gobrookeyourself: (just hanging)
Brooke Davis ([personal profile] gobrookeyourself) wrote in [community profile] fandomhigh2018-11-11 08:35 pm
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Badass Women You Should Know- Monday- 2nd period

Today the class was in the Danger Shop, and hello sports! They were going to be seated in the stands at a tennis court, surrounded by fans. But first!

"Today we're going to talk about Venus and Serena Williams," Brooke began. "Venus was born in 1980 and her younger sister Serena was born a year later. After they moved to Compton, California, her parents got the girls into tennis, where they both did really well and eventually they moved to Florida specifically so they could work with a certain coach. They both started competing professionally at fourteen years old, though it was definitely something they had to work at to get better over time. And honestly I'd planned to talk more about their accomplishments, but it turns out I don't know a lot about tennis and everything blends together. So I'll tell you that they've won Olympic medals at four different Olympics, and Venus is and tied for most medals won by a male or female in tennis. They've competed with and against each other their whole careers, but Serena's leading in championships, including winning four Grand Slam championships twice, and they're both credited with ushering in a new brand of athleticism in the sport. They've both been ranked number one, both battled back after breaks for injuries and illnesses, and Venus basically just trails her sister. They're both involved in charities and have a foundation to help underprivileged kids get into tennis, among other stuff. Serena especially has been vocal about struggles with depression, medical circumstances that almost killed her when she had a baby, and recently had problems getting attacked for just about everything, up to and including what she was wearing in order to compete in an athletic event.

"So, again, I don't know how to list off the insane list of stuff, so we're just going to watch them compete against each other at the 2017 Australian Open. I'm not going to tell you who wins, but after this match it's going to come out that Serena was eight weeks pregnant during it, so feel free to be a little more impressed watching her."
white_oleander: (california girl)

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[personal profile] white_oleander 2018-11-12 11:40 am (UTC)(link)
Astrid Magnussen
intotheout: (gone fishing)

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[personal profile] intotheout 2018-11-12 08:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Gratuity Tucci
unusual_sith: (umbrella)

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Lana Beniko
chirpchirpchirp: (Arms Crossed)

Re: Listen to the lecture

[personal profile] chirpchirpchirp 2018-11-12 10:17 am (UTC)(link)
Vette was kind of intrigued by the setting, yeah. She was reasonably certain this wasn't going to turn into some kind of Huttball tournament. Earth didn't seem nearly so bloodthirsty and there weren't any horrible deathtraps on the floor or anything.

But hey, she could appreciate friendly competition, so she settled in to watch.
white_oleander: (red - simple turtleneck)

Re: Listen to the lecture

[personal profile] white_oleander 2018-11-12 02:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Astrid wasn't very althletic herself, and she'd never gotten into sports very much, but it was a little different when you were "actually" there getting to watch it, and tennis was more of a direct competition, a bit more engaging than team sports, she felt, so this could be fun.
chirpchirpchirp: (Arms Crossed)

Re: Watch the match

[personal profile] chirpchirpchirp 2018-11-12 10:19 am (UTC)(link)
The athleticism on display and the competitiveness between the two women playing was fairly impressive, but it took Vette a long while before she figured out the point of the game, beyond just, 'ball goes back and forth.'
white_oleander: (red - huh!)

Re: Watch the match

[personal profile] white_oleander 2018-11-12 02:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Watching professionals at work would almost always spark a little bit of envy in Astrid, who knew if she even attempted half of this stuff, it would end up pretty pathetic, but she really enjoyed watching it and figuring out the nuances of the match, but she found it far more engaging when they managed to volley back and forth between each other a few times for a while.