THE 5TH MILITARY WORLD GAMES BOOST THE

THE 5TH MILITARY WORLD GAMES BOOST THE WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION IN SPORTS
An important date for Brazil is approaching: the 5th CISM Military World Games
(5MWGRIO2011) will take place in the city of Rio de Janeiro, in July 2011. This event will be a
remarkable one not only for its grandeur and uniqueness in Brazil, but by the fact of female
participation in almost all sports. This will certainly be a landmark in the rise of women in
Brazilian military sport.
THE INCLUSION OF BRAZILIAN WOMEN IN THE MILITARY LIFE
About 30 years ago, in 1980, Brazilian Navy opened the doors to women in the
military, followed by the Air Force, in 1982, and ten years later, in 1992, the Army did the
same. This was really a great achievement for women, because the military has always been a
territory marked by men and for men.
The Brazilian women came to the barracks and, despite the sexist characteristic of our
culture, could, little by little, but, with determination, overcome the obstacles in their path.
The difficulties have not deterred them, even though, each day they had to show their
competence. Moreover, it was not enough for them only to be in the military, the women also
aspired to share the same opportunities afforded to men.
Earlier, women used to join the military in order to work in areas like health, technical
and administrative. Today, they prove that the ability to perform operational functions is not a
male privilege, but rather for those who know what they want and are dedicated to what they
do.
THE FIRST STEP OF MILITARY WOMEN IN SPORTS
As in the military, in the sports world, women also had to fight for recognition. Just
look at the road they paved in the civilian world and you will find, true heroines, that broke
paradigms and had conquered their place with a lot of fighting and perseverance.
In military life, we are moving towards that goal. The Brazilian Air Force was the first
Armed Force to have a sport with the participation of women, the Shooting.
The first Brazilian Military Shooting Championship, with the participation of women,
was conducted in 1987, in Brasilia, with the presence of Brazilian Air Force athletes only.
Brazilian Military Shooting Championship_ 1987
Internationally, the first female participation was in the XXIX CISM World Military
Shooting Championship, in 1989, in Santiago, Chile, where Brazil was represented by the
following athletes, of the Brazilian Air Force: Lt Maria Cecilia Bettisch, Sgt Rachel Maria de
Castro da Silveira and Sgt Beatriz Fernandes da Silva Lessa. Since then, the female shooting
team, which was later enhanced by the presence of athletes from the Navy and from the
Army, continued brightening in the nationals and internationals CISM shooting
championships.
After 1996, with the admission of women in the Air Force Academy, as well as the
increasing number of women in the Navy and in the Army, other sports were being
contemplated with women's talents, as the Orienteering and Swimming.
The Army was the first Armed Force to have women in the sport of orienteering. In
1997, Lt Maria Carla Clausi, took her first steps to develop the orienteering along with the
female segment of the Army, participating, among the men, in a military Orienteering
competition, in the Olimpics of the Department of Education and Specialization of the Army
(DEE), that took place in the Army Physical Training Center (CCFEx), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Orienteering _ CAMORFA_ 2000
Orienteering _ CAMORFA_ 2007
The first female participation in a Military Orienteering Championship of the Armed
Forces (CAMORFA, occurred in Araguari, Minas Gerais, in 2000, as an experiment, with the
inclusion of athletes from the Army, Navy and Air Force. After this date, the first Brazilian
Military Women`s Orienteering Team was formed by the following athletes: Lt Carla Maria
Clausi (Army), Lt Ivie Lessa (Army), Sgt Geaneide Peny (Navy) and Sgt Naomi Silva dos Santos
(Army). This was the women's team that represented Brazil for the first time in the XXXIV
World Military Orienteering Championship of CISM, held in Beja, Portugal. Since then,
women's presence was finally adopted in the military Orienteering competitions and became
a constant in the CISM national and international championships.
Concerning Swimming, in 1988 the military women's competitions had already begun.
But the Brazilian athletes only came to participate in a world championship in 2003, in the 40º
CISM World Military Swimming Championship, held in Catania, Italy.
Swimming _ 2000
Swimming _ 2005
About the Triathlon, the first competition in Brazil, with the participation of military
women, occurred in 2000. In this competition, Sgt Elizabeth from the Air Force was the
champion. Sgt Peny, from the Army, took the second place and Lt Monica, also from the
Brazilian Air Force, took the third one.
Triathlon _2000
Triathlon _2000
Sgt Geaneide Peny, a Navy athlete, was also a pioneer in Naval Pentathlon. She
participated in an International Competition of Naval Pentathlon, along with the men's team,
in 1997, in Pakistan.
THE BRAZILIAN MILITARY WOMEN IN HYDERABAD
In 2007, in the 4th CISM Military World Games, in Hyderabad, India, the Brazilian
Military Women`s Swimming Team participated with the following athletes: Lt Valerie Bridges
Freitas Cruz; Lt Juliana Ferreira Mendonca; Lt Kelly Gouveia Fidalgo Zary and Lt Ana Beatriz
Bragança. At the same event, Brazil also participated with the Military Women's Shooting
Team, formed by the athletes: Capt Ana Luiza Lima Ferrão Souza Vieira de Mello; Lt Cybele
Bautista Breid Martins; Lt Roberta Luz Cabo and NCO Rachel Maria da Silveira de Castro.
THE FEMALE PARTICIPATION IN THE 5MWGRIO2011
As Brazil was chosen to host the 5MWGRIO2011, the women's participation in military
sports was diversified. In 2009, in order to prepare for the Games, the Armed Forces sought to
form women's teams in various sports. Nowadays, women's participation was expanded to 17
sports, with the exception of boxing, basketball and Aeronautical Pentathlon, totaling around
109 female athletes, representing almost half of the Brazilian delegation to the Games.
Orienteering _ Sgt Wilma Souza
Taekwondo_ Sgt Iris Silva
Naval Pentathlon_MN Manuela Quilelli
Football_ MN Andréia dos Santos
Parachuting _Sgt Cássia Bahiense
Triathlon_Sgt Pâmela Oliveira
Some of the Brazilian athletes started in the sports when they became soldiers, while
others started as teenagers, in civilian life. In some sports, such as shooting, orienteering,
sports with military characteristics, the athletes only discovered their potential after joining
the military. In general, in sports such as taekwondo, fencing, judo, equestrian, volleyball,
football, track & field, the talents were discovered earlier, in the teenage years.
An interesting example is that of Sgt Rayssa Costa de Oliveira, fencing athlete of the
Army, who had the opportunity to start in the sport, when she was about 14 years, through a
social program of the Federal Government and the Ministry of Sports, whose goal was the
discovery of new talents in the sport.
Fencing_Sgt Rayssa Costa
Shooting _1T Roberta Cabo
Source:CBTE
On the other hand, Lt Roberta Luz Cabo de Almeida, shooting athlete in the carabine
.22 and air carabine categories, has started in the sport in 2002, upon joining the Air Force
Academy, tracing, since then, a great career. Nowadays, she is a Brazilian record holder in the
Air Carabine, Ladies Category.
THE BARRIERS FOR THE PRACTICE OF SPORT
Until the advent of the Games, the biggest difficulty faced by the Brazilian military
athletes within the context of the armed forces, whether the athlete was male or female, was
the prejudice against the athletes. Through a survey with the Brazilian athletes, using the
Internet e-mail, I noticed that this is an opinion shared by many active military.
The athlete always had difficulties of support due to frequent, but, necessary,
clearances for training and competitions. Many of the bosses and coworkers do not realize
that the athlete has to be sacrificed, training after working and also on weekends. Often, the
athletes are worn out making requests to be released for training, and this causes a great
barrier to the practice of sports.
A Greater support and broad dissemination, by the competent organ, about the work,
the perseverance and the merits of being an athlete would encourage other military, who
annul their sporting talents due to the existing prejudice.
THE FUTURE OF THE BRAZILIAN MILITARY WOMEN IN SPORTS
We hope that the achievements on the sports field, acquired with the advent of the
Games, not TO BE lost, but increased though.
We observed that the firmness of purpose, responsibility and professionalism
demonstrated in the performance of its tasks, the Brazilian women have got the right to have
the same opportunities as men.
Like the Air Force did, the Brazilian women await the opening of the gates to the
women in Military Schools of the Navy and the Army, respectively, the Naval Academy and
Military Academy of Agulhas Negras, a fact that will increase the female participation in
military sports as a whole.
Meanwhile, we count on a larger campaign for sports by the Military Sports
Commissions, as well as the will power, commitment and dedication of the female athletes.
After all, overcoming barriers and overcoming obstacles are genuinely feminine skills.
WOMEN, BRAVO ZULU! *
Lieutenant Colonel Air Force Rita de Cássia Menezes de Lima
Women in CISM in the Americas (WICA) Member
5th CISM Military World Games - Rio 2011
Operational Planning Committee (CPO)
Reception and Attachés Adjunct
* Bravo Zulu is a Naval term that means “WORK WELL DONE!”
REFERENCES
Campeonato Brasileiro de Natação das Forças Armadas, 35º, 2005. Rio de Janeiro. Boletim
Informativo. Brasília: Comissão Desportiva Militar do Brasil, 2005.
Campeonato Brasileiro de Orientação das Forças Armadas, 24º, 2000. Minas Gerais. Boletim
Informativo. Brasília: Comissão Desportiva Militar do Brasil, 2000.
Campeonato Brasileiro de Tiro das Forças Armadas, 25º, 1987. Brasília. Boletim Informativo.
Brasília: Comissão Desportiva Militar do Brasil, 1987.
Campeonato Mundial Militar de Orientação do CISM, 40º, 2003. Catânia, Itália. Boletim
Informativo. Brasília: Comissão Desportiva Militar do Brasil, 2003.
Campeonato Mundial Militar de Orientação do CISM, 34º, 2001. Beja, Portugal. Boletim
Informativo. Brasília: Comissão Desportiva Militar do Brasil, 2001.
Campeonato Mundial Militar de Tiro do CISM, 29º, 1989. Santiago, Chile. Boletim Informativo.
Brasília: Comissão Desportiva Militar do Brasil, 1989.
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