About

There is a lot of hype about women’s sports right now and it’s amazing. Rest assured, this is not a moment. This is a movement that highlights what has been there all along: when we are at our best, women celebrate each other.

We cheer each other on.

We believe in ourselves and each other.

Being a part of a team or fandom is an experience: wearing your team colors with pride, cheering your loudest, sharing in the glory of winning (and the “agony of defeat”) are all a part of what makes it unforgettable. 

If women were as nice to each other all the time as we are in a public bathroom (IFYKYK), the world would be a better place.

While thousands have tuned into women’s basketball this past collegiate season, I have been a fan of the sport for as long as I can remember.  Basketball was one of my first loves. At 7, I started playing in a coed league. I spent hours dribbling in the driveway and throwing shots up on the roof of our apartment’s entryway, mentally working through buzzer beater game scenarios. I had a fierce love of the game, talent, and potential. Nothing could keep me away from it. Or so I thought.

By the time I was 12, I was the tallest and largest girl on my team. The only jersey that fit me had the number of my teammate’s brother who had just won the high school state championship. I was forced to wear a jersey that was so tight, it restricted my movement.

At 13, my first time playing for my school, the largest jersey was again too small. I played my hardest through it, sometimes getting whistled by the ref when my jersey would inevitably become untucked. It was too small to even think about wearing anything underneath it so sometimes my stomach would show when I went for a rebound. I was discouraged.

At 14, I joined the field hockey team and there was no skirt large enough for myself and another teammate.  We were told we could wear a skirt from the high school team which was a different style, pattern, and color. To make matters worse, those skirts didn’t fit either. My mom made some sacrifices and somehow purchased me a skirt in the same style and color.

Later that school year, I again played basketball and got my very own jersey!  I was so much more confident in it and was able to move more freely.

Coming into high school, the only basketball jersey that fit me had been altered to be larger with two mismatched panels of fabric down the sides. I wore that thing for 3 miserable years before deciding not to play my senior year, something that has left a hole in my heart. 

Fast forward to age 35.  I can proudly say that I’m still out there shooting hoops in the Southern California sunshine. I’m a loud supporter of women’s sports; however, I wear the largest size of women’s athletic clothing available on the market. 

Our society is obsessed with being thin and fit but if you are a taller or larger woman (or God forbid both), you can’t even purchase clothing that fits correctly to exercise in.  If companies can produce an incredibly wide range of uniform sizes to accommodate the varying body types of men playing football, why can’t they do the same for women?

In my search for work-life balance between my hectic professional work as a psychiatric social worker consultant in an urban emergency room and my home life, I have stumbled upon an idea whose time has come. Enter Fanship Creative. A company that sells fandom inspired handmade jewelry and other wearable items with a message: invest in women. 

Sales will fund the supply of specially designed uniforms and athletic wear to girls and women of all sizes to pursue their dreams. It marries the belief that girls can do anything with actually making it possible by tapping into this women’s sports movement. A company that makes athletic wear and uniforms with inclusive sizing for all girls and women.

How many girls start out with a love for sports and are discouraged because of the uniform choices?

How many girls and women are being shut out of the opportunity to reach their dreams?

Shutting out even one girl is too many. That one girl might just be the difference maker, a generational talent, or a brilliant analyst just begging to be given the chance. 

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