Marginalization, Empowerment and Construction of National Heroines: Women's Sports in Nicaragua (1937-1942)

Abstract

This article has three objectives: to study the position of the Nicaraguan press regarding the practice of sport between 1937 and 1942, to describe the development of women's sports in Nicaragua and to assess the contribution of basketball in the empowerment of Nicaraguan women during that period. The methodological approach focuses on historical research and newspaper analysis. The information required to achieve these objectives was obtained from the newspapers La Prensa, La Noticia and Novedades. Data were extracted regarding the marginalization of Nicaraguan women's sports, the main athletes, the main sports clubs, the main competitions and the role of basketball in the empowerment of Nicaraguan women. It is concluded that Nicaraguan women's sport, during the years studied, had to face marginalization derived from little state support and patriarchal prejudices, which limited its development and kept it in an embryonic state. Basketball was the discipline most practiced by young ladies who studied in the main schools in the country. By organizing themselves better, it allowed them to empower themselves with their bodies and achieve important championships and triumphs at the national and international level.