This provocative and inspiring book

raises questions like these and explores

them with the champions, among them

Jackie Joyner-Kersee; race-car driver Lyn

St. James; Julie Croteau, first woman

college baseball player; dog-sled racer

Susan Butcher; an unnamed lesbian golf

champion; and more. The author has

also talked to scores of women who are

not professionals but who love sports.

Women s athletics are at a crossroads.

More women play or watch sports than

ever before in American history. Millions

of women swim, run, and do aerobics

regularl): There s a burgeoning growth

in the number of women who play golf

and volleyball.

In professional sports, the change is

even more striking. There are huge

purses for women s professional tennis

and golf, and eight other sports have

professional leagues for women.