Playing Tennis Before Title IX

By Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh

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.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 enacted into law June 23, 1972

I was playing tennis with someone recently who asked if I had played when I was growing up. I replied yes, and he asked if I had played for my high school tennis team. He was the same age as I, and of course had played on a tennis team in high school. Our experiences, however, were quite different.

We have just celebrated the 50th anniversary of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 which passed a year before I graduated from Cooperstown High School. At a time when there seem to be so many steps backwards in women’s rights, I know firsthand that that legislation has been a critical success in leveling the playing field for young girls. And decades of sports programs for girls created the pathway to this Spring’s equal pay settlement awarded to the US women’s soccer team.

What was it like growing up in our community, pre Title IX? It involved watching your brothers participate in
organized sports — T-ball, Little League, and school athletics. Girls were not allowed to participate.