The following is a story from one of the series, published on November 13, 1974 in Press and Sun-Bulletin, Binghamton, NY.
Editor’s Note — It’s no wonder that female athletes from universities across the country do not receive the same treatment as male athletes. However, they may soon do so, as a law called Title IX requires universities to provide equal exercise opportunities for men and women. This is a report about being a female athlete before Title IX.
A typical athletic director in a typical college athletic club does not hate women. Next to all the trophies on his desk is a portrait of his wife, and perhaps a family showing his daughter or two.
Outside his carpeted office is another smiling woman pouring coffee on him, opening his email, and typing his letter. He would say it’s all for women.
But in many cases, his athletic budget doesn’t reflect that.
“I don’t know what’s happening in the minds of these athletic directors,” says Danbakinowski, who coached the Boston University women’s crew team at two national championships last summer for free. “They feel that female athletes are leaving. If they think so, they’re just fooling themselves.”
“Women’s athletics is not fashionable. There are too many of them. They are very enthusiastic and it never stops. AD is wise.”
And if the university wants to continue to receive federal checks for assistance in different areas, some athletic clubs have to change their focus as the long arms of the law are on the way to helping women’s sports. Will not be.
With the full enforcement of Title IX, the 1972 Education Act, which prohibits discrimination in university programs, many campuses offer women’s athletics opportunities and receive a first-year scholarship from Penn State University. I urge the person, Anne Findlay Chamberlain, to: Say:
“Previously, I had to wear skirts and nylon for games, but even if the whole era has changed and I’ve never been a female athlete, I don’t have to be ashamed to be a female athlete. . “
The past is not so encouraging for women. It was a dark age of women’s sports at the time, and it still exists on some campuses today, with men having whole pies and women being lucky to get bread crumbs.
The Boston University Women’s Crew Team won two national championships this summer, last year without a cent from the school’s athletic club, which gave the men’s crew $ 35,000 and two full-time coaches. Did.
“I practiced at 6am so it didn’t get in the way of the men’s team, and because the volunteer coach (Bakinowski) worked from 9am to 5am,” recalls team member Betsy Hochberg.
“We had to rent a boat from another school to compete in the tournament,” says Hochberg. He raised money on bake sales, raffles and car washes. He also relied on a rowing marathon. He set up a pool in front of the student union and paddled 24 hours a week, taking turns for 2 hours. People came and threw changes into the pool.
“It was like a beggar. But somehow I had to raise money. BU wasn’t going to give it to us … the crew demanded enough under the best conditions. But I’m practicing with a flashlight at 6am. You, well, it’s almost intolerable. “
largely. Despite all these issues, the team was able to maintain the quality of the National Championships in Oakland, California, creating new issues of transport and accommodation for them and their boats.
They rented a boat from Radcliffe and, ironically, defeated Radcliffe in the final. They paid for the road to California themselves. It cost $ 1,000 per woman. And they rented a boat trailer owned by BU’s men’s crew team for 5 cents per mile. It costs about $ 300 for a round trip of 6,000 miles.
“If we were men, the athletic club wouldn’t have been able to do enough for us,” Hochberg says.
Many athletic clubs are aware of the existence of women and, of course, athletics, but they are not aware of them together.
At Ohio State University, women received $ 40,000 out of a $ 6 million exercise budget last year. This year, the female ante has been raised to $ 83,000.
“There are no more four girls in the room. Philis Bailey, 11 inter-university sports for women at Ohio State University, said: At the Big Ten Swimming Tournament in Minneapolis last year, 2 I drove for a day and came back for two days. The men’s team flew. I just didn’t have the money. “
At Texas A & M, women play 10 sports with a total budget of $ 200.
John E. Shay, Vice President of Student Affairs at the University of Rhode Island, states that most schools run women’s athletics “in a philosophy different from that of men’s programs.”
“Men’s sports have full-time coaches in most major sports or are free from the usual coaching obligations to coach,” says Shay. “Women have been teaching women’s sports as an overload, in addition to other obligations on campus.”
Title IX is designed to ultimately create one and the same sporting philosophy for both men and women, but it does not erase bad memories.
Gwen Gregory, a HEW official who is currently working on the Final Enforcement Regulations for Title IX, said:
“The Illinois Women’s Athletics team scheduled a meeting a year ago and invited universities across the region. One week before the tournament, a men’s track coach was sorry to call. But the boy said he wanted to do more practice on the day of the tournament. The tournament was cancelled. “
The Washington Post reporter Nancy Scannell is at Texas A & M, where women’s swimming team coach Dennis Fosdick and college men’s teams will compete in national championships.
A businessman whose daughter competes in a basketball, volleyball, and truck team in Maryland has filed a Title IX complaint against the school. Karl Cloidol says the school’s men’s basketball team flew to the University of Virginia – 3 hours by bus. However, “in the midst of the energy crisis last December, the university forced the women’s basketball team to drive eight hours to Rochester to compete in the eastern region.
“The girls didn’t know if they could find enough gas to come back,” Kroidoo said.
Bakinovsky says he woke up at 5:30 am and stopped coaching the BU crew. “The college didn’t do anything for us, so the athletic club has a lot of distorted values. When men get on for free and women have to go out and sell coffee, they’re cheating. I just haven’t seen it. “
AP Corporate Archives contributed to this report.
For more information on the impact of Title IX, read the full AP report: https: //apnews.com/hub/title-ix Video Timeline: https: //www.youtube.com/watch? v = NdgNI6BZpw0
