The e-mail popped into my clogged work box last spring, looking as innocent as the rest. It sat quietly between the offers for cheaper pizza, a student class question, an interview request, and the rest of the stuff floating on the continually flowing cyber-river.
This email was different, inviting me to be part of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s new Task Force on Women in Sports – a three-year project to assess, identify opportunity, and ultimately improve the lives of female athletes in my home state. It is the first state-level Task Force in the country empaneled for women in sports.
I’m not a politician. Or coach. Or an athletic administrator. I sit squarely in the world of sports, as a veteran sports journalist, former college tennis player and current weekend warrior, advocate for women in sports media, fan, and now, a journalism professor at Michigan State University.
I decided to say yes, and the ride has been fascinating in the first few months as a commissioner on our Task Force. There are 14 of us, plus our Chair Jocelyn Benson, who is Michigan’s Secretary of State. We have legendary coaches, athletic directors, advocates, professors, former Olympic medalists, and one sports journalist (me). Our diversity is fantastic, as we can look at the athletic spectrum from so many life experiences: youth participants, serious athletes on the college/pro/Olympic levels, and now working as a coach or administrator or other opportunities.
The questions are big: Where are we in Michigan in terms of opportunity – and lack thereof? What can the State do, through new legislation, tax incentives, or other levers of government and business, to improve sports opportunities for females at all levels?
I have only existed in a post-Title IX world, so I never knew I could be prevented from playing sports because of my gender. I grew up having fun with soccer, softball, volleyball and basketball teams, tennis matches, and ice skating exhibitions as normal activities.
Eventually, I knew wanted to be in sports journalism, and discovered the world was not as accepting or enthusiastic about women in sports. Girls, according to the latest data, drop out of playing organized sports around 14 due factors such as a lack of access and social stigma. Few women are in the front offices of major sports teams and organizations. It is big news when NBA teams hire women as assistant coaches. The number of women in sports media remains a distinct minority, to the point where the University of Central Florida’s annual sports media survey is always stuck at an F grade for diversity. The U.S. women’s national team is fighting U.S. Soccer for equal pay. Nike was just cajoled into giving its female athletes contracts that protect pay during pregnancy and post-partum.
And on and on. It’s easy to get frustrated. But most of us in that conversation are post-Title IX girls and women, and we want to push things farther and better. Not just for us, but for those coming after us.
I am ready to go, energized by the opportunity to make a real difference. Groups like the Association for Women in Communications and the Association for Women in Sports Media have always offered me support as a woman in sports media. I was blessed to have wonderful coaches, made many friends and had the support of my family on my journey as a athlete.
Now I can pay it forward and help girls and women find their place too. The revolutionary wave unleashed by Title IX, back in 1972, is still being felt. Many today to do not realize the Federal legislation centered on educational equal funding and access. Its meaning has warped, over the years, as being viewed as a weapon to hurt football or a controversial set of rules to investigate sexual assaults on college campus.
Our Task Force is going to look at Title IX through the lens of access and funding for women in sports, and what those opportunities can lead to in the work world. That’s going to keep us plenty busy for the next three years. And in the end, I will hopefully consider myself humbled and blessed to help push opportunity forward for women and girls in Michigan to help kick off Title IX’s next 50 years.
That’s a revolution I want to be part of.
About the Author
Joanne C. Gerstner is a member of AWC’s Detroit Chapter. She was their 2017 Headliner of the Year and won the 2017 Clarion Award for best non-fiction book. She is an award-winning sports journalist, expert on sports concussions, global sports and women in sports. Gerstner is the Sports Journalist in Residence at Michigan State University and a Fulbright Specialist.
The 2019 Clarion Awards will be presented at the Association for Women in Communications 2019 Professional Development Conference September 29-October 1. Join us!
