Evolution of Women’s Athletics

When I was in high school, I played volleyball, basketball, tennis and was a student athletic trainer. After high school, I played on a volleyball scholarship while completing a bachelor’s degree. Little did I know that more than 20 years earlier, this would not likely have been possible.

In 1972, Title IX, which was a part of the Educational Amendments Act, was passed and was an anti-discrimination provision of the federal statute of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. According to Title IX,

“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal aid.”

In addition, equal opportunity had to be provided for equipment, coaching and financial support. Meaning, there was going to be some remodeling and shifting of money for federally funded high schools and colleges.

The implementation of Title IX was not a smooth transition for many schools. In fact, the NCAA, in a lawsuit, challenged Title IX on the basis that equality between the sexes would cause financial instability for intercollegiate athletics. The lawsuit was not successful and the NCAA had three years to comply with the mandates of Title IX or run the risk of losing federal financial support.

Title IX opened the floodgates for women's involvement in sports and provided an equal opportunity for both genders. Six years after Title IX was implemented, women’s involvement in team sports went from 4 percent to more than 25 percent. This increase in participation has been steady for the past 40 years.

However, even with Title IX, it’s not a perfect system. There is still an uneven amount of resources afforded to women. According to the NCAA 2005-06 equality report, Division I schools averaged around $8.6 million per institution for men’s sports, in comparison to the $4.5 million per institution for women’s sports.

It’s easy to find cases where women’s athletics are treated as less of a priority or are given fewer resources, based on gender. The question is why?

There is the argument that men’s athletics brings in more money, therefore they should be given more money—and that could be considered a good argument.

But when you strip down the issue to the bare bones, you have to ask yourself these fundamental questions: Should your daughter be given less of an opportunity than your son? Should your daughter's play receive less financial support than your son's because she is a girl? I have a daughter and two boys and the answer I give to those questions is absolutely not.  

Studies have shown a strong correlation between participation in sports and success in life. As we evolve and grow as a society, we need more boys and girls coming out of high school and college ready to contribute to society.

Regardless of whether you enjoy watching women’s sports or men’s sports, hopefully you will support the notion that there should be and needs to be equal opportunity for both genders to enjoy the full benefits of participating in athletics.