The first cookbook of its kind. A collaboration between Althea Magazine and The Sports Bra, Meal of Champions is inspired by female athletes. From dinner meals and desserts to cocktails, athletes from different sports are shown through everyone's favorite thing; food!
Althea Magazine is the guide women's sports fans have been waiting for. Covering sports, fashion, lifestyle, art, impact, and self-care, this was made for women whose whole lives surround sports.
On every page of the magazine, readers can see every aspect of their personality through these games near and dear to our hearts. When I was little and starting to fall in love with sports, I was nervous that I would lose other parts of me, such as the little girl who loved dressing up and reading or doing my hair and painting my nails. At the same time, I never wanted to be seen as weak or not dedicated to my craft — which is how athletes who are into those things are unfortunately seen.
Those stereotypes are thrown out the window as soon as you pick up Althea, and we are dedicated to making those cliches disappear entirely. The magazine's existence is to make women in sports feel like they can show every characteristic they have while still being obsessed with the game.
- Nina-Grace Montes, founder of Althea Magazine
The idea for The Bra started in April 2018, when Jenny Nguyen and about a dozen of her friends wanted to watch the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament championship game between Notre Dame and Mississippi State at a local sports bar. They grabbed a few tables and slid them together, and got the server to switch one of the televisions to the big game for them. They ordered food and drinks and proceeded to watch what would be one of the best games in NCAA history. When it was all over, they realized they had watched the whole thing on a tiny TV in the corner of the bar with no sound on.
Fast forward to 2020, when Nguyen had been running her parents' family business for a couple years, having left her position as a chef. Between the pandemic and the racial justice movement, the world was being turned on its head. It was a time of change. She had always felt a bit lost since leaving the kitchen but didn't know what lay ahead. She felt she needed to do something more.
Social movements were pressing harder and further, people were learning and unlearning, and women's sports were pushing forward and through. Nguyen felt that there was so much distress and upheaval in 2020, but also so much inspiration and reason to fight. Finally, she saw her place in the struggle and how she could do something meaningful. The idea of The Sports Bra was born.