The Growth of Women and Girls in Sports
Legislative Revolution: The Impact of Title IX
By JoAnne Harrop

Serra Catholic senior guard Laura Grimm said the fact she will have the opportunity to play Division I basketball and earn a college degree is because of those individuals who fought for women's equality before she was even born.

"I can't believe there was a time when women weren't allowed to vote," said Grimm, one of the top basketball players in the WPIAL who will attend Colgate on a scholarship. "To think there were people who laid the foundation for women to be able to excel in sports and in professions means a lot to me. I appreciate what they did by helping to get the legislation passed which represents equality for women."

What Grimm is referring to is Title IX, a piece of legislation passed in 1972 which bans sex discrimination in schools whether in academics or athletics. It requires educational institutions to maintain policies, practices and programs that do not discriminate against anyone based on sex.

Because of it, Grimm and many other young women have the chance to have what men have on the court and in the classroom.

"If this didn't happen, then I wouldn't have been able to go to Colgate, or I would be in debt until I was 90," she said. "I read in history class where there was a time when women were only taught things to be able to teach their sons until they were old enough to go to school. That is pretty crazy."

Things have come a long way since the legislation was passed, but there are still many miles to go. Penn State associate director for the center for sports journalism Marie Hardin said Title IX has been tremendous in the area of participation for girls in sports.

"If girls are given the opportunity, they take it," Hardin said. "Sports participation by girls has exploded. In 2002, three million girls played sports. It is much more accepted now."

But she added there are some areas that still need improvement. More coaching opportunities for women is one of them. While it is groundbreaking news that Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt became the first women's basketball coach to reach the $1 million mark in salary, she is one of only a few women in the game who are constantly used as examples, Hardin said. There needs to be more individuals like Summitt to show Title IX is global.

Pitt senior associate athletic director Carol Sprague said Title IX has been an outstanding impetus for social change and has ignited and accelerated social change. She said the law is for equality, not solely in sports, but in all EDUCATION. It gives women the chance to be doctors and lawyers and anything they want to be versus limiting females to paths where women were pegged in one of a handful of careers such as teacher or nurse.

Sprague cautioned that women still only get paid 80 cents on the dollar as compared to men. Women also make up 57 percent of all college athletes, but don't get 57 percent of the athletic opportunities.

Sprague knows, because she had to overcome many barriers to get to where is today. She is one of the women who found success in the athletic world before Title IX was in full force. Because nothing was handed to her, Sprague takes nothing for granted. She was key in fighting for Pitt to host the 2007 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament first-and-second rounds. When Petersen Events Center was being used for a national wrestling tournament, Sprague pushed for the Pitt women to play their Women's National Invitational Tournament games in the Panthers' former home, Fitzgerald Field House. Using the resources available and doing more to promote women's athletics will only aid Title IX, she said. Sprague also said Title IX helps protect some of the sports which don't bring in the highest revenues and most likely won't be big money makers. But that doesn't mean those teams don't have a place in the university, she said.

"I am persistent, and my parents always encouraged me to do what I love," she said. "I feel in my heart that it is important to give back. I want to do my part to help young women, and young men, have opportunities in athletics and academics."

Another area to consider is that women don't have as many opportunities to make a living playing sports. There are more men's professional sports teams and where there are pro career opportunities for women, they don't make any where near the same salaries, like in the WNBA and the NBA. A lot of professional female basketball players travel overseas in the off-season to help supplement their WNBA salaries.

Sprague understands that things such as that are going to happen. She added that in order to close the gap even a little that Title IX needs to be continually reviewed by academic institutions.

Fourth-year Robert Morris women's basketball coach Sal Buscaglia, who has been involved in the sport since 1977, has witnessed many positive changes first hand. He recalled when his team had to practice late at night and use old basketballs from the men's team. The women also played two-thirds less games than their counterparts and it was a half-court game. Those things don't exist any longer for his Colonial squad.

"Title IX certainly has helped," Buscaglia said. "But I still believe there is still a large part of the general population which still views female athletics as second class. It is changing somewhat, but we need to do more to promote the women's game."

He said all women's sports need to be marketed better. And in order to see what Title IX truly has done for the women's game, high-end schools and coaches, need to be taken out of the equation. Summitt and Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma have well-known programs and are paid accordingly, but their salaries and athletic accomplishments might not be a fair representation of all the other Division I schools. Summitt and Auriemma are more the exception than the rule, Buscaglia said.

"Robert Morris has done a great job with being fair to men and women," Buscaglia said. "I am fortunate to coach there. The administration at Robert Morris has been more than willing to listen to me and do everything to help the women's basketball team be successful."

Buscaglia said female athletes today train much more extensively. They also are committed to their sport and serious like the men.

"It disturbs me that women don't get the recognition they deserve," Buscaglia said. "They work as hard as the men, yet they don't get the same coverage. That needs to change."

One thing that bothers Buscaglia, however, is when men's sports are eliminated to accommodate women's sports. He wants equality for both women and men.

Pitt tennis coach George Dieffenbach has seen the good and the bad of Title IX. He has seen his women's tennis program thrive under the legislation while at the same time watching his men's program dissolve in 1995.

"Title IX is an outstanding law and the advancement of women's sports is evident of that," said Dieffenbach. "More money is being spent on women at the high school and the college level. It is a good thing when athletic departments comply with Title IX, but not when that means cutting men's sports."

There are other alternatives.

There can be roster caps put on sports teams or additional fundraising to raise money for the budget to accommodate more women's sports, Dieffenbach said.

"It was great to have both teams practice against each other," he said. "They would cheer for each other. It is hard to get a program back once it is eliminated."