Pat Summitt
To some, Pat Summitt is just a great basketball coach. To many others, she is an inspiration and serves as an incredible role model for perseverance, hard work, and dedication to women's athletics. The all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history (men or women and in any division) Pat Summitt is among one of the vocal leaders of the development of Title IX in college athletics. Summit started coaching the Lady Vols at the University of Tennessee a mere two years after the passage of Title IX, and has thus experienced major improvements in the athletic opportunities for women. In an interview with Time Magazine as she was approaching her incredible milestone of 1000 career victories in the 2009 season, Summitt was asked:
You started coaching at Tennessee in 1974, two years after the passage of Title IX, the landmark legislation that created more athletic opportunities for women. What was it like for a women's basketball team then?
"I had to drive the van when I first started coaching. One time, for a road game, we actually slept in the other team's gym the night before. We had mats, we had our little sleeping bags. When I was a player at the University of Tennessee-Martin, we played at Tennessee Tech for three straight games, and we didn't wash our uniforms. We only had one set. We played because we loved the game. We didn't think anything about it...We've had great fan support here — people are passionate about Lady Vols basketball. You see more and more universities now drawing big crowds. It's great at night, when we're not playing, to be able to come home and turn the TV on and watch Big 12, Big East, ACC and SEC women's games. It's amazing how far we've come."
Where have women's sports not made enough progress?
"There are a number of institutions that have struggled to make a commitment to marketing their women's programs. You have to spend money to make money. You have to get out in the community you've got to get involved in charity events. That's not happening as much as it should. Coaches have to understand that that's very, very important."
To see more of Summitt's interview, click on the following link:
Billie Jean King
Please watch our short video about the incredible Billie Jean King!(Regarding her victory in the Battle of the Sexes)
"She has prominently affected the way 50 percent of society thinks and feels about itself in the vast area of physical exercise," Frank Deford wrote in Sports Illustrated. "Moreover, like (Arnold) Palmer, she has made a whole sports boom because of the singular force of her presence."
Tennis great Martina Navratilova said of Billie Jean King, "She was a crusader fighting a battle for all of us. She was carrying the flag; it was all right to be a jock."
New York Times journalist Neil Amdur wrote "Most important perhaps for women everywhere, she convinced skeptics that a female athlete can survive pressure-filled situations and that men are as susceptible to nerves as women."
"With every success come certain pressures that go with it."
-Billie Jean King
Donna Lopiano
Another major pioneer for gender equality and Title IX is Dr. Donna Lopiano. While she does not have quite the same famous stature as Pat Summitt and Billie Jean King, she plays a very vital role in the fight for gender equality. Dr. Lopiano is the President and founder of Sports Management Resources, a consulting firm that helps high school and collegiate level athletic directors fight developmental and growth challenges. Her outstanding achievements and invaluable impact to the development of Title IX has garnered a lot of respect. A level-headed and talented spokesperson, Dr. Lopiano has outlined the progression of Title IX over the past 30 years and illustrates its positive impact across many communities nation-wide. Please check out her short video in which she discusses women’s sports and social change:
Find some other major figures in the fight for gender equality in the link below:
Sports Illustrated's most influential people in Title IX
