Having a #girldad is the reason I love sports!

I am one of three girls, and I have always hated when people ask my dad, ‘Oh man, THREE daughters?! That must have been tough with all girls.’ My dad raised three humans whose gender never factored into what he wanted for us or believed we could do. My sisters and I knew this, and his response to the question always echoed the same sentiment. There was no ceiling for us in my dad‘s (or mom’s!) mind. He just didn’t believe in the limits our society had imposed (and unfortunately, still does impose) on women. Because he didn’t believe in those societal norms or see a ceiling, I never saw a ceiling—glass or otherwise.

That unwavering belief in me is a huge reason for who I am today. I never saw myself as less than; I never believed a guy could do something better than me or that I deserved less because I was a woman; I never dreamed smaller or capped my goals because of any societal pressure telling women they had to. I consider myself a successful business leader, and much of that is because I am lucky enough to have a #girldad.”

RM: “My #girldad always encouraged me to follow my dreams and did what he could to position me for success. I fell in love with sports at a young age, but even before then, he pushed me to try every activity out there—including art and music. It was this support that made me feel like I could achieve whatever I set my mind to. For example, he had me in our local YMCA pool with him at age 2 for swimming classes. Now, as a 28-year-old professional hockey player, I credit my #girldad for facilitating an environment in which I was empowered to discover my ultimate passion—what I was put on this earth to do—and work my way up to the highest level.”

What are 2-3 of the best qualities that make a strong #girldad?

CM: “Unwavering: Unfortunately, I think there are always going to be people out there who think women are not equal to men. I hope I’m wrong about that, but I think that will remain for the foreseeable future. So it’s practically inevitable that #girldads will be confronted by people like the ones who ask my dad how he survived with three girls. No matter who he was talking to or what it was about, my dad‘s belief in us never wavered. Someone said girls don’t play sports? HA! All three of us played multiple sports year-round (one could probably kick most guys’ butts in any sport to this day!).

Optimism: We still have a long way to go in the fight for equal rights for women, but it is so important that #girldads stay optimistic about their daughters’ futures so that their daughters also remain optimistic. When I was a little girl, my dad used to tell me I could be the first woman President and the first woman in the NBA if I wanted to. While that was unthinkable then, both are actually possible now (playing in the WNBA and/or coaching in the NBA!). Neither of those came true, but because he believed it, I believed it.”

RM: “Loving, Supportive, Gender-blind.”

CM: “My dad got us front-row season tickets to the NY Liberty for the first season of the WNBA. It was the coolest thing ever for us three young girls to see women playing a sport we loved at the professional level—and at a venue like Madison Square Garden. We were hooked from the start because it felt like the world was finally acknowledging what my dad believed all along—that sports wasn’t just for boys. We could really see ourselves out on the floor for the first time, and it only heightened our beliefs in ourselves and our futures.”

MM: “In 2015, my dad and I went to see Michael Strahan get inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. We road-tripped from NJ to Canton, OH—just him and I. He has three sons, but it was just us. There couldn’t have been a more “winning” situation—me and my number on guy celebrating one of our favorite athletes of all-time together. I loved my dad, I loved sports, I loved football, but that trip took all of that love to a whole other level.”