Liliana anderson
My Stories
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Biography
Liliana Anderson is a University of Utah Communication major with an emphasis on Journalism and a minor in Gender Studies. She is in her last semester at the U, planning to graduate in the Spring with her Bachelor of Arts. Anderson has a passion for writing and listening to the vast array of narratives from people. While her goal is to work in pop culture media one day, every story and experience excites her and broadens her knowledge. When not working in journalism, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, baking, and finding new restaurants to try. As a long-time avid sports fan and past player, she looks forward to gaining more experience with enterprise stories in sports.
Reporter's Notebook
Back in 2021, a prominent moment in March Madness happened when the women’s teams were provided with a lack of inadequate facilities and equipment. The amenities were not nearly as up to par as the men’s teams.
While that was four years ago and on a much larger scale, I wanted to investigate the facilities and equipment provided to some local high school girls' teams. According to Legal Aid at Work, the athletic opportunities given to girls are far less than boys, and I wanted to distinguish any gender disparities that girls may still be experiencing in Salt Lake City.
Before I began my interview process, I stumbled upon the Women’s Sports Foundation, which works to “expand access and opportunities for girls and women in sports.” One of their research projects investigated factors influencing girls’ participation in sports, including access and the quality of experience. Learning that girls often drop out of sports because of access issues encouraged me to pursue this story.
Beginning this article was difficult because the range felt broad—there was so much I could cover and not enough time. However, one sport stood out to me: girls' soccer. Considering the success of the U.S. Women’s National Team, which has won two titles in the past 10 years and four Olympic gold medals in the past 21 years. I wanted to spotlight a sport gaining national attention and bring it back locally.
Originally, I set out with the expectation of not hearing back from coaches, since this can be a difficult topic to speak about as they are employed by the schools. I was pleasantly surprised by the openness of the coaches in not only connecting with me but connecting me with the players themselves.
What started as a fact-based hunt became a personal experience story. The players opened up about their experiences. It turns out that while conditions may be improving for some professional women’s teams, the basis of treatment that girls receive here was an expectation, not an exception.
Having once been a high school athlete, hearing some of these girls speak about their experiences felt familiar. They recounted their circumstances of always feeling as if their girls’ soccer team would not equate to a boys’ sports team when it came to equal access. During my interviews with five female players, each split across three different schools, they all recounted similar situations. They experienced broken equipment, unbalanced access to a playing field and wanting their hard work and effort to be acknowledged the same way a boys’ team is.
While the girls experienced differing access to facilities and equipment, they continued to voice their passion for women’s sports and level playing field. “Female athletes deserve a chance just as much as male athletes do,” said Rachel Giles, a Highland High School senior soccer player.