What does women's history month mean to you?

• Jaeya Brach: "I think as women we are faced with so much that a lot of people don't think of and so for me women's history month is a time women are recognized for what we do and the things we bring." 

• Elisa Rosado: "Just honoring all the women that came before me and just that we've come so far since things like the women's rights movements in the late 1900's, because of women before me, I am able to do the things I am able to do whether it's career wise, in the classroom, on the softball field, and even just existing in the world I am able to be myself and be a strong women."

As you grew up into the women that you are today, did sports have a direct impact on your development, if so how would you say?

• Jaeya Brach: "I think that sports shaped who I am today and I think that it made me into a really confident woman. Sports made me have a voice and it really made me know how to stand up for myself. I also think sports gives you a group of women with similar goals to work with and just to get to know so I think that was a super cool aspect."

• Elisa Rosado: "I would definitely say sports had an impact on my development, especially playing a team sport and being around a lot of really strong women all the time, female coaches and teammates. It's given me a lot of life lessons outside of a sport, like from sports to real life. Things such as team work, determination, even communication." 

When you think of women's history in sports, what comes to mind?

• Jaeya Brach: "Just all the super sick women that have come before me and paved the way. So I used to play indoor volleyball and the uniforms were so much smaller and so much more revealing, and women fought for less revealing clothes and now we can wear leggings when we play. So just small things like that."

• Elisa Rosado: "Funny thing I think of the movie A League of Their Own, which is a softball movie. It was during World War II when all the men left and women created their own baseball league. Yeah so I definitely think of that movie and just how women had to advocate for themselves when it comes to equity and fair treatment in sports. Even just having to prove that we can play sports and we can play at the same level or even higher than men can." 

Are there any women athletes that stand out to you, or that you look up to, if so who?

• Jaeya Brach: "A recent one that so many people are talking about is Caitlin Clark, it's super sick and were similar in age and seeing how much she's accomplished has been super cool. There's a lot of beach volleyball athletes that I love like Melissa Humana Paredes."

• Elisa Rosado: "I would definitely say Jazmyn Jackson is a pro softball player for a league called Athletes Unlimited. She stands out to me because outside of being an athlete she's very vocal about social causes in and out of sport. So I think she shows that even though you are an athlete you can still be a strong women, a strong black women, and still care about things outside of your sport as well, having an identity outside your sport."

Without a doubt treatment of women in sports has come a long way, but where would you like to see womens sports further evolve to in the future?

• Jaeya Brach: "I think screen time, I think funding, I think there's so much that we can still do, but I'm so grateful for how far we've come. I think the difference in media presence in mens sports and women sports, and the difference in pay is so big and the gap is slowly decreasing, but I think there's such a big way to go still."

• Elisa Rosado: "Definitely in the amount of resources we get in terms of equipment, travel expenses, meals, things like that. Even access to trainers and injury prevention, like even here at LMU I see a lot of disparity in mens and womens sports just in terms of when trainers are available for us if we're trying to have injury prevention or when we do have an injury, things like that."