[net-gold] Sport and Society 3-23-12 Summitt
- From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxx>
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- Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2012 06:26:12 -0400 (EDT)
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Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:29:15 -0400
From: richard crepeau <crepeau1@xxxxxxx>
To: Richard Crepeau <crepeau1@xxxxxxx>
Subject: Sport and Society 3-23-12 Summitt
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SPORT AND SOCIETY FOR ARETE
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April 23, 2012
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From across the nation, from the world of basketball and the world of
sport, the reaction to Pat Summitt relinquishing her position as head
basketball coach at the University of Tennessee has been overwhelming in
praise, admiration, and volume. Those who played for Summitt talked of the
tremendous impact that she had on their lives, praising her as a coach and
human being, often referring to her as a mother-figure. Those who knew her
in other capacities talked about her strength in the face of adversity.
This quality distinguished Pat Summitt throughout her career and not just
in the past year as Alzheimer’s has increasingly impacted her life.
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At the end of thirty-eight seasons at the University of Tennessee, Pat
Summitt leaves behind record books written entirely in her name. Wins,
conference championships, national championships, number of players
coached, players who have gone on to coach others; the ripple affect of
such a career is endless. She will be remembered not just in Tennessee,
but wherever basketball is played, an irony of the cruelest sort.
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It is true that women’s intercollegiate basketball did not begin with Pat
Summitt. There were many who had gone before her, fighting for recognition
on campuses where men’s sport totally overshadowed women’s sport. There
were many before her who had fought for practice space and time, for the
use of facilities, for budgets, and for access to the massive support
systems that are taken for granted in intercollegiate athletics. The fact
that so much has changed in these areas is in no small part a result of
how much Pat Summitt’s success has helped transform the world of women’s
intercollegiate basketball.
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The women’s game now draws large crowds on many campuses. Television
coverage has increased dramatically and the Women’s Final Four has become
a significant event on the sports calendar. These things happened for many
reasons, one of which was the effort and impact of Pat Summitt. A few
years ago she told ESPNW’s Graham Hays that although she did not know how
much credit she should be given, she did take pride in the recognition of
and appreciation for women’s sport, as well as its growth across the
nation.
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There were of course many reasons for these changes, some relating to
sport and some relating to larger social changes in America. Whatever
disconnects there may be between feminism and women’s sport, the impact of
the women’s movement over the last half-century has played a significant
role in changing the social atmosphere for the development of women’s
sport. Changing gender definitions is one such atmospheric change that has
altered perceptions of what is “male” and “female.”
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April 23, 2012
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Perhaps more than any other force for change in sport has been the impact
of Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972. In the wonderful
world of “unintended consequences” this small piece of stealth legislation
has done much to transform the world of women’s sport, not just at the
intercollegiate level but all across the board. It was Pat Summitt’s good
fortune that her career trajectory coincided with the coming of Title IX,
and she used that coincidence to her advantage and the advantage of her
sport. As with most great leaders Summitt arrived at the crossroads of
history with perfect timing, and then grasped the leadership role
available to her to great effect.
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For all that has happened of a positive nature in women’s intercollegiate
athletics and women’s basketball, one development has been decidedly
negative. The position of women’s basketball coach that Pat Summitt helped
to develop has become a source of employment for men rather than women.
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The numbers are startling. When Title IX was passed in 1972 ninety per
cent of coaching jobs in women’s sport were held by women. By 1978 women
held 58.2% of coaching positions in women’s sports, and last year it was
down to 42.9%. In basketball in 2008 the figure for women coaching women
was 59.1% down from 79.4% in 1978. The trends are clear. Since 2000, NCAA
programs have added 1,774 women's head coaching jobs and men have been
hired in 1,220 of them. About three per cent of the men’s coaching jobs
are held by women, and that figure has remained steady since before Title
IX.
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So why has this happened? Clearly there is no shortage of potential female
coaches. The numbers of women who have played the game has risen sharply
and one assumes that has increased the potential coaching pool.
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There seem to be at least two reasons that men have become coaches in
women’s basketball programs. First, the money has changed. Coaching
women’s basketball is now a well-compensated job. In the 1970s few men
were willing to work for the low salaries that coaches like Pat Summitt
were being paid. As that changed men were attracted to the higher paying
positions. The increase in women’s athletic budgets also played a role in
this change.
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Second, it would seem that those who hire coaches, more often than not
male athletic directors, prefer male coaches, although women athletic
directors and women coaches feel pressure to add men to their programs.
This pressure is not felt in the other direction.
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So despite the changes produced over the last several decades in women’s
intercollegiate athletics by Pat Summitt and those of her generation of
coaches, the area in which she made her mark has seen a marked decline in
the percentage of women holding jobs.
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For those who have offered their tributes to Pat Summitt, especially those
in a position to reverse these trends in women’s intercollegiate
athletics, no tribute could be more appropriate than to do all that is
possible to reverse the current trends.
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On Sport and Society this is Dick Crepeau reminding you that you don’t
have to be a good sport to be a bad loser.
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Copyright 2012 by Richard C. Crepeau
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