Boys will be boys, whether girls are nearby or not.

Shannon Rowbury learned that lesson the hard way as a 5-year-old when she was playing in the kindergarten schoolyard.

"We were playing and one of the boys decided to kick a basketball across the field," Rowbury recalled. "I slipped and did the splits over the ball and wound up with a spiral fracture in my left tibia. I wound up in a full-length cast for a little bit, but I got lots of treats and sympathy. Besides the initial pain, I loved it."

After Rowbury healed, her grandmother wanted to find her an activity that would strengthen her bones and make her less susceptible to injury so she signed her up for dance lessons. After a brief stint in ballet, Rowbury took up Irish dancing.

"My grandma is 100-percent Irish so perhaps that's how I ended up in Irish dancing," Rowbury said. "I don't even think she knew of it being an option for me at first. Once she did, it was like, ‘Bingo!' I don't know how she ever thought to do that. But I'm so grateful that she did."