Aneka Happer
HIST 585
April 27, 2023
Cheryl Miller and the Championship Game that Changed Women’s Basketball
At halftime, the University of Southern California’s “Women of Troy” were down 26-37 against Louisiana Tech, the defending champions. It was the 1983 women’s NCAA championship game, only the second year the organization had held a tournament for female basketball players. “The Lady Techsters,” of Louisiana, were led by coach Sonja Hogg, “this very southern, big blonde hair, dynamo on the sideline,” who had led the team to victory the year before. But, the Women of Troy had freshman star Cheryl Miller. During halftime, The Women of Troy were down 26-37. USC’s coach Linda Sharp told the team to “press,” and Miller did exactly that,
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According to a 1982 Sports Illustrated article, “as a high school senior she was the most highly recruited woman athlete ever,” a type of recognition that was rare for female high school basketball players at the time. Interestingly, the article emphasizes that her more remarkable accomplishment was scoring two of the 105 points by a one-handed breakaway dunk. They cited her as “the only woman ever to jam in organized competition,” a feat that is frequently forgotten and instead credited to Georgeann Wells (the first woman to dunk in the NCAA) or Lisa Leslie (the first woman to dunk in the WNBA). Miller had been playing basketball since she was five years old, often with her father and older brothers, including Reggie Miller who went on to play 18 seasons at the NBA for the Indiana Pacers. When she began her college career, choosing to go to USC over more than 250 schools, she gained even more popularity. Many said that she “played the game with a quickness and athleticism that you just didn’t see in women’s basketball at the time.”4 In addition, she actually embraced the recognition which was also unusual for the time. Ultimately these characteristics of her as a basketball player were what challenged the traditional idea of respectability and instigated …show more content…
For years she worked in sports broadcasting, with the same commanding presence she displayed on the court. She would frequently interview male basketball stars like Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal who knew her talent and success as a collegiate athlete. Doris Burke pointed out that “[to watch] those men were embracing a basketball person…who happened to be a woman, and treating her as equal, that is where society changes.”17 Although she no longer plays basketball, she left a legacy on the court along with her fellow teammates at USC. In the 1983 NCAA championship against The Lady Techsters, The Women of Troy accomplished more than just a victory against the “politics of respectability”–they themselves embodied a rejection of this ideology. As athletes, they showcased their talent and creativity on the court. By displaying this skill and their individuality, they fought to change society’s perception of them as African American women. Bennett College thought that “Black college women in particular were considered conveyors of character in culture.” The Women of Troy took ownership of this role and displayed a new kind of culture, one in which they were celebrated, as athletes, as African Americans, and as
Becky Hammon had come to path higher than simply the 10 feet tall metal circle by turning into the first ever female coach for a NBA team. This Saturday Hammon impacted the world forever by turning into the first female Head coach in the NBA summer group of San Antonio Spurs. She is seen as a revolutionist who has been breaking and entering through every typecast set women in the field of games, thus creating a benchmark. "I simply believe it's critical for society that ladies be remunerated for their brains the same amount of as any fellow. To me, it's generally about the bigger picture.
Summitt never had a losing season in all of the seasons that she was a coach for Tennessee. During her time with the Lady Vols she was named as the assistant coach for the women’s US Olympic basketball team for the Moscow Olympics but due to the boycott she did not coach. Then in the 1964 Olympics in Los Angeles, she was named the head coach of which she then won the gold medal. Pat Summit was inducted in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999 in the first year that a class was inducted. A year later she was awarded with the Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Century title.
Kierra Jordan February 23, 2017 Patricia Sue Head Summit left her mark on Earth as one greatest coaches to ever coach the game of basketball. In her 64 years of living, she created a legacy, dynasty, and was the epitome of success in women’s basketball. I would say Summitt was the chosen one since she was hired as the head coach of the University of Tennessee women’s basketball organization in 1974, the same year graduated college with her bachelor’s degree. She remained as the head coach for the Lady Volunteers for the next 38 years before retiring in 2012 due to being diagnosed with dementia.
In the article titled Face-off on the playing field By, Judith B. Stamper explains girls have their own story of support or discrimination, success also the debate of girls be allowed to compete on boys’ sports team. First, the writer Title IX explains female athletes are been treated second-class for long enough and should pass of inequalities and biases of girls. The writer also clarifies that girls doing sports make them healthier, physically, and emotionally. Other girls that don’t play sports are less likely to use of drugs. In addition, she notes a former Stanford University basketball player Mariah says, strength and independence of things girls learn from sports, the opportunities that are changing women.
One of the main complaints against Title IX is that in order to comply with its requirements, men's sports teams have been eliminated. The removal of men's teams has generated controversy because it has been claimed that doing so constitutes reverse discrimination. However, it's crucial to remember that Title IX only mandates organizations to give male and female athletes the same opportunity, not to abolish men's teams. Colleges have opted to do away with men's teams rather than make the necessary adjustments to guarantee equal financing and opportunity for both male and female athletes in order to comply with the law's criteria. The book recounts how, in 1979, Cornell University cut its men's gymnastics team and several other men's sports teams in order to comply with Title IX.
(Gerencer). Women in the WNBA work everyday to prove that they can be just as skilled as NBA players are, and that they deserve to paid a decent amount. Yet, they do not get the credit for their skills because they are considered to be boring to most people. These women deserve a paycheck that matches their abilities and efforts, not opinions on them. Thus, women who play professional basketball should have an increase in the amount they are paid because they do not get enough money despite their abilities, and the fact that they are playing at a professional
This tradition seems to be secluded when it comes to women’s events, collegiate basketball for example. Most sports fans overlook the magic that happens behind the scenes of a woman 's game. The same beloved magic
She also wrote the last of her three books “Sum It Up,” and still went to practices and offered words of advice to the coaches and players. She was a fighter, and one of the most courageous women to have lived in my lifetime. She was the essence and embodiment of true feminism- never once did she use her gender for advancement, or as an excuse; she simply worked hard, made the commitment, and sacrifices to not only be the best women’s basketball coach, but the BEST D1 basketball coach in the history of the NCAA
Her impact is immeasurable and has lead her to getting some well-deserved awards such as, being named one of the 100 most important Americans in the 20th century; the only other athletes were Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, and Muhammad Ali. Sports illustrated named her in the top 40 athletes “significantly altering or elevating sports in the previous 4 decades” (Woolum 161). Lisa Olson, a sports writer, got the privilege to go hear Billie speak, and this quote is from her article after the event, " ‘For so many girls,
Billie Jean King announced to the United States, “ I have often been asked whether I am a woman or an athlete. The question is absurd. Men are not asked that. I am an athlete. I am a woman.”
To her dismay, her college playing career was cut short when Wade and the rest of the team were informed that the sport had disbanded because it was considered too rough for women. After that Wade soon transitioned out of playing women’s basketball to coaching it after she finished obtaining her post graduate degree and further studies at a third college. Forty years after having her dream of playing college basketball taken away, Margaret Wade would be selected to come back and coach the sport at Delta State University. There Wade would work to help give young women a path to be able to participate in sports that had been deemed to strenuous for women in the past. Ironically, a little over fifty years after having her dream of playing collegiate basketball snatched away from her, Margaret Wade would receive a letter from President Ronald Reagan, congratulating her for her contributions to women basketball.
She made a huge impact on women who played tennis, both during and after her era. She was a slight 5-foot-7.5-inch, 125 pounds, power hitter. (International Tennis Hall of Fame) She found herself constantly bored and unexcited, so she would often practice with men on the West Coast, which was unheard of at the time.
Ever since its debut by gym teacher Dr. James Naismith in 1891 basketball has become a widely popularized team sport for both men and women across the nation. Though enjoyed by both men and women, women have struggled to attain the same respect in the sport as men, even though the women at the University of California had their first extramural game in 1892. The same trend continues in the NBA, National Basketball Association, and WNBA, Women’s National Basketball. The NBA started 70 years ago in 1946 while the WNBA began 20 years ago in 1996. The NBA continues to gain popularity, while the WNBA struggles to still be known.
She wanted to prove that there are not just men’s sports, but that women can participate in them as well. “As far as the world knew, she was twenty, not twenty-six nearly as young as Lillian”
If society stops to understand the struggles these women have been facing for decades will have a clearer picture of what steps to take in order to make a change in the sports industry. Men need to put their masculinity aside and advocate giving women a voice. The purpose of this paper is to explore the issues women in the sport world have faced through history, wage gaps, current issues today, and to discuss findings and recommendations for future research. Title IX is a law that came into effect in 1972, this comprehensive federal law prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity.