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There's always a story Beyond the Score.

Oh, We all love the sport and you want to show people that you love it from your heart.

women have been getting it done across the board in sports, She's really pushed to be that inspiration for the younger generation.

Women's sports is not new.

what's new is that people are putting dollars behind it.

Kind of instilled in you that if you fall off, you get back on.

I'm an expert at this.

Easy!

Welcome to Beyond the Score.

I'm your host, Al Martin.

The Hall of Justice, hom of the Michigan Supreme Court.

A place of rulings and decisions that shape lives.

And when it comes to sports there's a law that helped spark a transformation.

Not just in classrooms, but in locker rooms, stadiums, even rodeo arenas.

Title Nine, passed i 1972, is a federal law that said women deserve equal access to play and compete.

And today, we're seeing the results.

Packed arenas and soaring TV ratings.

We're taking a closer look at that momentum and how these phenomenal women are owning this moment, ensuring it's not just a flash in the pan.

Caitlin.

Angel.

Coco.

Simone.

Not just athletes, but architects of a sport revolution.

We've entered a new era where women's sports have now taken center stage.

The numbers don't lie.

Ratings are up, ticket sales are booming, and highlights?

They're lighting up feeds everywhere.

So how did we get here?

It's National Girls and Women in Sports Day, and the Lansing Sports Commission is holding its inaugural Fierce Women in Sports event.

Fierce standing for Females Ignite, Empower, Respect, Collaborate, and Engage.

MSU women's basketball coach Robyn Fralick is a keynote speake at the event and knows firsthand what it's like going against th unicorn that is Caitlin Clark.

I use this term sincerely.

She reminds me of like a prodigy, and I think we use that term a lot with music or language.

But her ability to mak adjustments, the defense changes what they're doing, she can see it in live speed.

The Indiana Fever superstar is the face of women's basketball today.

The Iowa native played collegiately for the University of Iowa, where she would cement hersel as the best player in the world.

Clark was twice named national player of the year and became the all time leading scorer in D1 hoops history for women and men.

She was chosen as the top pick to the W, where she would become the Rookie of the Year.

She just was such a catalyst at the right time.

created a craze, an energy.

So many reasons are behind that.

And it wasn't just Caitlin.

It was like, well, Caitlin is really exciting to watch.

And now I'm watching them play this team and they're really good and I'm watching to play this team and they're really good.

So it just got eyes behind it.

The Caitlin Clark Effect isn't just about scoring.

It's about visibility.

Her star power helped the 2024 NCAA Women's Championship draw a record 18.7 million viewers, surpassing the men's final for the first time.

Her WNBA debut pulled 1.7 million viewers, the league's biggest audience in 20 years.

Clark's spotlight has widene the lane for players like NCAA champion and two time WNBA all star Angel Reese, as well as four time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson.

While opening doors for new voices, including one with East Lansing roots.

I was a freshman, she was a freshman.

We came in together.

I vividly remember like her dropping 40 on us.

I don't think people really knew who she was back then either.

How aware are you when it comes to this culture shift?

I'm super aware of where the women's basketball game has grown .

I just love playing for people in front of crowds, having fans at our games and I'm just glad that it' growing in the right direction because we work as hard as any other team.

In the pro leagues.

and I'm just excited.

I know it's gonna just keep on growing from here.

And in her rookie season Nye would go on to help Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces wi their third title in four years.

Clara Van Wieren, a Greater Lansing standout, is carving out her own history on the ice.

After a stellar showing at Minnesota-Duluth, she was drafted 23r overall by the Toronto Sceptres.

Clara Van Wieren from th University of Minnesota-Duluth.

Part of a bold new er in women's hockey for the PWHL.

We met at Munn Ice Arena, a rink that's been in her DNA since childhood.

This is where I train in the summer.

I have so many amazing coaches that I've worked with throughout my time playing hockey who have played for the Spartans.

It's, it's just amazing sitting here and thinking back on it.

Can you take us back to draft night?

Who were you with It was an incredible night.

My whole family was there.

you just wait for your name to get called.

And when mine did, it was like full body moment, like I wasn't expecting it to be so exciting and relieving.

League execs when the PWHL was first formed, they noted a ten year business plan and said that they don't expect this leagu to be profitable any time soon.

As a rookie, how confident are you in that long term plan being successful and what do you think needs to happen in order for the league to reach profitability?

I fully trust in their plan.

And I think just for us players like continue to love it.

Continue to bring the passion and continue to connect with fans, continue to go out in the community and just be ourselves and trust in the process.

And do our part to leave it i a better place than we found it.

Sustaining the momentum starts with the next generation.

Meghan Ziehmer, Executiv Director of the Lansing Sports Commission, sees every day how exposure and opportunity plant those seeds.

We're trying to make sure that what we're showcasing not only on our social media outlets, but through all of our platforms, is a little bi more well-rounded, a little bit more abundant.

Now, there are still challenges with this thing.

What are those challenges and how do you overcome them?

Everyone kind of say that this is a new thing, right?

Like 'Oh, women's sports i new.'

Women's sports is not new.

It has been around forever.

It's just what's new is that people are putting dollars behind it.

People are putting it i front of men's sports at times.

So what are our challenges?

We have to keep speaking up.

We have to keep being fierce.

We have to keep advocating for ourselves.

We have to keep empowering everybody else to do it.

We have to keep engaging and coming together and collaborating.

Joanne Gerstner is an award winning sports journalist, author, and professo at the Michigan State University School of Journalism and echoes Meghan.

Women's sports has always been here.

We've been playing tennis, golf, basketball.

I mean, the WNBA in all its iteration been around since the mid 1990s.

So I think the culture, meaning the finances are catching up to give the attention.

But those of us who have been there have always been there.

So maybe others are catching up.

But the moment is coming from strictly that the world can see it through the lens of the women are portraying, not just others peeking in through the window and seeing what they want to see.

My mind thinks back to the lat Kobe Bryant, who really for me was like the first major, major NBA megasta to start talking about the WNBA.

Then of course, his daughter, Gigi.

She started playing so that he kind of got really ingrained into what the WNBA was doing because of her and other factors as well.

But you are seeing more and more NBA athletes support what the W was doing, right?

if you look back throug the weeds, it's all been there.

It's just I think people are now seeing it's so en masse they can't escape it.

But women have been getting i done across the board in sports, you know, for a long time.

But we only saw those moments in the Olympics, or maybe saw those moment if you were involved personally by going to a basketball game because you knew somebody.

Now, it's cool to go to a sports bar and see the WNBA on or watching soccer or seeing women playing hockey.

That growing bond between NBA and WNBA players mirrors a movement to elevate women's voices.

Few embody it like Jenae Lodewyk.

Senior Manager of Player and Family Engagement for the Detroit Pistons.

At 22 years old she became the league's youngest assistant equipment manager, stepping into the role when the head manager was under the weather.

She went on to become Miss Michigan 24, using that experience as an anchor for the competition.

"In the league, I was just one of three women to be an Assistant Equipment Manager at 21 years old.

I was the youngest woman to be doing this job."

I knew how things worked.

I had been on the road all season and it was time for me to step up and take advantage of the opportunity in front of me.

And what an incredible opportunity that was.

It was the one and only time that has ever happened to me when I was in equipment.

There is always going to be stigma around women in spaces you don't traditionally see women in.

And it makes sense.

Me, for example, 21 years old, I was still in college when I started in equipment.

And think about it, my offic space was a men's locker room.

Like, how does that make that?

It naturally... it raises some eyebrows.

And so those stigmas I take very seriously.

But I've also taken my rol very seriously to create trust.

That has paved the way for me to be able to step on those stigmas and trailblaze forward for women.

Jenae's stor reflects change within the game, but at the FIERCE event, that message reached a global stage through Dr.

Ashley Huffman, Vic President of Global Engagement at the Institute for Sport and Social Justice.

"... we are not changing the way people experience sport.

We're changing the way people experience the world."

She highlights how Title Nine continues to move the needle worldwide.

when you think about ho that was intended for education, but spilled over into sport and then all of the ways in that time frame.

Billi Jean King, Battle of the sexes, all of the coaches that kind of came to the forefront like Pat Summitt and just shattered the glass ceiling.

So Title Nine I think has been repeated now.

So we're looking at okay, this paved the way for women to get an education.

And then those educated women became wealthier and those wealthy women the reinvested into the ecosystem.

And now those women own teams.

So when you think abou the ripple effect of Title Nine and the momentum, it went from, we just need a foot in the door to now you see Angel City FC, a women's soccer team that's majority female owned.

It's incredible to see, lik when women have an opportunity, the ways that they're able to give back and pour into their sport You can't ask people to go be great if you have infrastructure that stinks, if you don't have any marketing dollars towards it, you're like, no one comes to the games.

Well, how much did you market it?

You spent ten times more on coverage of men's sports.

You spent 20 times more on investment.

And then you're wondering when you position someone to play at 5 p.m.

why no one's there?

Well, no one's there because you didn't put them in a position to succeed Favorite women's sports figure.

I mean, Doc we're talking about an athlete, an executive, a coach.

It can be anybody in the women's sports world.

Who is your favorite women's sports figure and why?

Wow.

Number one, first and foremost will always be my favorite Pat Summitt because as an 11 year old girl, I went to her camp.

She changed the trajectory of my life.

So first time that I knew somebody from the middle of nowhere, it could be something and she was something.

And it really inspired me to be something.

For Meghan, the answer is simple.

Inspiration often begins at home.

The one for me that really, truly inspires me is my mom, which is unique.

You think you know your mom, she's not a sports figure, but my mom is who provided me the opportunity to be the person that I am today.

My mom is the one that gave me the opportunity to push through and persevere and be determined and focus on my caree and realize the potential in me.

And so I think that that's m sports figure would be my mom.

I'm sitting down with you ten years from now.

It's what, 2035?

What's the headline about women's sport that you hope were discussing?

I kind of hope we're not discussing the word 'women's sports.'

Just call it 'sports.'

Rodeo is a sport that is grounded in tradition, a tradition spanning over a century.

It's a test of courage, control and grit, a sport born from the ranch, raised in the arena, and ruled by those bold enough to saddle up.

And for far too long, many have thought that it was just men who ushered rodeo into the fabric of America.

That couldn't be further from the truth.

Meet Olivia Smith.

She's the 2024 Michigan State University Rodeo Queen.

Think Miss America, but for rodeo.

The queen rocks the crown for a year, and that time is spent showcasing the sport all over the nation at various rodeo events.

Her reign comes to an end here at the 55th annual MSU Spartan Stampede.

It's where I met with Olivia to talk about why the sport and her crown is so special to her.

Rodeo Queen, big responsibility.

What inspired yo to go and tackle it last year?

The amount of love that I had for the rodeo communit and just learning about it the last four year really stuck with me.

And I just saw it as an opportunity to kind of teach people about what I love.

And that is kind of the reason why I decided to run.

"... how about a round of applause for our Queens contestants here today!"

Kerrigan, Jordan, Cacey, Andrea all vying for the 2025 title, looking to follow in the footsteps of Olivia and al inspired by her quiet strength.

For me, it was Liv.

Honestly, I've been rodeoing since I was a little girl and when I looked at the Queens, I didn't I never looked up to them.

I was just like, I'm in the arena.

I'm running barrels and breakaway and roping.

So Queen was never something I was interested in until I saw how good Liv did it and how well she represented Michigan State' Rodeo Club and rodeo in general.

And that really pushed me to run for Queen.

So she inspired you?

Yes.

Liv inspired me, yes.

What has Olivia told each and every one of you that has helped you prepare for this week?

Oh, I can't even think of one thing.

And Kerrigan, you and Olivia.

You guys go back?

Yes.

I've known her since I was I think, nine years old.

And I've.

I've always really looked up to her and, like, I can't even really think of one thing like she's given us, like, little tips I'm like, how to do your hair.

And, like, all these things.

But really, it's like in general, it's just like, be yourself, smile, have fun.

I think that's the most important part.

Just being yourself You know, we all love the sport and you want to show people that you love it from your heart.

So that's the one of the big pieces of advice that I've been giving them.

And Olivia showed me firsthan how being yourself in the world of rodeo has a direct connection to what you wear.

To her hometown of Howell, Michigan we go.

where she's worked for years.

While she can ride with the best of them, she'll be the first to tell you.

Rodeo isn't just a sport.

It's a style.

When you wal through these doors, I'm curious what pieces immediately catch your own eye.

Oh, caiman boots always catch my eye.

I love them so much.

I have a pair on right now.

What are the must haves for rodeo?

A good pair of jeans, for sure.

You need to have a good riding boot, something with a leather sole .

And I also love button ups obviously for riding and barrel racing, all of that.

So, you know, the brightest button up I can find usually is what I go for.

And then you can always add your little like glam in there if you want to.

It's really coo that people can have their own personalit show through their clothing too, so you can kind of choose your colors, choose your outfits, all that.

Okay Olivia, these ar an example of the kind of boots you were describing, right?

Yeah.

The caiman boots, yeah.

So these are considere more of, like, an exotic pair.

All of these, actually.

So these are all caiman.

tThey call them exotics ... versus like your basic leather.

So yeah, you can see here like these ones that are ostrich and then they have leather, smooth leather bottom, which is great.

Mm.

They're going to last you a long time.

How long?

Oh my gosh.

If you take care of them really well, they should last you your entire life.

You'll be like 80 years old.

Look at these!

Yeah, right.

The history of MSU Rodeo Queen is rich.

Since 1974, there has been a Queen.

The winning Queen has the ability to travel the United States to other Internationa Professional Rodeo Association rodeo to represent the MSU Rodeo Club.

The title was held for one year and each winning queen can only win once.

The contestants will go through a thorough vetting process.

There's an interview, a speech, formal and casual modeling, a written exam, an an evaluation of horsemanship, which refers to the knowledge and skill needed to create the necessary synergy between you and your horse.

That relationshi between a rider and their horse obviously is an important one.

Absolutely.

What makes it so essential?

you can't perform well unless your animal performs well.

Right?

The horse.

And you know, they just they feel so much from off of your energy like they can feel energy very, very much so how you're feeling and how you act and all that reflects how you ride.

And the well-being of the animals is essential to the foundation of rodeo.

One thing that is really important to us is animal welfare.

The animals are athletes too.

We can't do this without them.

So if they don't love doing it, they just won't be good at it.

If that makes sense.

And so they won't be asked to do it anymore.

And as a club, we we watch out for that.

If anybody here is mistreating their animal in any way, it's not tolerated by us.

According to th Breakaway Roping Journal, Women now make up 37% of Pro Rodeo's athletes and next Gen Rodeo, which handles the national entries of numerous rodeo associations, reports that women now make up nearly 70% of entries in some events.

The women of MSU Rodeo reflect this.

As Olivia relayed to this year's competitors, it's about inspiring the next generation by keeping the Western heritage alive.

Those historical traditions of ranching, cattle work, the American West.

She has always told me that, you know, we got to be the inspiration for these younger, the younger generation and push them to continue this Western heritage.

The Western heritage is slowly dying out.

However, we have to be the ones to keep it alive.

So she's really pushed to be that inspiration for the younger generation coming up.

And even though they are al competing against one another, you get the feeling tha this history of women in rodeo naturally creates a bond between them all.

Sisters in Spurs.

You can't go wrong with anyone.

Like everybody' going to be amazing in the role.

So, honestly, I absolutely lov getting to know all these women sitting here being able to ru with you guys has been amazing.

Like you all are suc amazing people and just getting to se how many people truly want to go out and inspire other people to join, you know, rodeo and just be role models and watching other women be good examples has been amazing.

So you guys are awesome.

And you are too.

Thank you.

Don't make me cry guys, okay?

The judge have a very tough job on Sunday.

So I know the anticipation is hurtin' you, right?

Say hello to your 2025 MSU Rodeo Queen - Cacey Hyde.

Can you take me through what that moment was like for you when it became official and you were crowned Rodeo Queen?

What was going through your head?

it was kind of a lot of different things, thoughts going through my head, because I had been with such a great group of girls.

I was obviously I was rooting for myself, but I was also rooting for the girls around me.

And I just I was like, any one of this group could win and I would be so excited for them.

And then they called my name and I was like, wait, what wait, what?

Oh my goodness.

And I was like, this can't be real.

This cannot be real right now.

You know, I hoped and dreamed and it came true and I wasn't expecting that.

And as you can probably tell the sport of rodeo isn't easy.

I learned this firsthand while at Cacey's barn.

So if I'm doing a story on MSU Rodeo, you guys know that I wanted to hop on a horse and Cacey is going to allow me to do that.

Right.

So we have Harley here.

Yeah, right, Cacey?

Yeah, definitely.

This is Harley.

He's a paint hors that we have here at the barn.

He's used for a lot of different lessons and he is a registered good boy.

I love that.

We're going to start with the stirrups.

So these are the things that you're going to hold your feet in.

They keep you nice and protected in the saddle.

You tend to keep your left foot in this one with your ball of your foot right on the pad.

That way, if you try to stop or you're trying to go your foot doesn't slide through or cause any mix ups.

So you can start off by putting your reins around his neck to make sur they're in the proper position.

That way you have all the control possible, and then you're going to stick your left foot right up into the stirrup, and then you're going to swing right on over.

All right, so I'll give that a try then.

Make sure my foot is in the stirrup.

Yeah.

And then just throw myself over.

Yes.

There ya go!

There ya go.

I'm an expert at this.

Easy!

Okay, Whoa, whoa, Harley, I didn't.

I didn't tell you to go, buddy.

Pull back and say.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, For the barrel pattern, you have on or two options that you can do.

You can first start off going to the left barrel and turn left around the first barrel.

So this one, or you can go right around that barrel.

Oh, why is he going?

I didn't tell you to go, Harley.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

And then you're going to cut across these barrel to take this one at the right.

And then you're going to go directly up the middle and then straight back Straight back down the middle.

If I fail, I fail.

We're going to try.

When you steer, go ahead and use one hand to pull right if you want to go right, left if you want to go left.

We're totally butchering thi route, Harley but it's all good!

That's okay.

Practice.

Practice makes perfect, right?

Okay, we go round that barrel, and then we got this barrel.

Uh... kinda this way?

All right, I want around that barrel.

All right, now, straight back.

And then you run home!

Now we run home!

Or not... Okay, I tried guys.

My production crew's like, 'yep, Al butchered that.

That's good TV.'

Well, Cacey, this has been awesome.

Yeah, absolutely.

Thank you for showing me the fundamentals of rodeo.

I think I'm ready.

Kind of.

Yeah, definitely.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Harley, you've been great too.

With every hoof beat in the dirt and every cheer from the stands a new chapter is being written.

One where women rid not in the shadows of the sport, but at the center of it.

And as young girls watc with wide eyes and big dreams, it's clear the legacy of rodeo is changing one fearless rider at a time.

Forms of justice are handed down in buildings like this on the regular, written into law, and argued before judges.

But others?

Well, others are earned through performance, perseverance, through showing up again and agai when the odds say you shouldn't.

Title Nine has opened up the door.

And today's athletes, athletes like Aaliyah Nye, Clara Van Wieren, Cacey Hyde, they've kicked it wide open.

And their stories, their stories are still being written.

Thanks for watching Beyond the Score.

I'm your host Al Martin.

Be easy, people.

Beyon the Score is supported in part by Capital Insurance Services offering comprehensive personal and commercial insurance, including medical professional liability to Lansing and throughout Michigan since 1980.

More resources and information about offerings at capital insurance dot com.