50 Years of Title IX Opportunity
June 23, 2022 - Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) News Release
Title IX was introduced on June 23, 1972 which makes today 50 years of progress for gender equality in education and sports.
"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."
Ask Premier Hockey Federation team presidents Colleen Coyne of the Boston Pride and Digit Murphy of the Metropolitan Riveters, both pioneers of the women's game, to talk about Title IX and they'll summarize those 37 words with just one. Opportunity.
"That is the basis of it," Coyne said. "Women deserve equal opportunity when it came to institutions that are receiving funding from the government. That's where it started, and it's everything. You talk to any of these women who play in this league or any of us who played years ago, and everything came down to the chance to have a chance. Not only to play, but to set goals for something bigger than where you are now. That's why, in my opinion, it's so important. Based on that law, women were given more opportunity than ever before."
Title IX is so often associated with sports given the public school system in the U.S. and the significance and amplification that sports provides. As Murphy notes, it's first and foremost an educational statute.
"It says that everyone has equal access to education," Murphy said. "So without Title IX, women wouldn't have quickly become doctors or lawyers, astronauts or scientists, because we wouldn't have had access to the same schooling. Up until 1972 women historically only went into teaching or nursing professions. We're pretty young, as a gender, when it comes to opportunity."
Both Murphy and Coyne grew up in New England, playing their favorite sports like hockey and baseball. While too young to recall Title IX's beginning, they have early memories of how the sports landscape was much different than it is today and how they were both early beneficiaries of its implementation.
"I will say that I definitely think the lack of Title IX affected me when I was younger and being discriminated against as an athlete on the little league field," Murphy said. "That was really a sticking point to me growing up, and I think one of the reasons why I'm such an advocate for opportunity because that really made me angry as a young girl. If not for Title IX I know I probably wouldn't be part of the first recruiting class at Cornell in 1979, so in seven short years I saw the result of it. I wouldn't have even been able to play hockey, or coach in college, or envision a professional women's league with the number of players that we have if not for the birth of Title IX."
Murphy was a four-year letter winner for the Big Red, earning Ivy League Player of the Year honors in 1981 and inducted into the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994. She would go on to have an illustrious 18-year coaching career at Brown University during a time when some of the school's female student-athletes famously brought suit against the University for violating the Title IX legislation by cutting funds from several programs.
"We lived the lawsuit and the athletes prevailed," she said. "That's when it hit me that Title IX not only impacted but actually worked and protected the rights of women. Without those women at Brown, or people in hockey banging the drums for equal ice time, these athletes don't even have a PHF. Perspective and history is very important to our story."
Coyne remembers watching players like Cindy Curley who starred for Providence College and finding inspiration to follow a similar path. She became a standout herself for the University of New Hampshire and a member of the U.S. National Women's Team, highlighted by Olympic gold in 1998 which was the first year women's hockey was included in the Winter Games.
"Because of Title IX I was able to see them (Curley and others) play and say 'yeah I want to do that'," Coyne said. "I think that it was definitely as I was preparing for college and thinking about what my life was going to be beyond high school is where I really started to understand what Title IX was all about and what it meant in terms of opportunity that was before me. Even then it wasn't properly implemented anywhere, but there were a few schools that were ahead of the curve in terms of offering scholarships for women in hockey and UNH was one of them. I definitely understood that without Title IX that opportunity wasn't there for me."
Even with all of the opportunities Title IX has offered, there's still work to be done. Coyne is certainly grateful but her push for equality continues.
"This is something I don't take lightly," she said. "Just because we continue to push for the equality that we deserve, doesn't mean we're not grateful for the progress that's been made. I'm super grateful for the people who worked hard at getting the law passed, those who have taken it and run with it, and those who continue to see that it is implemented in a way that it's possible because the future depends on it. The more diverse a company is the better off they are."
Murphy agrees that in order to truly move the needle as Title IX intended, it takes everyone. It's also these reminders of history, and the celebrations of milestones that can help fuel the necessary growth in society and most certainly in sports like the PHF.
"We're better together as humans, and we need all genders together in order to succeed," Murphy said. "I think that Title IX is part of the evolution of society. It's part of having women and everyone at the table everywhere, starting with education, and now with sports.
"I think that we forget how young we are as a sport, as women athletes, and in revenue models. When I look at the PHF it completely equates to what Title IX meant to happen. From our perspective the reason we should continue to tell these stories is because we are not finished yet. Title IX is tested every day. We look at ourselves as a league that the mission is to continue to grow the game and continue to grow opportunities and continue to lead. We need to continue to champion opportunities for women, women in sports, and to honor our history. We've only just begun."
Title IX reflections are important, but it's the purpose that helps drive leaders like Murphy, Coyne, and others across the PHF to build a better, more equitable tomorrow.
"We probably should celebrate (Title IX) every year just to keep it front of mind because of how far we've come," Coyne said. "As awesome as it is to see what is available now, it's still not equal, and the whole point of the law is to make it equal.
"What we're doing through this platform, specifically sports and hockey, but also what it means for society at large is having women who have confidence and leadership skills who can be advocates for years to come and make companies and societies better in general. We aren't just coaching or running our teams, there is a purpose behind it, and the purpose behind it is to continue to push for a more equitable world, and our way is through sport. I'm forever grateful for Title IX but I don't think that means we're done."
Premier Hockey Federation Stories from June 23, 2022
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
