At the start of February, the Women’s Sports Foundation held a meeting at Capitol Hill. Multiple women and girls from different areas gathered to celebrate the success of the organization.
Steff Strack, the CEO, endeavored to bring about change and raise awareness of inequality in the sports world. Initially a high school student with a dedication to advocacy, Strack went on to establish Women in Sports.
There are multiple chapters throughout the nation, one being recently started at Howard by Jennifer Bolden and Amari Patterson.
The Fair In Women Act was established two years ago, this was just one small step into creating official change for women athletes. This act prohibits discrimination against women in any federally funded schools.
In her speech, she spoke about the importance of speaking up. “There is power in numbers,” Strack said to a group of empowered women.
Despite the courage of multiple female athletes, the effects of Title XI are active. According to CNBC, for every dollar earned by a man, a woman earns only 83 cents.
According to ESPN, 87% of schools offer disproportionally more opportunities to men, and Voices in Sport reported that 95% of NIL money goes to men. The Women’s Sports Foundation conducted their own research, and 99% of Title XI cases are lost.
It is not just small-scale schools, members of the organization go to highly-ranked schools like Oregon, Wisconsin, and Harvard. All of these women bravely shared their stories while exposing the violations that they lived through.
Howard University’s Takunda Rusike bravely shared her story. She was discriminated against within her sport all of her life, and when allowed to play at the next level she decided to start a new program at Howard.
Unlike most rugby players, her passion for paving a new way for HBCU rugby overpowered her need to go D1. When given the platform, Tukunda advocated for mental health awareness, urging there to be a bigger focus on female athlete’s mental health.
Senator Chris Murphy is the sponsor of this bill, and on Feb. 7 the House and Senate will meet concerning the issue. Murphy wished that there were more men in the crowd, given that this issue is a societal one, not just women.
It’s important to know your rights. As women athletes, there should be proportional time, money, and effort put into programs, but unfortunately, male athletes often triumph. There have been many steps taken forward, but there is still a long way to go.
As Strack said,” Advocacy is about the journey, not the destination.”
It is important to use your voice and speak up to create change. There are so many corrupt flaws in many schools worldwide, but it takes one powerful voice along with a group of even stronger supporters to create real change.