by the Education Team
National Women’s Law Center
Today is National Girls and Women in Sports Day — a time to celebrate female athletes and to demonstrate our support for Title IX, the federal law that requires schools to provide equal opportunities for girls in the classroom and on the playing field. Staff members here at the National Women’s Law Center considered the influence Title IX has had on our own lives.
I was supposed to be a boy. At least that’s what the ultrasound technician told my parents. Although there were a few adjustments (I was not named “Thomas” after my father, or even “Thomasina” as he requested), my parents often laughed when people expressed their sympathy that my poor, former-football-playing father was stuck with three girls and no sons. Who would play sports? they’d ask. Well, thanks to Title IX ... all of us. I may not have played football, and I’m no Serena, but I still play tennis competitively and occasionally take on (and beat) my husband, who did play football. Not too shabby. — Fatima
I was 5’9” when I was eleven. What are you supposed to do? So I played center for my middle school’s basketball team. I wasn’t good, but I was still voted co-captain of the team. But that was only the beginning. I continued with soccer, softball, lacrosse, field hockey, and track. It built my confidence and leadership skills and helped me stay out of shenanigans. It also helped me stay focused on school and learn to prioritize. Without Title IX and the advances women’s sports have made, my options might’ve been very limited. And everyone knows I would’ve made a really bad cheerleader. — Melanie
I went to school before Title IX, but I have two daughters who played sports in high school and college, and I have seen what a tremendous difference it has made in their lives. We have to keep working to make sure that girls’ and women’s opportunities to play continue to increase, and that female athletes are not treated like second-class citizens. — Dina
The power of education to lift people up and transform their lives is something I have seen in my own family, and it continues to guide me personally and professionally. My parents came here from India looking for a better life, and their educational foundation allowed them to provide me with opportunities of which they might only have dreamed. That they valued education so strongly is no coincidence — in India, there is a goddess of education, Saraswati, and everything associated with education (books, teachers, etc.) is to be accorded the utmost respect. These personal and cultural influences have fueled my desire to fight for equal educational opportunities for all, and Title IX is a critical tool in that fight. — Neena
I was one of the kids in school who took every opportunity. I played two sports — basketball and volleyball — and was extremely active in clubs and organizations. I think it was my years playing sports, five in all, that had the most impact on who I am today. I was co-captain of my J.V. team and that same year I received the M.V.P. award. I chose to play sports, but the choice was easy and available at my school. Now, at 24, I remember fondly all our team chants and the rhetoric of my coaches and can honestly say that I got my first lessons in perseverance from playing sports. I didn’t learn about Title IX until I was in college taking a Sociology of Sports course, but I definitely reaped the benefits ... short- and long-term. There are so many advantages for students under Title IX, and it’s still important today that we increase the opportunities for females to play sports in school. — Princess
Title IX means that women and girls have a chance to participate in every aspect of education at every level. It means that girls growing up today see an endless array of opportunities for their lives. For me, living in a world with Title IX has meant that every door has been open to me, and that it never occurred to me that any would be closed because of my sex. — Taryn
In my senior year of high school I volunteered to be a lineman in my school’s “Powderpuff Game,” an annual football game in which the female students pulverize each other on the field while the guys cheer on the sidelines. In the final minutes of that tied game, our team’s exhaustion and broken fingers meant nothing compared to our shared dream — an unspoken desperation to cross the line, win the game. When the clock finally flashed its red zeroes, the officials, in their infinite wisdom, decided the game had gotten “too rough” for us girls and refused to continue into overtime. With this protective ruling, they killed our fleeting dream. To me, Title IX means fostering our dream earlier in life and encouraging us to carry it all the way into overtime. — Becca
I grew up in New York City, where, in my pre-Title IX time, debate and chess were what passed for sports. I did nothing truly athletic then and do nothing truly athletic to this day — a fact that my friends find supremely ironic, given the current course of my life’s work. But having two daughters of my own now — both of whom have played sports with joy, if not innate ability — I find very little of the irony to which my friends point. Simply put, sports have made my daughters more confident, more poised, and more tenacious than they were before. So even though I’m coming a little late to the party, I’m here in full celebration. Happy National Girls and Women in Sports Day. — Jocelyn
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