February 1st is National Girls & Women in Sports Day (NGWSD), a day dedicated to celebrating female athletes, encouraging young girls to be active and recognizing the accomplishments made in working towards equality for women in sports.
In honor of NGWSD, I asked our team of bloggers who their favorite literary female athletes are, and we compiled an exciting list of fierce, strong athletes:
Me: Katniss from The Hunger Games is a confident, inspiring athlete. She wields her bow and arrow to hunt for food to feed her family and uses that same bow and arrow to fight the gross inequality in Panem. Then there’s Emma and Julia Love Ballet, a picture book about Emma, a young girl who loves ballet and gets the chance to meet her ballet hero, Julia. We’re reminded that ballet and other forms of dance are also sports that require practice, dedication and a high level of skill.
Alex: I always loved Maisie from the book There's a Girl in My Hammerlock by Jerry Spinelli. Since wrestling is a male dominated sport I admired Maisie for trying out for the wrestling squad—and making it! 
Deimosa: I enjoyed Pinned by Sharon G. Flake because the girl is the “jock” and the boy is the “brains.” Autumn is the only girl on the HS wrestling team, three grades behind in reading, and she has a crush on Adonis, overachiever and manager of the wrestling team, who was born without legs. And there’s ice skater Esperanza Flores in Donna Freitas’ Gold Medal Winter. Esperanza, a Dominican-American, is the first Latina named to the U.S. Olympic team and people question if she should even be there, because she got the spot after a star was injured. Romance, action, and drama ensue!
And of course, no list would be complete without a couple of Harry Potter mentions!
Anushka: Ginny Weasley from Harry Potter! She’s totally awesome and played Quidditch for the Gryffindor Quidditch team as both chaser AND seeker.
Gina: Quidditch player Angelina Johnson! She was a talented Chaser and an intense Captain who could still apologize when she was a bit harsh on her teammates.
Who's your favorite female literary athlete?
