at the court, Me’Yauney Peoples is one of the athletes who wears the colors of the Gadsden County High School Jaguars athletes.

Peoples, who is a 10th grade student at the school, says she has been playing sports since she was four years old.

Peoples credits her mother with getting her involved with sports, as Peoples says she was encouraged by her mom to stay active.

“My mom got me into sports, and I fell in love with it,” she says. “It’s like a coping strategy. It’s very therapeutic for me. I just love it.”

Me’Yauney Peoples, 10th Grader at Gadsden County High School, in Havana/Midway.

Peoples says there are many skills that make a good athlete, and she believes she possesses some of these - “I’m very hardworking, dedicated, and determined to do better, and to have a lot of success in sports.”

Though she still has two years left before her graduation from high school, Peoples has a good idea of what she wants to do after high school.

“I am in dual-enrollment, so I’m going to graduate with my associate degree and my high school diploma,” she says. “After that I’d like to go to Louisiana State University for track and field.”

Dual-enrollment means being both a high school and a college student at the same time.

How does she handle the increased classwork in addition to playing two sports?

“It’s all about time management,” Peoples replies, “Like, knock-out some college work and some high-school work before a basketball game, or study while going to a track meet. It’s all about time management.”

She looks up to her track and field coach, Cleanita Wiggins, and her basketball coach, Diane Frost-Walker.

“They are two amazing women who just inspired me to keep playing better and keep pushing.”

Peoples says she does feel that female athletes face special challenges when pursuing a career in sports.

“We are so underrated,” Peoples says. “We work just as hard as men, if not more, and we don’t get noticed for it. It’s a shame.”

Peoples doesn’t know if there is an easy-answer solution for the extra difficulties that female athletes face in their attempt to be as equally recognized as their fellow male athletes.

“I’m not sure how that can be overcome,” said Peoples. “I feel that’s going to take a lot of time, a lot of women to keep fighting for their rights, and to be looked at, and treated equally or paid equally.”

A Spirit of Dedication - Journey Walben: Crossroad Academy Charter School

Playing volleyball and flag football for the Crossroad Academy Charter School Scorpions is Journey Walben, an 11th grader at the school.

Walben credits Coach Roy Howard for getting her involved in athletics; it was Coach Howard who encouraged Walben - who was then a sixth grader - to start playing on her school’s team.

“When he first saw me, he said I need to play sports,” says Walben. “Ever since then I’ve been locked in sports.”

While Walben is tall, something that she believes helps her excel athletically, she says there are other qualities that she believes help her do well in athletics.

“I’m a leader. Everybody follows me,” said Walben.

In addition, she says her natural sense of dedication has proven worthwhile to her on the field and court.

“I don’t like giving up and I don’t like losing,” said Walben. “Sports are really like a stress reliever to me, so I really play with my feelings on the court.”

Journey Walben, 11th grader at Crossroad Academy Charter School, in Quincy.

Walben acknowledges the importance of balancing sports with academics, especially for high school athletes.

“If we don’t pass we can’t play,” Walben says. “We definitely have to get our grades up to play.”

She explains that the school usually provides time for their student-athletes to study before sports practice, but that it’s up to students to make time on their own to study and keep up with their homework assignments.

Aside from the shared challenges that all students face, Walben believes that female athletes face their own challenges as well.

“We don’t get much support from the school. Male athletes get praise here. Female athletes, we don’t get that much praise. But, still I play,” she says. “I feel like they should treat all athletes the same, no matter the gender. Everyone should come see us play. But they don’t, at all.”

In spite of this, she feels like she has benefited from facing these challenges.

“It keeps my grades up. Usually female athletes go through depression, but sports make me happy.”

“Female athletes should keep going, and not give up,” advises Walben. “You should always try to be your best.”

Girl On The Run - Evoni Kenkins: Gadsden County High School

Evoni Jenkins, a 12th grade student at Gadsden County High School, has a passion for running track.

“My family is oriented around it,” she says. “Once I started running, I just fell in love with it.”

For Jenkins, being an athlete is about more than enjoyment, however.

“Being in sports, I feel, has made me a better person. It’s made me more humble, made me more understanding, made me more versatile,” says Jenkins.

Evoni Jenkins, 12th Grader at Gadsden County High School.

After graduation, Jenkins says she plans on attending college and potentially pursuing a career in track.

Jenkins has been running track since she was in the sixth grade, and she has also previously played volleyball.

During the upcoming season, her final year at Gadsden County High School, she plans to play flag football with the Jaguars as well.

“I feel like my work ethic makes me a good athlete,” says Jenkins. “Also my drive and my discipline. Because you know you have to keep yourself together, mentally and physically, in school and out of school.”

Jenkins describes her track coach, Cleanita Wiggins, as a major influence in her pursuit of a career in athletics.

“I look up to Coach Wiggins, because she teaches us good values and lessons.”

In addition to coaching track, Coach Wiggins teaches Science and Technology at the school.

Jenkins also lists track and field star Allyson Felix as a particular inspiration and role model.

Like many girls and women involved in sports, Jenkins believes male athletes have an advantage in the industry.

“Females are underpaid compared to male athletes,” she says.

Asked for her thoughts on how this might be overcome, she says, “Girls just gotta keep putting in the work, and the businesses and sponsors need to recognize them.”

From The Volleyball Court to the Coach's Circle - Katelyn Snow: Robert F. Munroe Day School

For Katelyn Snow, the volleyball coach at Robert F. Munroe Day School, sports has just always been a part of her life.

Growing up, Snow - who is a Tallahassee native - says her mother enrolled Snow and her siblings in sports.

“My whole family ‘does’ sports,” said Snow. “[My mom] put us in every sport possible. Whatever we ended up liking, she’d then put us in a more competitive league.”

For Snow, volleyball is what truly ‘clicked’ for her.

The quick-pace of volleyball and its strategic gameplay is something that Snow said appealed - and continues to appeal - to her.

Also - “I love that it’s an indoor sport,” Snow adds with a laugh.

Katelyn Snow, volleyball coach at Robert F. Munroe

This is Snow’s second season of coaching the Bobcats volleyball team at Robert F. Munroe, although she previously coached club volleyball in Montana.

Snow also played volleyball, for a year, with the Florida A&M University’s Rattlers before she married her husband, Nathan Snow, and the newlyweds moved to Montana for six years.

After finding her way back to Florida, Snow sought out another position with coaching and is now teaching the strategy of volleyball, and coaching the next generation of female athletes at Robert F. Munroe.

Snow says she believes it is important for girls to have the chance to excel in athletics - citing her own experience as a young adult athlete.

“Sports gave me my own identity. That was really important,” said Snow - adding that it gave her a way of both bonding with and finding her own identity from her two brothers, who are also athletes.

“I think it is really important that girls are in sports, that they have their own thing that they can excel in.”

Athletics, Snow says, also provides valuable learning experiences for young women.

“Growing up playing a team sport, it definitely gave me skills when it came to working directly with people as an adult,” said Snow.

She also says that being an athlete as a teenager pushed her to develop a sense of hard work and determination - both of which she has carried with her into her coaching career.

With her background in athletics ranging from her own personal experience as an athlete to her coaching experience in Florida and Montana, Snow says she has not truly seen a difference in how female and male athletes are treated.

Snow says, growing up, she had female coaches and male coaches, and she never saw a difference in how the young female athletes were supported.

“From Montana to here, I feel like everyone has always been supportive,” said Snow.

Hardwork And Lots Of Hussle - Lawre Mae: Robert F. Munroe Day School

Whether she is on the soccer field, the tennis court, or cheering on her fellow athletes on the sidelines - Lawre May puts the same dedication into every athletic enterprise she embarks on.

The 10th grader at Robert F. Munroe Day School says she has been in sports her ‘whole life.’

“My parents started us in sports really young,” said May.

She started playing in small church leagues, and as her interest in sports grew, May says she started playing in school-affiliated athletics.

Currently, May plays on the Robert F. Munroe Bobcat soccer and tennis teams, and is also a Bobcat cheerleader.

As an athlete, May says she has benefited from a high school career in sports.

In addition to her athletics, May is involved in her school’s Student Council and Anchor Club, which she says has forced her to develop her own time management skills, and balancing act.

“I’ve also had to be really, really hard working,” May adds.

Lawre May, 10th Grader at Robert F. Munroe Day School.

May, who identifies herself as fiercely competitive, has had a diverse experience when it comes to playing in school-affiliated sports.

Up until last year, Robert F. Munroe did not have a girls-only team for the school’s soccer athletics.

There was a co-ed team, and then a primarily boys-only team - and May took the chance to play soccer - the game she is truly passionate about - even if it meant being the only girl on the roster.

“I played on the boy’s team, and they never treated me any different,” said May.

Now the school has two separate girls and boys Bobcat soccer teams, but May said her experience as the only girl on the boys’ team was nothing but positive.

“I’ve always been close with the boys on the team,” said May. “They were definitely a lot more competitive and aggressive, but it wasn’t that different.”

Now an athlete on the Bobcat’s girls soccer team, and with firsthand experience on how male vs female teams are supported, May says “there isn’t much of a difference.”

“Everyone has always been super supportive,” said May.

With two years left in her high school academics, May has already set her eye to the future - she would like to continue playing soccer in college, while pursuing a double major in computer science and business management.

Currently, May is already dual-enrolled at Tallahassee Community College, and while May is modest about her own accomplishments, her instructors say she is one of the top students in her class.

Whatever plans await her in the future, May knows one thing for certain, for as long as she is a student at Robert F. Munroe, she is going to continue playing under the Bobcat banner.

“I’m going to keep playing until I graduate,” said May.

Lawre May is the daughter of Richard and Melissa May - both of whom were high school athletes, with Melissa May being a former Auburn Tiger Paw cheerleader, and the current cheer coach at Robert F. Munroe.

Ashley Hunter & Stephen Klein Gadsden County News Service

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Women in Sports – Gadsden County spotlights

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Charlie Crist stops in Quincy on gubernatorial campaign trail

Gretna police investigate Saturday homicide

Gretna police investigate Saturday homicide

Recommended

Bruce Rowan: Self-taught carpenter makes art out of a craftform

County honors women vets

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