Women’s athletics in American schools was forever changed half a century ago. Fifty years ago, the United States Secretary of Education, Elliot Richardson, passed the Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, more commonly known as Title IX. Oregon Representative Edith Green laid out the foundation of the Title IX bill to the Special Subcommittee on Education, and on June 23, 1972, with 88 senators in favor, it became law. Title IX prohibits discrimination based on sex in any education program or activity that receives federal funding: “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.” As a female athlete who has played sports her entire life, I cannot imagine what high school would have been like if Title IX was not passed. However, throughout my time at Fieldston, I have unfortunately felt a vast distinction between the culture surrounding and within the female athletics program versus the male athletics program. Throughout this series on Fieldston’s athletic culture, I will delve into why that is with various Fieldston community members. My ultimate goal for this series is to tackle why this disparity is apparent and how we, as an institution and community, can change this narrative.
On Thursday, February 23rd, I met with Field Hockey and Table Tennis Coach Diane Toth and discussed questions such as: How has female athletics changed since Title IX? What can female athletes do to enhance their team’s environment? How can the Fieldston community do a better job of supporting female teams?
While Coach Toth is frequently caught talking about field hockey, her life in athletics goes far beyond coaching Fieldston’s varsity field hockey team. Toth grew up shooting a basketball around with her dad. In high school, she was a four-season athlete (crazy, I know!) and a member of her school’s field hockey, volleyball, basketball, and softball teams. After high school, she pursued field hockey and softball at the University of Connecticut. Although she was naturally gifted at field hockey, Toth always thought basketball would be her main sport in college. However, as a young athlete, basketball didn’t come easily to her. She had to continuously push herself to a skill level close enough to the level of her teammates. In high school, she realized she was a good player but failed to meet college-level expectations. Her continuous commitment to basketball deepened her knowledge of the game and transpired this understanding into other sports. Despite not being a star basketball player, her life as an athlete and coach has been greatly shaped due to her time on the basketball team.
Toth also emphasized that her coaching philosophy is the product of all her coaches’ best methods “plus a little twist of [her] own.” Apart from her father, she was only coached by women, which since the passing of Title IX, was unusual. Before Title IX, coaches for male and female teams had different salaries and female teams had lower budgets. Female teams were largely coached by women who were willing to get paid less for a team that did not have the proper equipment nor played as many games. Currently, there are more NCAA female athletes than ever (over 200,000). Before Title IX, only one in 27 girls played sports; today’s statistic is two in five. However, an unfortunate byproduct of Title IX is that in 2019 only 40% of women’s college teams were coached by women compared to 90% in 1972. Research has shown that having coaches of the same gender has a more positive influence on athletes’ self-perception. Female coaches challenge the societal norm and exemplify an overcoming of barriers for younger women.
Unfortunately, these barriers do not just apply to coaching. Toth has coached and played with some extraordinary athletes who were more talented than their male counterparts, but due to societal norms, they had to work twice as hard to prove it. Toth said this is because “there still is a perception that girls and women are not as good in their respective sports as males.” She added that “a woman who is strong-willed and makes good decisions and is confrontational,” is given a bossy connotation by society. Due to labels given to female athletes by society, Toth believes female athletes put more pressure on themselves than males to play at a high level and are more humble because the pressures of society result in them having a reduced awareness of their talents. Toth also questioned the difference in the range of competitiveness on a female team versus a male team and why this may be the case. As there is no straightforward answer to the matter, this idea will be further explored in future articles.
When I asked Toth if she had anything she wished more female athletes would know, she shared two pieces of advice. The first was that she wanted more athletes to “love [their] sport and appreciate everything they can learn from [it].” Even for people who get little playing time, it is imperative that athletes are students of the game. Whether they are on varsity, JV, or middle school teams, a true athlete doesn’t just push themselves and their teammates to be the best they can be, they also ask questions. An athlete should “understand what they want out of sports, assess their own level of skill, and assess what they’re going to put into it to get better.” The second was to appreciate and learn how to fail. Toth explained how every season her players have a goal to get into the playoffs, but Toth encourages every athlete to believe they can win a NYSAIS championship. Setting this goal will provide positive self-awareness to athletes to always play their best, in both practice and games. However, if games are lost, athletes must learn from their mistakes. Toth stressed the importance of not being afraid to lose because if someone truly loves their sport, she believes they would be able to face the loss(es), learn from their mistakes and push themself to be better, thus making themself a role model for their teammates.
The same applies to making a JV instead of a varsity team; no coach wants their players to quit, so if someone fails to make varsity, athletes should use the opportunity to enhance their commitment and dedication to their sport to improve. Toth’s main concern is that “many athletes here at Fieldston,” no matter the gender, “do not push themselves enough” because of their fear of failure. While losing games is not enjoyable, “in order to be successful, a program needs to go through all these hurdles in the beginning.”
There is a “never-ending question” about why girls and women across the country tend to garner less support when it comes to sports events ranging from middle school to professional. While Title IX has increased opportunities and funding for female athletes, the question continues to ring true today. There is no one answer to this question, however, to support Fieldston’s female athletic program, Toth encourages faculty and students to “strike up a conversation” with female athletes. Toth emphasized how more peer-to-peer and teacher-to-student conversations will increase the community’s awareness about how the female athletic program is doing and what each team needs from the community in order to succeed. Some example questions that Toth encouraged include: how is your team doing? How is practice going? Can you tell me a bit about the specifics of your sport? How has the fan turnout rate been?
Toth hopes that the more people inquire about Fieldston’s female teams, the more people will understand the hard work that goes into each sport and will be inspired to come to more games to support Fieldston’s female teams. While Toth realizes families do not send their children to Fieldston for its athletics program, the program “provides valuable life-long lessons to its athletes.” Toth also encourages community members to reflect on why they watch sports games at any level. Is it to watch their team win? Deepen their understanding of the game? Support their team? Simply because they love the game? Once students realize why they turn on an NBA game after school, for example, Toth has hope that more people will stay to cheer on the Fieldston Eagles.
