This is for all of us who were
the last ones to be picked for any team in grade school.
This is for those who felt the sting of embarrassment
or the hot feeling of shame in your cheeks when you struck
out for the umpteenth time in gym class.
It all began in 1972: Congress
passed the Educational Amendments. A section of this law
was Title IX. It prohibited discrimination against girls
and women in federally funded education, including athletic
programs (Feminist Majority Foundation). While in grade
school years ago, some over aggressive boy, who saw right
through me and knew I was no Amazon princess, always smacked
me in the face with the ball during dodge ball. Why should
I get excited about a law that would purchase more rubber
balls?
It took me a while to realize that
not every sport is full contact and I eventually got into
Track and Cross Country running in High School. An opportunity
afforded me through Title IX. In fact, since it’s
inception we have seen girls’ participation in sports
rise from 33% to 55%. The numbers don’t just mean
girls are playing, they mean girls’ lives are improving.
A 1981 study conducted at Harvard’s Graduate School
of Public Health, under Dr. Rose Frisch, showed that women
who participated in college sports, or who exercised regularly
in college, were significantly less likely to contract
breast cancer and other reproductive cancers (Feminist
Majority Foundation www.feminist.org). High school age
teens that participate in sports have higher grades than
non-athletes.
If you’d like to see a real
life example of those agile, coordinated, women who can
“put the smack down” you need only look as
far as Kansas City.
That is right... our town has her own semi-professional
women’s football team: The Kansas City Krunch.
Cheryl Fields who owns KC Krunch
started out in June of 2002 with only 19 women showing
up for her first try out. By December she had over 200
women interested in playing. “In June 2002, I had
a clip board, three ink pens, and a dream.”
Now don’t think this is new
for women. We have been putting on our game faces and
playing hard for generations. Need proof? WIN for KC (Women’s
Intersport Network of KC) is bringing the nationally recognized
exhibition GAME FACE: What does a Female Athlete Look
Like? to Union Station. From March 8th – May 11th
you can view an incredible collection of 182 photographs
and personal stories collected for over a decade by the
exhibits creators Jane Gottesman and Geoffrey Biddle.
The book of the same title, published by Random House,
can be purchased in bookstores.
Aside from this exciting exhibit
WIN for KC sponsors sports and fitness clinics. They also
have a Sport Mentor Program that pairs high school female
athletes as mentors with fifth and sixth grade girls.
None of these things, Title IX, KC Krunch, GAME FACE and
WIN for KC would be possible if women just like you and
me did not stand up and say that we want to play. They
also cannot continue if women like us do not support them.
To quote Cheryl Fields, “I
feel I have done pretty good, this whole football thing
was thought up in my living room years ago, and it was
just a ‘dream’. Now it is a reality. NEVER,
NEVER, NEVER, give up on your dreams! You can WIN!”
Sylvia Grass is a Native American freelance writer. She
lives in Independence, MO.
WAYS YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE:
Contact Congress and Senate
Contact your congress and senators and tell them to urge
Secretary Paige and the President to maintain Title IX.
Join N.O.W.
Join the National Organization for Women—They actively
lobby for Title IX improvements and fight to prevent anyone
from weakening it. You can join the Eastern Jackson County
chapter of N.O.W. (contact chapter president Sylvia Grass
(816) 257-7847) to get directly involved or you can send
donations to National N.O.W. (www.now.org).
Support W.I.N. for KC
WIN for KC is always looking for volunteers and they have
specific opportunities coming up.
www.sportkc.com/win_for_kc/
