Amazing ‘When I Play’ Short Film Will Have You Shouting For Women’s Sports

'When I Play' short film from ESPN celebrates women, sports and movement during Women's History Month.

I’m smiling from this love letter to women’s sports.

Sports of all levels and abilities.

Do you move?

Do you compete?

Have you ever been told you can’t because you’re a girl?

I bet you’ll love this short film as much as I do.

ESPN put it together in honor of Women’s History Month, which happens to be now.

Just in case you find yourself wanting to read the words as much as hear them, here you go:

To Whom It May Concern:

What I am doing here is not for you

 

Not for your judgment or your appraisal

Not for your assessment or your arousal

No boy I know has ever been told he shouldn’t play

Couldn’t play

I am no longer interested in shouldn’ts
Or couldn’ts
Or rules not written for me

I am not worried about getting too big or too strong

Or too fast

Or too full of myself

I do not agree that “playing like a man” is a compliment

What I am doing here is not

For

You

Movement

Is a movement

My effort, my ambition, my desire
For me

For every woman, every girl

Who dares to see herself as something more

Than a body to be rated

A score to be kept

When I play, I keep my own score

When I play, I know who I am

When I play, I forget how it feels to be boxed in

To be boxed out

When I play, I feel no shame

When I play, I remember
How it feels
To be free

This court

This field

This world
Too small to hold me

When I play I know I won’t be undone

I won’t be unsung

My humility

My humanity

My movement a movement

This is not the end of my dream

This

Is where I wake up.

Allison Glock is the creative director on the film. She wrote the poem that became the script. She explains, “‘When I Play’ is a film that directly and unapologetically celebrates who we are, what we want to be, why our visibility matters, and gives voice to women and girls who see their athleticism as a way to reclaim themselves, to find themselves and to embrace their power.”

If you like stories about overcoming obstacles,

Please check out my book,  “Hope Possible: A Network News Anchor’s Thoughts On Losing Her Job, Finding Love, A New Career, And My Dog, Always My Dog.”

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Amazing ‘When I Play’ Short Film Will Have You Shouting For Women’s Sports

by DarynKagan time to read: 2 min
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