Title IX’s impact still strong after 40 years
I feel sorry for Maggie Livreri. Oh, not for the lack of opportunity in sports. There was plenty of that by the time she first picked up a glove.
It's the two brothers who must have driven her crazy. Mike and Curtis.
Fans of the Pirates and Steelers and Celtics.
Loons about all three teams.
"I had to make a choice pretty early," said Maggie, who played softball at UNLV in 2005 and 2006 and later was an assistant coach for the Rebels. "Play ball or get left behind. It wasn't a very hard decision. It came easy to me."
It didn't for those who paved the way.
Forty years. That's the anniversary celebrated Saturday of a law that forced publicly funded schools to provide similar opportunities to all students, regardless of sex. It's a law that didn't merely open doors for women to participate in sports, it knocked those doors down. It's a law that helped shape the lives of women such as Livreri, now an assistant coach at Utah. It's a law that had a direct influence on the many fields filled with female athletes today across the country. It's a law that has allowed them all to dream.
Title IX.
It deserves its own paragraph.
It deserves to stand alone.
"I can't imagine a time when there wasn't such opportunity, because I was very blessed and very lucky to have it growing up," Livreri said. "It's weird to even think about not having a chance to play. My mom was a cheerleader and ran track when Title IX was just coming out. Times have definitely changed since then."
The quest for equality continues. Huge strides have been made, but bigger ones still are needed. Title IX is one of history's groundbreaking pieces of legislation that hasn't always been enforced at the levels intended. Politicians have attempted more than once to lessen the law's influence, or simply do away with it. Gender equity requirements have in many eyes inflated the importance of women's sports at some colleges while wrongly eliminating some on the men's side. Lawsuits have been filed. Speeches have been made.
Put it this way: There is no "i" in team and no "IX" in the minds of those who run the Bowl Championship Series.
Some states support the law to the letter; some don't. Less than half the prep athletes nationally are female.
The law consists of a mere 37 words, and nowhere in it will you find mentions of "female" or "sports."
And still, its impact can't and shouldn't be denied. It changed everything.
In 1971, 290,000 girls competed in high school sports.
Today, 3.2 million do.
"I feel for those who never had the opportunities that I did because it wasn't as evolved," said Marissa Nichols, a former UNLV and U.S. Elite National Team softball player who is pursuing her Ph.D. in higher education at the university. "As women, we had great leaders who laid the groundwork to make it possible for us to pursue our dreams. I'm not sure our generation understands all it took to ensure women had equality when it came to competing in athletics.
"That foundation helped shape my beliefs and values. It helped me learn about all the great characteristics you gain by playing competitive sports, and for that I feel fortunate and blessed."
My daughter, Bridget, turns 11 next month and loves sports, loves to play softball, loves Peyton Manning and loves the greedy, self-serving, win-at-all-costs Yankees.
(Yes, we disagree on her choice of favorite major league team. I have given up trying to correct her obvious error in judgment.)
On Saturday, I sat and told her about the importance of Title IX, how it is about far more than athletics. That it also addresses inequalities in education and helps to prevent sexual assaults. That it was written in hopes every child was able to walk the same path toward a successful future.
I told her that if anything, it has played a major role in the world being at her feet, able to run for whatever goal she elects to chase. That it wasn't always this way. That she should embrace those opportunities so many weren't given.
And that if one day she can become another Maggie Livreri or Marissa Nichols - for the women they are, more than anything else - she will have created yet another success story for a 37-word law enacted 40 years ago Saturday.
I told her never to stand on the sidelines of life when fighting for something she believes.
That is what Title IX is about.
Of course, I also told her never to root for the Pirates, Steelers or Celtics. There are enough loons out there for that.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on "Gridlock," ESPN 1100 and 98.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.
