Title IX: 50 years of girl power giggles and glory days
Title IX #TitleIX
I remember watching a baseball game on TV with my then 2 1/2-year-old daughter, Bronwen. Andres “Big Cat” Galarraga, first baseman for the Braves at the time, was at the plate facing the pitcher in his distinctive wide open batting stance, waving the bat in circles high in the air above his head, ready to attack. The right-handed hitter stepped into a fastball and shot a line drive back up the middle, almost taking off the pitcher’s head.
“That looks like fun, Daddy,” Bronwen said. “Can we play that?”
My heart almost jumped out of my chest. I rushed out, bought a Wiffle ball set and within the hour we were in the backyard on a sunny just-right-for-baseball day. With no instruction from me, she took the bat and went into a perfect “Big Cat” open stance, waving the bat in circles above her head, ready to pounce. I zipped the first pitch down the middle and she nailed me with a line drive right between the eyes, breaking my sunglasses. Bronwen laughed her little “Big Cat” butt off. Game on.
Related: Ted Kennedy was a champion of Title IX
Related: Daughters of Title IX: 10 second-half success stories with Alabama roots – al.com
Related: Trailblazer of women’s sports celebrates ‘last hooray’ – al.com
One of the biggest cultural changes in my lifetime has been the rise and popularity of women athletics. When I was a kid, there were few opportunities for girls to play organized sports. Title IX dramatically changed that.
Bronwen and softball friends: Girls just wanna have fun
Sen. Ted Kennedy was a champion of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which was signed into law by President Richard Nixon. It was also shepherded through Congress in part by Rep. Patsy Mink, a Democrat from Hawaii who was the first woman of color elected to the U.S. House.
This legislation is the reason girls sports get equal attention in public schools and scholarships to college. Today, girls are playing just as many sports as the guys are … soccer, basketball, softball, golf, track … you name it, and the girls are competing.
As the father of a daughter, I am especially proud my girl had the opportunity to play as many sports as she wanted. Some of the best times of my life have been spent on red dirt diamonds helping coach a gaggle of girls the fundamentals of hitting, throwing, running the bases and just enjoying the game of softball. Good times.
Girls just wanna have fun. And they also want to compete. One thing I learned from my days as a dorky dad coach on my daughter’s teams, was girls do wanna have fun. If they’re having fun, they’ll run through a brick wall for the team and come out giggling on the other side. But if they’re not having fun while learning to play the game as a kid, they’ll shut it down.
Related: Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, and the World Cup Warriors Who Inspired A Generation of Girls
Title IX gave Brandi Chastain (featured in the cartoon) the chance to have the legendary soccer career that she had. But she says the work for equality is never done. “We’ve come a long way, but we’re only scratching the surface because this 50 years feels only like the beginning right now.”
Title IX is alive, giggling and going for the glory. Rock on, ladies.
Title IX 50th Anniversary
Title IX 50th Anniversary
Related: Alabama’s Montana Fouts is a perfect game spin doctor – al.com
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JD Crowe is the cartoonist for Alabama Media Group and AL.com. He won the RFK Human Rights Award for Editorial Cartoons in 2020. In 2018, he was awarded the Rex Babin Memorial Award for local and state cartoons by the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. Follow JD on Facebook, Twitter @Crowejam and Instagram @JDCrowepix.
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