“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex… be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” — Title IX

The WNBA: 25 years of Title IX in motion
photograph by Jana Birchum

When Ruth Kane was in high school in the Sixties, girls played tennis and tennis only. No softball, no basketball. No volleyball or soccer. They did not know the pleasure of catching a long fly ball or hitting a three-point buzzer beater. They did not spike or score goals. And they definitely never dreamed that one day they could have a career playing in a professional league.

Now, as principal of Lanier High School in Austin, Dr. Kane witnesses the impact 25 years of Title IX has had on athletics, overseeing a school which offers girls basketball, softball, soccer, track, cross country, volleyball, golf, and gymnastics, as well as tennis. “Girls are coming into high school rearing to compete,” said Kane. “A lot of them have been playing soccer or tee-ball since they were five or six. Sports are important to them.”

Increased participation of females in sport has spawned the inevitable — professional women’s leagues, most notably the WNBA and the ABL. And in this 25th anniversary year of Title IX, the vigilance of coaches and athletic directors working with young girls and ensuring institutions’ compliance with Title IX will determine whether future generations of young women have access to prime-time hoop dreams.

According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, before Title IX was enacted in 1972, the number of girls who participated in high school sports was 295,000. Today, more than two million young women enjoy more equitable opportunities. (The number of boys playing high school sports has remained fairly constant at 3.5 million.)

The spotlight during the first 25 years of Title IX has been fixed on successes and failures at the college level virtually ignoring the important role sports participation can play in the physical and emotional development of pre-teen and teenage girls, said Deborah Brake of the National Women’s Law Center in Washington.

Brake said Title IX compliance is a problem at the lower school level. “There is nothing like the NCAA or a federal Disclosure Act at the high school level, and therefore less awareness of Title IX,” says Brake. “I have had high school officials argue that Title IX doesn’t even apply to them.”



photograph by Jana Birchum

In Austin, school officials point to the fact that girls’ and boys’ sports receive equal per-student funding, the upcoming construction of a new district softball facility, and the fact that coaches for girls’ and boys’ sports are given equal stipends as examples of the district’s dedication to Title IX compliance. Practice times are doled out equally, with girls’ and boys’ teams sharing prime gym and field times. Cheerleaders attend both girls’ and boys’ varsity sports. Fan support for girls’ sports is strong.

“Right now there is very little difference in men and women’s athletics,” said AISD Athletic Director Leon Fuller. “I think we’re about as balanced as we can be right now. All you have to do is go to a state basketball tournament and see the level of play out there to see that athletic departments are taking female athletes seriously.”

Being “taken seriously” contributes to a young woman’s health and well-being, according to studies by the Women’s Sports Foundation and the Ms. Foundation. Female athletes have higher grades and are more likely to graduate from high school, are less likely to suffer from depression or have an unwanted pregnancy, and have overall better self-image than non-athletes, the studies conclude.

Lanier’s Dr. Kane echoes the sentiment. “It’s really exciting for females to be able to benefit from the camaraderie, discipline, and prestige that working in athletics provides,” says Dr. Kane.

“Sports participation helps you develop confidence as a person,” says Johnston High’s Athletic Director Mike Szymarek. “You see more and more women in leadership roles in corporate America who had participated in team sports when they were younger.” The relationship between Title IX and the launching of womens’ professional basketball is not lost on Szymarek.

“I think [the WNBA] will have a big impact on younger kids, especially,” said Szymarek. “Kids five to 10 years old just starting in a sport will be more motivated to stick with it because they see other women getting recognition for their athletic ability. Not all of them will make it, but hope can take you a long way.”

Perhaps Donna Lopiano, former UT women’s athletic director and current executive director of the Women’s Sports Foundation, best sums it up in a quote from the new book Shooting From the Outside by U.S. Olympic women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer. “It’s not an explosion but the tide coming in. It’s been building over time. You add all of the things up — Title IX, gender equity, television, and corporate interest — and you’ve reached critical mass. This is not an accident in history. This is a major cultural change that I don’t see going back.”

National Association of Girls & Women in Sport: 703/476-3452
National Women’s Law Center: 202/328-5160
Women’s Sports Foundation: 800/227-3988

Lisa Tozzi is a freelancce writer living in Austin.

This article appears in August 22 • 1997 and August 22 • 1997 (Cover).

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