Rulebook 1: Be successful. Rulebook 2: Be liked.

And if success and being liked ever clash, girls are taught to choose being liked.

This shows up everywhere.

If a boy is focused, people say he is determined. If a girl is focused, people say she is cold.

If a boy is competitive, people say he has drive. If a girl is competitive, people say she is rude.

If a boy wants to win, it is normal. If a girl wants to win, she is told she should "relax."

That is why many girls start editing themselves. Not because they are not strong. But because they do not want to be judged.

And that makes me sad.

Because sport is one of the few places where the rules can be simple.

You train. You improve. You compete. You learn. You win or lose. But either way, you grow.

Sport does not care if you are pretty. Sport cares if you are ready.

And I think that is a lesson girls need more often.

You do not have to be pretty to be powerful. You do not have to be soft to be respected. You do not have to be "nice" all the time to deserve space.

I am not saying kindness does not matter. It does.

But being kind should be a choice, not a cage.

Girls should be allowed to be serious. To be ambitious. To be powerful. To want more. To take up space.

We are not decorations.

We are competitors. Leaders. creators. humans.

And we do not owe anyone smallness.

One stereotype I want to break this week is that girls must be pretty and pleasant to be accepted.