Megan Blunk: Strength and Beauty

Megan Blunk, Wheelchair Basketball Gold Medalist, talks about women’s sports, the challenges she continues to face, and being beautiful inside and out!

Megan Blunk, Wheelchair Basketball Gold Medalist and Schwarzkopf “Up your Hair Game” campaign model, answered our questions about women’s sports, the physical and emotional challenges she faced and continues to face, and being beautiful inside and out.

You’ve always been athletic. How difficult was it to decide on basketball when you originally preferred other sports?

When I made the decision to play wheelchair basketball…it wasn’t difficult at all. It wasn’t hard for a lot of reasons. For one, it was kind of my only option at the time as it was the first adaptive sport I had learned about anywhere close to where I live. It was also easy to choose to play because I thought it sounded like a badass sport. I was so thankful for the opportunity to not only be physical in an athletic way, but also in a way that I could go all out being aggressive and strong. Lastly, it wasn’t hard to decide to play because I wanted a second chance at being an athlete again as soccer had been a huge part of life up until the accident.

What specific challenges did you overcome while simultaneously having to study and play basketball at university?

There were quite a few challenges I had to overcome while going to college and playing collegiate wheelchair basketball at the University of Illinois. I could name so many but I will keep it short.

I struggle quite a bit with ADD, although I didn’t really know that until just a few years ago. ADD significantly affected my ability to handle school, training, and everyday life.  Also, I was the first in my family to go to college. It was hard to navigate on my own without my parents’ guidance. It was also hard for me to believe that I really was smart enough to be there in the first place. I was only two years post-injury and struggling quite a bit with the transition from living an able-bodied life to one in a wheelchair.

Understandably, I was fighting a big battle with depression. This is something I struggled with most of my life. It made it quite a bit harder to handle everything. Oh, and it was hard to wake up at 5:30 AM, five days a week, for practice after pulling all-nighters studying.

Did your mental/emotional therapy or physical therapy come first, or did they go hand in hand? What approach would you recommend to those suffering from one or both of these?

I would say it has to go hand-in-hand because there really aren’t any days off when training at a high level. For example, I needed more help with my mental health than I was able to find or give myself and I think I often made up for that by pushing myself harder in the physical arena. I did have physical issues going on with my body due to my injury that I often found myself pushing to the side, as I wanted to keep moving forward in the other areas of my life. The advice I would give someone struggling with physical, mental, or emotional challenges would be to face them head-on. Figure them out as much as you can, because they won’t get better on their own. All aspects of your health are important and should be a priority.

“I think that girls should just be girls and be themselves whether they are on or off the field.”

Do you envision coaching as a career when you get older? Or maybe modeling?

Coaching is possibly one of my biggest passions in life, even more than playing. I love that, as a coach, you get to help a person both physically and mentally overcome challenges in their lives by learning to push and believe in themselves. I currently coach a kid’s wheelchair basketball team. It has been so rewarding to watch them grow and develop on and off the court.

As for being a model, I think that would have been incredibly cool while growing up and playing sports. I actually always did hope that one day it might be a part of my life. But now that I am retired, I don’t picture it as much.

There are often stories about women’s sports not being given the same consideration as men’s sports. Have you had any experience or opinion?

I do agree that women’s sports have not been given the same consideration as men’s sports in so many ways. I know that, in my lifetime, we have made incredible strides in gaining knowledge, respect, opportunities. Today there is greater support in women’s sports and their overall lives and well-being in general. I am grateful to have been born when I was because it has taught me a lot about strength, perseverance and believing in myself no matter if the world around you agrees or not. The momentum women have been gaining in sports is incredible to watch and be a part of. The more attention women gain, the more support they have, and the more support means more resources for them to learn and train and grow as athletes.

Nowadays we often see women athletes groomed quite glamorously, not tomboys at all…and not only for Schwarzkopf photo shoots! Hair, nail art, make-up are perfect! – even during some competitions. Does an athlete focus on her appearance foster a sense of sexiness, self-confidence, and appeal or something more?

I was and have always been a tom boy. But I also like wearing makeup, doing my hair, or doing whatever makes me feel good no matter what I am doing. Ever since I started wearing makeup (in middle school) I have liked to wear makeup even while playing sports. There are a few reasons for this.

One, I played sports all the time, five days plus a week, year round. So if I didn’t wear makeup while playing sports, I would never wear it. I remember that sometimes girls would talk about me wearing makeup as if it was a bad thing. This made me second guess myself and sometimes try not to wear it. But makeup helped me feel confident while playing. It made me feel good, put together and ready for the game. I also struggled with acne growing up and makeup helped me feel better about myself. I think that girls should just be girls and be themselves whether they are on or off the field.

You have gorgeous long hair. Do you think you might ever consider a short, low-maintenance crop better-suited to your active lifestyle?

Thank you! I appreciate the compliment. I think that I might actually cut my hair into a short, inverted bob again sometime in the future. It would be interesting to start over and go through all the stages of hair while I grow it out all over again. I think there is something to that journey… and the low maintenance is a big plus. But I also very much love long hair and the self-discipline and care it has taken me to get it to the length it is at.