Could you imagine collegiate athletics without any female athletes? Before 1972, female athletes weren’t given athletic scholarships to participate in college athletics, nor were female athletic programs properly funded like male sports where. When then president Richard Nixon signed what is known as Title IX, he gave female athletics more than just scholarships and federal money for sport programs, he did something even more historic, he enabled young women the chance to dream.
“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”-An excerpt taken from the preamble to Title IX of the education Amendments of 1972.
Without Title IX, some of the best female athletes in the world probably would never have gotten a chance to play collegiate athletics.
Imagine the Olympics with Jackie Joyner-Kearse, one of the world’s most gifted track and field athletes of all time, male or female. Joyner-Kearse won six Olympic medals. However, without Title IX, would Joyner-Kearse have attended UCLA, where she earned a scholarship in basketball and began her track and field career?
Would the 2000 Olympic games have been as fun to watch if Marion Jones didn’t compete? Jones received a scholarship to play basketball at the University of North Carolina, where she honed her track and field skills and later became a gold medalist.
Try to think about women’s college basketball in the 1980s without thinking of Cheryl Miller. Miller, an All-American and three time Naismith Player of the Year award winner, won national titles in women’s college basketball in 1983 and 1984 in addition to winning a gold medal in the Olympics. Without Title IX, she may have never gotten a chance to compete at such high levels as she did at the University of Southern California.
One of the best collegiate volleyball players in the world was Flora Hyman. Hyman displayed strong defensive skills and spiking ability like none other. Without Title IX, the University of Houston may have never gotten a chance to work with such talent.
Today, there is much controversy and many unanswered questions when talking about college athletics and Title IX. In order to make sure funding is equal for women sports in addition to male sports, many male sports are often cut from the university.
Although it is unfortunate to cut any sport, ask yourself a question: would the female athlete really have a chance to play quality athletics if Title IX were not in existence?
In today’s society, Anna Kournikova is better known for the way that she looks rather than the way that she plays. Ask yourself: is that fair? During the women’s soccer World Cup match, Brandi Chastain received more attention for her sports bra than her game winning shot. Ask yourself: is that fair?
Although sports may never be completely fair, I think in 1972 the greatest event in the history of women’s athletics occurred…they got a chance.