“How long can I stay on a teeter-totter? The days of low do not balance the days of high,” Becky Sisley said.
Sisley, the University’s former women’s athletic director, read from a poem she wrote during her time as director between 1973-79, describing the hardships she faced fighting gender inequality within the University’s athletic system.
Sisley was one of four panelists who discussed their athletic experiences with Title IX Wednesday night in the John E. Jaqua Academic Center for Student Athletes. The 1972 federal law, also known as the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, bans sexual discrimination in schools relating to academic and athletic programs.
Peg Rees, another panelist, coached volleyball for nine years at the University and was the school’s last female three-sport athlete. She said she never would have had such accomplishments without luck.
When reflecting on high school, Rees said that neither “a teacher (nor) a coach told me I could compete in sports in college.” Sisley only learned about athletic opportunities at the University after someone from the volleyball team inquired about her height.
Women’s sports were designated “A” and “B” teams instead of varsity and junior varsity because the terms implied competitiveness, which went against the accepted notion of women’s athletics at the time.
Tom Heinonen, a cross country and track coach for three decades at the University, explained at the panel discussion that women in the 1920s were discouraged from participating in sports for fear of their uterus falling out from the
high-intensity physical strain.
Though Title IX was passed in the early ’70s, action wasn’t seen immediately. Sisley recalled that in 1974, baseball seasonal pay for a player was $1,633, while softball pay amounted to $34 per player.
“April 1, 1977, is when women’s sports were attached to the athletic department,” Sisley said.
Since then, there has been considerable progress in gender equity in athletics. In 1976, the University did a campus-wide self-evaluation on gender equity.
“There were 85 cases of gender discrepancies, and out of those, 38 were in athletics,” Sisley said.
When women’s sports were finally considered a part of the athletic department in 1977, female players earned the privilege to play at McArthur Court.
“We were afraid to have that kind of exposure,” Rees said.
Rees explained that the women’s basketball team wasn’t comparable to the men’s team in the beginning because the men’s program was much more established.
“We’ve just needed time,” Rees said. “It’s a good product now.”
Despite the difficulties faced in the past, the panel was able to cultivate a positive take in regards to the tangible benefits that athletes receive.
“We got to play for the love of it because there was nothing else you got from it,” Rees said.
“Now that’s club sports,” Heinonen replied. “They’re there because they want to be there and that’s great.”
Although motivations and gender inequality have changed, Rees said there is still room for progression toward Title IX compliance.
“There are a lot of people who think inequality doesn’t exist, but you have to look at the details,” Rees said.
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