WARMUP
14 / SPORTS ILLUSTRATED KIDS COURTESY OF IMMACULATA UNIVERSITY (TOP); DAVID E.^ KLUTHO (BOTTOM)IN MARCH 19 7 2,the first women’s
college basketball national
tournament was held. It was
staged by the Association
for Intercollegiate Athletics
for Women and won by tiny
Immaculata, a school of 750 or so
students outside of Philadelphia.
To raise the nearly $3,000 they
needed to travel to Illinois for
the tournament, players sold
buttons that read we’re going
to be number one. we try
harder.
A month earlier, Senator
Birch Bayh had introduced
legislation that would go a long
way toward creating a system in
which players wouldn’t have to
sell knickknacks for the chance to
compete for a championship. The
act became known as Title IX. It
compelled schools to offer women
the same opportunities as men.
Title IX was signed into
law that summer, but it had to
withstand several challenges from
administrators who were worried
it would harm football and men’s
basketball programs.The Legacy
Of Title IX
In the 50 years since,
Title IX has succeeded
in creating opportunities
for women in sports. As
recently as 1981, fewer
than 30,000 women
participated in college athletics.
By 2021 that number was 219,000.
And high schools have seen girls’
participation increase by more
than 1,000%.
Of course, there is still work to
be done. That was made evident
in 2021 when pictures of the
poor conditions at the women’s
Final Four went viral.
But as former Texas women’s
athletic director and Title IX
advocate Donna Lopiano points
out, there’s more to sports than
just playing. A majority of female
corporate executives, for example,
played sports, helping them
acquire the leadership skills to
break into the old-boys’ club. Says
Lopiano, “The cultural impact of
equal opportunity for women in
sport extends well beyond sport.”JUMP START
The 2022 women’s title
game drew 18, 304 fans
(left), a massive increase
over the crowd at
Immaculata’s ’72 win.No person in the
United States shall,
on the basis of sex,
be excluded from
participation in, be
denied the benefits
of, or be subjected
to discrimination
under any education
program or activity
receiving Federal
financial assistance.”Text of Title IX
“
Fifty years after
it was passed, the
legislation has opened
doors for women.
History