After two years of pandemic delays, cancellations and common upheaval, sports activities—and its rabid fan bases—are lastly seeing a return to regular as we shut out 2022. With sky-high scores throughout all networks, increasing ladies’s sports activities leagues and the explosion of sports activities betting, this has been a game-changing yr within the house—with Adweek’s 2022 Most Highly effective Girls in Sports activities main the best way. From 95-year-old Maybelle Blair working to construct the Worldwide Girls’s Baseball Middle to 11-year-old broadcaster and reporter Pepper Persley breaking down obstacles to Dany Garcia relaunching the XFL, these ladies are redefining the sports activities panorama and elevating themselves, their groups, leagues, manufacturers and shoppers. We couldn’t be prouder to honor this yr’s group, which incorporates our cowl stars Sue Hen and Sylvia Fowles, who helped form the WNBA whereas altering the world alongside the best way. —Mollie Cahillane