The Current | Vol. 31 Issue 26

March 16, 2021 | nsucurrent.nova.edu 8 Sports March 16 - First official female boxing match held in NY On March 16,1876, Nelly Saunders and Rose Harland fought the first female boxing match in sports history. According to WNYC News, the prize for winning the match, which was held at New York Hills Theatre, was a silver butter dish. Considered the first official female boxing match, the event served as the starting point for a long history of women fighting for the right to fight. It wasn’t until the 1970’s that states began to give boxing licenses to women, and until 1994 that the Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) lifted the ban on women’s boxing. By: Ana Maria Soto Contributing Writer Finding Fitness: Weighted hula hoop Most people know of a plain old hula hoop. As kids, these were used all over the playground, at home and even in competitions. A lot of the time, people find working out to be very time-consuming. There is a new way to get moving and that’s bringing back the hula hoop, but not just any hula hoop -- a weighted hula hoop. Not many people know about the benefits that come with hula hooping, especially when it’s weighted. By incorporating weight with the motion, it allows the body to burn calories and lose weight. In 2019, Healthline reported, “In a recent study, on average, a woman can burn about 165-200 calories during a 30-minute hooping session.” Another great benefit of the hula hoop is that it burns not only belly fat, but inches. By burning calories and making the right changes to your diet, hula hooping will increase the odds of losing extra fat. A lot of the time, females struggle to lose that “extra fat” around their waist, but a weighted hula hoop does the job. A study published in 2015 in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that, “a program carried by 13 women over six weeks found that women lost on average 3.4 centimeters around their waist and 1.4 centimeters around their hips.” Although this may seem like a small amount, it all adds up. Using a weighted hula hoop to exercise may sound silly and pointless, but there are a lot of great benefits that come out of it. Incorporating a weighted hula hoop into your exercise can boost your cardiovascular fitness. This is because this exercise is working your heart and lungs along with helping oxygen flow through the body. When the lungs begin to work harder, the heart is pumping faster, allowing more oxygen in and blood flow to improve. Not only is hula hooping easy, but it improves different parts of the body. It is also inexpensive and portable. As college students, we’re always looking for easy and affordable alternatives to other exercises, and hula hooping can be done anywhere -- in your room, in your front yard or even on the beach. Weighted hula hooping is so fun, so easy and can be done by anyone. Go get your weighted hula hoop on Amazon for as little as $20 and start seeing a new side to exercising. By: Abigail Johnson Contributing Writer PHOTO BY GENE GALLIN ON UNSPLASH March 19 - Pennsylvania becomes the first state to allow girls and boys to compete together in high school sports In 1975, court case Darrin v. Gould reversed a Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) rule that barred girls from competing with boys on high school sports teams. The case brought up the issue of unequal opportunities for girls and boys in sports and sparked controversy over whether or not girls and boys should play on separate teams. The WIAA rule was ultimately struck down, making Pennsylvania the first state to allow boys and girls to compete together. March 21- NFL owners passed the infamous anti-celebrating rule On March 21, 1984, the owners of the National Football League (NFL) created a rule that defined illegal celebrations as “any prolonged, excessive, premeditated celebration by individual players or groups of players,” according to an expert from the official 1984 rulebook. The rule sought to put an end to a tradition of touchdown celebrations that had been started in 1965 when New York Giants wide receiver Homer Jones spiked the football at the ground in celebration after scoring a touchdown. According to the Bleacher Report, the rule’s impact can be seen as signature touchdown celebrations have become less elaborate and less flashy with time. March 22- Lawrence Taylor pleads guilty for misdemeanors of sexual misconduct On March 22, 2011, American Hall of Fame football linebacker Lawrence Taylor pleaded guilty to misdemeanors of sexual misconduct and was sentenced to six years of probation. His guilty plea followed his arrest on May 6, 2011 for felony statutory rape. Although only sentenced to six years of probation, he was also required to register as a sex offender and to pay $1,300 in fees, according to ESPN.