GO TEAM!
I have a regret that washes over me whenever I see girl athletes going all out to win. I coulda-shoulda-woulda been one of them, but the times weren’t right and I wasn’t determined enough. Back when I was playing varsity basketball in high school, I lived for the game –even for the after school practices and walking home all grubby in the gathering dusk. We only played half-court, of course, because girls weren’t supposed to have the stamina to run up and down for fifteen minutes straight. And heaven forbid we should sweat. Having your period meant automatic sidelining – again, in deference to our delicate constitutions. And hardly anyone came to our games – not even parents, if memory serves.
When I got to college there was no girls’ basketball or softball – my other favorite - team, but the gym coach said she would work with one if I organized it. I didn’t. I went on to other things, more appropriate pursuits. I married a man who wouldn’t step outside in the winter and didn’t own a pair of sneakers. So my sporting days were over. Tennis is fun, but it is not a team sport.
It wasn’t until 1973 that I felt my first wave of regret about this turn of events. That was when the New Jersey Little League, challenged by a feisty mother and daughter, was ordered by the court to admit girls. The photograph of eight- and nine-year-olds, waving their lovingly-broken-in mitts brought on real tears. I was so elated for them and as I followed their story, so inspired by the courage they showed in the face of persistent put-downs from teammates, coaches and parents.
Then in 1974 came Title IX the legislation requiring equal resources for girls and boys in colleges receiving federal aid. That really changed everything.
By the time my daughter was in high school playing her sport, volleyball, the state of girls’ sports had changed. She can’t imagine not taking it seriously –getting up at dawn on weekends to get to tournaments, traveling on seedy buses to distant games, working on drills with her team, calling her coach “coach.” And never for one minute “running like a girl.”
I became the team’s head “groupie,” showing up at obscure away games, cheering my head off, and bursting into tears with embarrassing frequency. I was just so moved by their freedom, their power, their desire to win, their team spirit.
Recently I met an amazing woman who has lived this saga first-hand. Her name is C.Vivian Stringer and in the most recent five of her 35 years of coaching, she has built the Rutgers women’s basketball team into an NCAA finalist. She was playing half-court - in a mining town in Pennsylvania - about the same time I was, only she wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Why?” became her response to restrictions and rejections. By the time Title IX came along, she was there fighting for the rights of her team – to locker space, to practice time, to travel expenses, to scholarships. If only I’d had a coach like Vivian…….
But Vivian is worried. There are efforts afoot to dismantle Title IX – because it is “not fair” to big time male sports. She wants us to be vigilant for our daughters. And she has a challenge for us. “When people argue with me about the value of women’s sports,” she says, “they point to the low turnout in the bleachers for my games. And I don’t have a real good answer.” We parents and fans have to step up to the plate. We shoulda-coulda-woulda athletes, in particular, busy as we are, have to support our teams. Otherwise we all lose. Again.
When I got to college there was no girls’ basketball or softball – my other favorite - team, but the gym coach said she would work with one if I organized it. I didn’t. I went on to other things, more appropriate pursuits. I married a man who wouldn’t step outside in the winter and didn’t own a pair of sneakers. So my sporting days were over. Tennis is fun, but it is not a team sport.
It wasn’t until 1973 that I felt my first wave of regret about this turn of events. That was when the New Jersey Little League, challenged by a feisty mother and daughter, was ordered by the court to admit girls. The photograph of eight- and nine-year-olds, waving their lovingly-broken-in mitts brought on real tears. I was so elated for them and as I followed their story, so inspired by the courage they showed in the face of persistent put-downs from teammates, coaches and parents.
Then in 1974 came Title IX the legislation requiring equal resources for girls and boys in colleges receiving federal aid. That really changed everything.
By the time my daughter was in high school playing her sport, volleyball, the state of girls’ sports had changed. She can’t imagine not taking it seriously –getting up at dawn on weekends to get to tournaments, traveling on seedy buses to distant games, working on drills with her team, calling her coach “coach.” And never for one minute “running like a girl.”
I became the team’s head “groupie,” showing up at obscure away games, cheering my head off, and bursting into tears with embarrassing frequency. I was just so moved by their freedom, their power, their desire to win, their team spirit.
Recently I met an amazing woman who has lived this saga first-hand. Her name is C.Vivian Stringer and in the most recent five of her 35 years of coaching, she has built the Rutgers women’s basketball team into an NCAA finalist. She was playing half-court - in a mining town in Pennsylvania - about the same time I was, only she wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Why?” became her response to restrictions and rejections. By the time Title IX came along, she was there fighting for the rights of her team – to locker space, to practice time, to travel expenses, to scholarships. If only I’d had a coach like Vivian…….
But Vivian is worried. There are efforts afoot to dismantle Title IX – because it is “not fair” to big time male sports. She wants us to be vigilant for our daughters. And she has a challenge for us. “When people argue with me about the value of women’s sports,” she says, “they point to the low turnout in the bleachers for my games. And I don’t have a real good answer.” We parents and fans have to step up to the plate. We shoulda-coulda-woulda athletes, in particular, busy as we are, have to support our teams. Otherwise we all lose. Again.
Labels: girls, sports, title 9, vivian stringer
posted by Suzanne Braun Levine at 9:53 AM
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