‘NCAA’ Also Means ‘Novels Containing Awesome Athletes’ Who Are Women

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Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. (Photos by Adam Bettcher and Andy Lyons/Getty Images.)

Female athletes are very much in the news these days with the NCAA basketball tournament. The University of Iowa (featuring superstar Caitlin Clark) is facing the University of South Carolina (featuring acclaimed center Kamilla Cardoso) in this afternoon’s championship game. Also in the Final Four or Elite Eight were the University of Connecticut’s Paige Bueckers, Louisiana State University’s Angel Reese, and other notables.

You know where this is going: I’m about to write a post about athletic women in fiction, mentioning various characters from novels I’ve read. 🙂

With basketball on my mind, I first remembered Patty Berglund of Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom. The novel mostly depicts her as a post-school adult, but she was a great student basketball player.

We also have golfer Jordan Baker of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. A character inspired by the famous real-life golfer Edith Cummings.

Liane Moriarty’s Apples Never Fall co-stars excellent tennis player (and tennis instructor) Joy Delaney, whose disappearance is the novel’s main story line.

Vivi Ann Grey of Kristin Hannah’s True Colors is a masterful equestrian who does rodeo work, too.

The very athletic prehistoric protagonist Ayla in Jean M. Auel’s The Clan of the Cave Bear and its five sequels also ably rides a horse (as well as a lion!), double-slings rocks, etc.

The 14th-century character Lady Claire d’Eltham of Michael Crichton’s Timeline impressively runs and climbs trees.

Katniss Everdeen of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games trilogy is highly skilled at archery, which comes in handy given the dangers she faces.

In J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, the co-ed sport of Quidditch includes talented female players such as Ginny Weasley, Cho Chang, Katie Bell, and Angelina Johnson.

Athletic characters, whether female or male, obviously can make for interesting reading in literature. The personalities, the camaraderie, the hard work to become as physically and mentally strong as possible, the risk of injury, the thrill of competition, the suspense of who might win or lose, the potential for cheating and other shenanigans, etc. In the case of women, athleticism is thankfully more welcomed in our current era than it was many years, decades, and centuries ago.

Thoughts on this topic, and any other examples of athletic characters you’d like to mention?

My literary-trivia book is described and can be purchased here: Fascinating Facts About Famous Fiction Authors and the Greatest Novels of All Time.

In addition to this weekly blog, I write the 2003-started/award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column every Thursday for Montclair Local. The latest piece — about an accusation against another township manager, and more — is here.

77 thoughts on “‘NCAA’ Also Means ‘Novels Containing Awesome Athletes’ Who Are Women”

  2. Dave,

    The only book I could come up with was “The Hustler”, about pool.

    I figured pool is a sport but it was about a man.

    I did think about it on/off during the week, but sports is something kind of far away from me.

    Talk about a surprise topic! Way to go!

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  5. Jordan Baker is the only example you cite that I might have remembered– I’ve read none of the others. No great fan of sports fiction, I don’t know if I’ll get around to them before I go under.

    But if fishing is a sport, there’s Nick Adams, the Hemingway youngster of short fiction and trousers who spends a lot of quiet time wading and flytying and musing, and even catching fish. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that

    “There’s a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore like an idiot.” – Steven Wright

    Naturally, that fine line leads straight to fishing in creeks for trout– one of my fondest memories of a thoroughly vanished youth, who once was me.

    Hemingway’s more mature fisherman, Santiago, in one of the author’s later works, is not fishing for sport,or,as it turns out, for profit. He does make a swell metaphor for attempting to bring a big novel,maybe even the great American one, to the best-seller shore, only to watch helplessly as many-toothed, baleful-eyed critics devour its best parts before getting there.

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    • Thank you, jhNY! Great Hemingway mentions! Fishing is a sport of sorts, though the fish are not fans.

      Loved the metaphorical fun you had with “The Old Man and the Sea” in your last paragraph! And that Steven Wright “fishing line” is priceless. 🙂

      As a kid, I was forced to try fishing at summer camp, and hated every minute of it.

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  6. Hi Dave, I’ve never been very interested in sport so I never read any books about sports people. I do recall that sports featured in Enid Blyton’s all girl school-based books, namely, the Mallory Towers series and the St Claires series. I’ve just finished a memoir about a blind sportsman. It also featured some women. He wasn’t a top athlete; it was more about achieving sporting goals despite impaired vision. I can’t think of anything else off hand.

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  10. Read SC won NCAA but the tv ratings overall were very high,go women who have power to draw big audiences,gain notoriety like Iowa’s Caitlin Clark,her concession speech shows sportsmanship and professionalism. Sport is more than winning, the bonds are strong,the lessons of team work are powerful. Clark is indeed a strong role model, work hard,train, respect eachother, admit defeat and be humble. Lead by example. When one pushes themselves in sport, personal athletic pursuits at any age,one pushes themselves in all facets of their lives.

    Michele, E&P,way back

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    • Thank you, Michele! Several great points, well-stated! Yes, undefeated South Carolina won, and it was nice to see all the good sportsmanship/sportswomanship — as well as the high TV ratings. Caitlin Clark is an amazing player, and a really mature person.

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  11. Films but not books re: women athletes is Pat And Mike written by Garson Kanin and his wife, Ruth Gordon (of Rosemary’s Baby fame). A wonderful old rom/com from the 50s. Non-fiction book Fire And Ice by Tanya Harding, which I started to read primarily out of curiousity re: what happened between her and Nancy Kerrigan. I never finished it since her life’s story involved poverty, abuse, etc. and was rather brutal. As there was so much sensationalism around the incident, Frank Connelly, who apparently claims to have “the truth”wrote a follow up book called Thin Ice. I never read it. The whole ordeal between Harding/Kerrigan and the pressure to excel etc. was both a black eye on women’s athletes as well as an eyeopener. I think team sports are much better. Great theme Dave.

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    • Thank you! I remember the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan incident from 30 years ago, and that Harding did grow up in very challenging circumstances. There is indeed a lot of pressure in competition, whether between women or between men — especially in the only-once-every-four-years Olympics.

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  13. I’m not a sports person, but the success of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament is everywhere on the news. Kudos to the star players! In my choices of fiction, any athletic character would therefore be accidental. Several years ago, I read a biography of Jesse Owens after his life story captured my attention.

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    • Thank you, Rosaliene!

      I’m also not particularly drawn to books with sports themes, though I like them on occasion. (I used to be more into sports reading.)

      And, yes, women’s basketball finally is becoming as popular as it deserves to be; the skill level of many of the players is off the charts.

      Jesse Owens indeed had an amazing life story of triumphs and setbacks in a racist world.

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  14. A very interesting topic, Dave. One that I believe needs a great deal of attention. I share Liz’s thoughts on sports although I did come in second in a race in a high school sports day (there were only two in the race LOL). But I digress.

    I believe that the lack of novels about women athletes can be attributed to various factors, such as historical gender biases in literature, societal perceptions of women in sports, and the underrepresentation of women’s sports in mainstream media. Additionally, the publishing industry has traditionally favoured male-centric sports narratives, contributing to the scarcity of novels featuring women athletes. Despite these challenges, I am very, very pleased to see that there is a growing demand for diverse and inclusive storytelling, which will lead to an increase in the representation of women athletes in literature in the future. Just checked out the internet. Very exciting to see the upward trend in this area.

    In the past, women athletes faced significant challenges due to societal norms that limited their participation in sports. But there were many who reminded us that sport activities had many health benefits. One of my favourite quotes is by Susan B Anthony on women riding bicycles.

    “I think [the bicycle] has done more to emancipate women than any one thing in the world. I rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a bike. It gives her a feeling of self-reliance and independence the moment she takes her seat, and away she goes, the picture of untrammelled womanhood.”

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    • Thank you, Rebecca! The way you told your high school sports anecdote was hilarious. 😂

      You made many excellent points in your second and third paragraphs. “Official” women’s sports didn’t exist or barely existed for a long time, and even now often doesn’t get the same attention and funding as men’s sports — which is also reflected in literature, as you note. But things do seem to be changing somewhat. For instance, women’s tennis seems as big as men’s tennis these days, and women’s college basketball is getting as much attention (maybe more) than men’s college basketball.

      Bike-riding was indeed emancipating. Great Susan B. Anthony quote!

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  15. An earlier comment mentions Greek mythology, which reminds me of two books by Mary Renault. The King Must Die and The Bull from the Sea bring the story of Theseus to life. The first one is set partly in Crete and descrbes the sport of bull-leaping, which is thrilling and dangerous. The second one features the amazon Hippolytta, who was definitely athletic.

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    • Thank you, Audrey, for the interesting mentions of those two Mary Renault historical novels! I read “The Praise Singer” by her a couple years ago, and thought it was very well done. Amazon warrior women like Hippolytta were indeed athletic!

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  16. Since long we have this sex-blurring debate. In Spain they even propose to abolish the pronouns he and she. I suppose that into a very near future we will have to start a letter with “Dear all of you” instead with ” Dear Ladies and Gentlemen”. Then you have the issue of the transsexuals who identify themselves as women and who’re denied (by regular women) to compete with them, use their bathrooms, or dressing rooms. It’s a woke debate. I must admit that I like female tennis more than male tennis. It’s less brute force, politer, and displays a more refined playing technique.

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    • Thank you, Shaharee! Yes, athletics can get complicated, including the question of gender roles. And I agree with you that women’s tennis can be more interesting to watch than men’s tennis.

      My teen daughter has been a soccer player, softball player, gymnast, and crew coxswain on rec, travel, and/or high school teams, so I’ve watched and enjoyed several sports with female athletes — many of them VERY skilled.

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      • I don’t know as much as I’d like, but I guess I picked up a lot in my youth. Schools here weren’t so hidebound to a set curriculum in those days, so if an interesting subject came up in class the teacher would run with it. I’m sure that’s how I picked up things that I’m sure wouldn’t be on the curriculum now. When I got to university in my 40s I did a course that spanned storytelling from ancient times to the 20th century, and picked up loads more about mythology on that (I later went on to teach the course). But, as per my latest blog, the internet is brilliant for finding things out as soon as an idea occurs. I’m still learning, and loving it. 🙂

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        • In many cases, the less set the curriculum, the better. Many educators can be very creative and teach their students a LOT when given some of the leeway they deserve.

          That storytelling class you took sounds fabulous!

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          • It was brilliant. We studied English, American and European stories, in translation where necessary, and found so many similarities–many cultures having a Flood narrative, for example, or Sindbad the Sailor having similar experiences on his voyages to those of Odysseus. It made me look at stories in a completely different way. As to teaching, absolutely, flexibility is needed–but it won’t happen here any time soon. There’s a book by George Sand called ‘Mauprat’ where the elderly male protagonist tells of being raised by an aristocratic family of criminals (R D Blackmore’s influence for ‘Lorna Doone’, I’m sure) before being taken in hand by the good side of the family. They decide that it’s useless giving him the traditional education in the Classics etc, but tailor what they teach him to his needs, given the circumstances of his upbringing. It’s Sand giving voice to the ideas of Rousseau, that everybody needs an education tailored to their individual needs, to bring out the best in them. I agree, but I don’t see it happening in my lifetime, I’m afraid.

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  18. Now this really is one that needs thought, Dave. I’m with you on Katniss Everdeen, who may (or not) have literary ancestors in Gwendolen Harleth of ‘Daniel Deronda’, who is an accomplished archer, as well as Bathsheba Everdene (same name, different spelling) who flouts convention by riding astride rather than side-saddle, as expected of women of the time. The archery skill also may (or not) come from the mythological goddess Artemis/Diana, goddess of the hunt and often portrayed with a bow and arrows. She’s also the virgin goddess of chastity, so Gwendolen’s and Katniss’s status as the same is demonstrated, perhaps. Give me a while and I’ll see who else I can summon up. 🙂

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  19. I don’t care for sports, so I haven’t read many books featuring athletes. I have read The Natural and Bang the Drum Slowly. If I remember correctly, in The World According to Garp, he was a wrestler at some point.

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