Happy 25th Muffet!

For our fifth segment in our Title IX series, we pause to celebrate a titan in the world of women's sports.

In 1987, the world was a different place. A wall ran through the city of Berlin, Aretha Franklin was a chart-topper, disposable cameras were a new sensation, and Mark McGwire of the Oakland A’s was a rookie sensation.

So the hair might be shorter, the technology more advanced, and the politics different, but a few things are still the same. U2 is still rocking out, Magic Johnson is still making sports headlines, and Notre Dame Women’s Basketball is still in the same good hands.

Muffet McGraw was hired as Notre Dame’s Coach at a time when it was VERY good to be an Irish fan. Tim Brown ran away with the Heisman trophy, Lou Holtz was proving his mastery of coaching, and Notre Dame won its first national championship in a women’s sport (fencing).

No pressure.

To be Irish was to win. And win big. Luckily for Muffet, any fears of failure may have been assuaged by the fact that women’s college sports lied very much at the periphery of the American consciousness when she first took the job. A study in the late 1980s found that only 3% of media coverage of sports followed women. But she didn’t let obscurity get in the way of doing things the Irish way. In twenty five years, Coach McGraw’s teams have assembled a .733 winning percentage, seven conference championships, 10 sweet-16 appearances, and three trips to the National Championship game, including a National Title in 2001. Her foresight, skill, and leadership not only shot her to the top of A-list basketball coaches, but also sent Women’s Basketball rocketing into the hearts, minds, and living rooms of people everywhere.  A sport that was seldom covered in the 80s now has multi-year contracts with media outlets and regularly hosts games in front of sell-out crowds. A debt of gratitude is owed to Coach McGraw for the stewardship of both the sport she loves and the school for which she has worked for the past quarter century.

As we commemorate the 40th anniversary of the passage of Title IX later this week, let us celebrate a woman who has not only witnessed, but influenced dramatic change of the sport for so many people!

Beyond the Bottom Line

This is the fourth installment in our ongoing series commemorating the 40^th anniversary of the passage of Title IX into federal law, which will be celebrated on June 23, 2012.

Men’s sports leagues are highly lucrative affairs. Sports entertainment is a multi-billion dollar industry, and athletes, coaches, administrators, and owners all reap the financial benefits of a world that loves to watch professionals compete.

Women’s sports leagues fall at the other end of the spectrum. Players, coaches, and administrators are paid a decent wage, but rarely in excess of 5 figures. And many outfits, including the WNBA lose millions of dollars a year.

So why do women’s leagues exist? Just like all other business ventures, they are profit-seeking entities with investors to whom executives must report. Shouldn’t leagues like the WNBA close up shop? Personally, I cannot tell you the individual decisions made by a team or a league to continue operating at a loss, but I can hazard a guess: they see something beyond the bottom line.

In 1972, when Title IX was passed into law, there were two professional sports that had women with any kind of presence: golf and tennis. The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) was founded in the 1950s and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) was not even established fully until 1973. Neither league saw tremendous success at its beginning, and the salaries of all people involved with men’s sports dominated their counterparts in women’s. Public attention was minimal, but the competition was fierce, both on and off the field. WTA founder and tennis legend Billie Jean King fought tirelessly to attract sponsors, media coverage, and increased youth participation in tennis. She also challenged and defeated former Wimbledon Champion Bobby Riggs in the famous “Battle of the Sexes” in 1973. Her tenacity galvanized women everywhere, and began a revolution that would change the outlook of women’s sports forever. Not only did her efforts on the court debunk any kind of myth that somehow women are inferior to men athletically, but in her groundbreaking efforts, she laid an example for millions of young women to pursue what they are passionate about, regardless of preconceived notions of what is possible. And not that it should be the ultimate litmus test of something’s worth, but now the WTA, as well as the LPGA are now extremely profitable.

When stakeholders in women’s sports leagues pursue their advancement, there is more history to be made than money. They are pioneering a cultural sports landscape that is still laden with in equalities between men and women. Although Title IX has been passed, colleges spend nearly double in recruiting male athletes as they do females. Although the ratio of high school males playing sports to females before Title IX was 12:1, there are still more than 1 million more boys playing than girls. Significant progress has been made, but there are still mountains to climb.

We need women’s sports leagues. They provide role models for young women and career paths for accomplished athletes. They can be profitable. They just need more people like Billie Jean King, who can see the inequalities, and demand more of their culture. They need savvy business people to find ways of making their operations sustainable. And they need you: the parent who encourages your daughter to try a new sport, the teacher that chooses not the perpetuate gender stereotypes, and the friend who never lets a friend settle for anything less than her best. The bottom line is that they need people who can see things far more important than, the bottom line.

Greg Crawford:Driven by Madness

I rode my bike this morning to work. I ride every day—a whopping 3 miles round-trip!

Dr. Greg Crawford, Dean of the College of Science at the University of Notre Dame, rode his bike this morning, too. He’s also been riding every day.

The difference between the two of us is that over the past couple weeks he’s been dealing with incredible winds in his face, high speed traffic rushing by, and he has had to traverse one of the nation’s major mountain chains.  And I suppose he’s not riding to an office. He’s riding to a cure.

Dr. Crawford is spending his summer vacation combining three of Notre Dame’s strongest attributes—research, service, and sports—to make a real difference in the world. He is riding across the United States on a bicycle to raise money and promote awareness for research to prevent and cure Niemann-Pick disease Type C (NP-C), a fatal disease found in children. He left Boston May 21, and will arrive in Pebble Beach, CA on June 22, to meet up with former ND Football Coach Ara Parseghian, who has lost three grandchildren to the disease, and who founded a foundation to support NP-C research.

If you read about NP-C you’ll find sadness. The disease is described as “always fatal,” it affects children almost exclusively, and there is no cure. Reading outlooks like these is overwhelming and makes me ask “Why is there so much suffering in the world?” The outlooks make Dr. Crawford ask something different: “How can I prevent this?”

Dr. Crawford has been blessed with an incredible mind, a giving heart, and a body equipped to handle the wear of long-distance biking. Many people with those gifts are content to be a solid researcher, spouse, and adventurer. Crawford is combining these three gifts to save lives. Many dream of a world without NP-C; Crawford is taking steps to make that dream a reality.

Dr. Crawford’s “Road to Discovery” is yet another demonstration of how a Champion in athletics can be a leader for real change in our world.  Anyone who has gone through any kind of grueling sports experience can identify with the sacrifice that Dr. Crawford is making. Although we may not be able to fathom the feeling of riding 160 miles in a single day, the immensity of his goal stirs up questions in us as to what kind of madness would drive him to take on this challenge. 

And my guess is that it is madness that is driving him. We live in a world that has seen people walk on the moon, dive to the depths of the ocean, and travel at the speed of sound. Yet parents still have to go to the doctor and learn that child has a disease, and they can do nothing to heal them.  Is that not madness? I’ll bet Dr. Crawford thinks so.

To follow Dr. Crawford's journey, or to learn about how to donate to his fundraising effort, check out his blog at roadtodiscovery.nd.edu.

Coaching Young Women...What's the difference?

This is the third installment in our continuing blog series on issues surrounding women in sports, leading up to the 40th anniversary of Title IX on June 23.

One of the “vexing” subjects that coaches and parents of young people face is the “challenge” of coaching girls in youth sports.

Despite the complex pieces on coaching women out there, Play Like a Champion Today®, advises coaches to not over-think this “issue.”

An important part of coaching is to always remind yourself why you are coaching. Chances are that you are there to spend time with your children, teach valuable character lessons, and to create meaningful memories for yourself and for young people. Are any of those goals gender specific? Would you approach any of them differently for a boy or a girl? Doubtful. So don’t approach coaching differently. There are probably going to be differences in experiences of coaching boys and girls, especially as they get older, but none of the differences between them effect the way that kids receive instructions , develop moral decision-making, and enhance their physical abilities.

When coaching a single sex team, it’s important to avoid traditional gender stereotypes and to get to know the individuals on your team. Getting to know them as Amanda, Shanti, Claire, and Yvonne rather than just “girls” will allow you to see that each person on your team has strengths, weaknesses, assets, and liabilities as young athletes. Once you ignore what you expect Linda be doing as a girl, you will see that she is good fielding shortstop, a confident leader that struggles with her hitting abilities, and worries about her grades in school. Then you will find the ways that you can influence her best as a coach, and she can best impact the team as a player.

Gender-specific coaching can lead to coaching that ignores the development of the whole athlete in favor of perpetuating stereotypes, which can be dangerous for both boys and girls. As psychologist Dr. Nicole Lavoi writes in a recent blog, “if a coach believes or uncritically accepts that boys are inherently more aggressive and competitive, the coach may have different expectations and ways of structuring practices, interacting, communicating, motivating and leading girls. Similarly, if coaches believe boys don’t value connections and friendships, this too erases boys’ need for feeling a sense of belongingness.”

Title IX was a landmark in removing barriers against women in sport with the support of the law, but so many of the barriers that girls and women encounter are beyond the effect of the law. They are in deep-seeded stereotypes of a woman’s ability, social tendencies, and emotional make-up. As coaches and parents of young athletes, we have the ability to make a real difference in the way our daughters, granddaughters, nieces, and friends choose to (not) play into those stereotypes. As mentors of young women, let us champion their abilities, coach them in their individual weaknesses, and avoid the traps of traditional thinking.

Let’s simplify our approach. Learn her name. Coach to her strengths and weaknesses. Realize that she is an awesome individual. The rest will take care of itself.