In Shakespeare’s iconic play of star-crossed lovers, Juliet says, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.” Juliet is saying that the importance of an object is by what it is, not by what it is called. Overall, it means that no matter what someone calls something, it will not change it. Calling a rose by a different name will not change the fact that it is a rose. This goes hand in hand with sports.

For many people, sports can be a way of life. Sports teach people how to work with others and how to become leaders. Playing a sport can be a great joy for people. And yet, many assumptions are made in sports. From race to gender, athletes are always being judged. Many people look at an athlete’s skin tone or their gender and right off the bat jump to conclusions just from a glance. Whether an athlete is African American or a female, it does not change a thing. Gender and race do not play sports, athletes do.

Race is one of those things in sports that is widely looked at as either an advantage or a disadvantage. Sometimes, when a person sees an African American athlete, they assume things about them. They think that because someone is African American, they should be the best athlete.

“People think that I should be the fastest or jump the highest,” junior Drew Porter said. “It’s annoying because if I’m not the best, then they look at me as a disappointment.”

Always being looked at as being the best may seem like a nice thing, but it comes with high expectations. When someone is always expected to finish first in a race or make the game winning shot, it can tear them apart. There is so much more pressure added onto these athletes from people. At points, it is nearly impossible to meet others expectations. Letting people down is one thing, but being forced to always meet expectations of people is another.

“People always tell me that I look like a basketball player,” Porter said. “When I tell them that basketball isn’t my thing, they always look super surprised.”

Just like any other person, these athletes are the exact same; they are all humans. The skin tone of an athlete is not the deciding factor of how good or bad they are.

On higher levels of athletics in sports, there is tension between male and female sports. In the world, equality is a big problem that is still working to be fixed. At first glance, many people will say male sports are more dominant than female sports are. The truth is, they are wrong.

A large stereotype is that females are not as good at sports as males are. Females put the same amount of effort, time and work that males do; but why is it that female sports are looked at as jokes?

Well, females may not have the big time dunks, but they still have dunks.They may not have 400 foot home runs, but they still have home runs. Truth be told, female sports may not be as flashy or big time as male sports are, but they are still capable of doing whatever men can do.

“My team’s accomplishments and my accomplishments are underestimated,” sophomore Piper Foote said. “People look past us to the guys teams.”

The salary difference between NBA players and WNBA players is out of this world. According to ESPN, LeBron James is the highest paid player in the NBA, making roughly $30,000,000 per year. This amount is more than every single WNBA player’s annual salary combined.

This huge difference shows the popularity difference between male and female sports. People oftentime would rather watch men play over women, even if the success of the men is not as great.

“It is upsetting that we [the girls team] don’t get as much support as the guys team,” Foote said. “Seeing more people at the guys games over our games made us want to work even harder to get people’s attention.”

Getting the attention of the fans is a big part of sports. To get the love and support on a team’s side while chanting for them can be a positive motivation during game time. But there is a big struggle for many girl’s teams; How do we get the fans attention? The best way to get fans is to be successful.

“No one respects cheer and the work that we put in,” junior Ella Maggio said. “It was nice having such a great season because we really got people’s attention.”

There is no answer to if men or women are better at sports. This is because the difference between them are countless. From the style of play, to how referees officiate games, to how they are looked at by people, there is no real answer to the question. There will never be a final answer simply due to the differences in male and female sports.

An object is exactly the way it is no matter what it is called. Putting a name on something does not change what it really is. By labeling something, it is just putting a tag on it to spot a difference, not changing that object from what it originally was.

Oftentimes, athletes are being labeled. Whether it is being looked at as the best or being looked at as a joke, the criticism does not change a thing. Criticizing an African American athlete for not playing basketball or a female for not being as good will not alter the way that athlete is. The real answer is that all athletes are different. There is no real way to judge an athlete. People can talk all they want, but an athlete is the way they are, not the way others want them to be.