Look good, feel good, play good: a commonly used phrase in sports. Whether it is being glammed up or wearing jewelry, female athletes prefer to look presentable while playing. This holds true for the majority of softball players at Antioch Community High School. This idea is predominant in senior Eden Echevarria’s life, an athlete on the ACHS varsity softball team.
“Feeling confident about how I look helps me be more confident in myself overall and in turn, allows me to perform better,” Echevarria said.
Previously, jewelry in softball was seen as a hazard to not only the athlete wearing it, but to other players on the field. However, as officials looked into this issue more, they realized that jewelry did not pose as many threats to safety as they originally thought. Due to this, in the state of Illinois, wearing jewelry has been legalized. This has provoked many positive emotions from the ACHS athletes. Junior Nicole Kutcher holds a distinct opinion about this entire situation.
“I think jewelry could be a hazard but it is at your own expense,” Kutcher said. “I don’t think that wearing jewelry on yourself would put others at risk, if anything yourself. It should be up to the player to take that risk or not.”
Many athletes wear jewelry in their daily lives that have close connections to them. When jewelry was forbidden in the sport, it restricted athletes from wearing jewelry pieces that may be superstitious or significant. Freshman Samantha Hillner is an avid jewelry wearer, and was thrilled by the legalization.
“One big positive is being able to wear a meaningful piece to you,” Hillner said. “It is important that you are able to wear a piece that you believe has good luck for you.”
Another positive to the legalization of jewelry is the fact that the jewelry can be confidence boosting for athletes. Especially in high school sports, the cameras seem to always be on. Without having the small accessory of jewelry, athletes tend to feel bland, especially in their gametime photos.
“My favorite piece is my silver chain and my cross earrings,” Echevarria said. “Those are a little dangly so sometimes I will just wear studs. I also like to wear a cartilage cuff or two. I like to have it on and not having it on makes me feel like something is missing.”
The legalization of jewelry is an overall positive accomplishment in the opinion of many Antioch athletes. This has led to the female athletes feeling more confident and stylish on the field. Stay tuned for future pictures of ACHS softball players shining bright on the diamond.
