Sports

A woman's place is on the course

Cougar Pause
Christian Schmidt

 For the first time, a woman will coach a Division I menis basketball game. For the first time in 58 years, a woman will play in a PGA event against male golfers. Recently, two women won their 800th games as collegiate coaches. Add it all together and you get something interesting: womenis sports are taking another huge step forward.

 And all this comes at a time when Title IX, the law that forced colleges to make equal opportunities for male and female athletes, is again under attack.

 Annika Sorenstam, probably the best golfer in the world not named Tiger Woods, has announced that she will accept a bid to compete in a PGA tournament against male golfers.
 Sorenstam, who won 13 tournaments last year, is widely acknowledged as the best female golfer in the world. Now sheis looking to take on the men as well. Sorenstam will play in the Colonial, a tournament held in May in the Dallas area.

 The announcement ends months of speculation as to whether 32-year-old Sorenstam would accept a sponsoris invitation to play in a PGA event. Sorenstam said she was eager for the opportunity and felt that the Colonial would be the best fit for her.

 Opinions vary on how well Sorenstam will do. The Colonial is a short course by PGA standards, which should minimize the advantage the stronger male players have. Sorenstamis short game is among the best in the world.

 Teresa Philips, who has already entered one fraternity where women arenit exactly common as the athletics director at Tennessee State, will enter another Thursday night when she becomes the first woman to be head coach of a Division I menis basketball team.

 Philips suspended coach Hosea Lewis in the aftermath of a huge brawl during a game between Tennessee State and Eastern Kentucky where 19 players were ejected.
 A few days ago, Philips announced she would take over head coaching duties on a temporary basis.

 Only two women have been assistants at the Division I level: Mary Fenlon at Georgetown and Bernadette Locke at Kentucky.

 Pat Summitt and Jody Conradt, head womenis basketball coaches at Tennessee and Texas respectively, both won their 800th games within two weeks of each other. Only four menis basketball coaches have reached the 800-win plateau.

 And during all of this, Title IX is under scrutiny. Despite all the great achievements by women athletes, and the thousands of young ladies who have benefited by participating in college athletics, a lot of old men still think that young girls should be learning to cook and sew.

 Personally, I hope Sorenstam wins the tournament in a runaway. I hope Philips wins her first game as head coach and decides to take the job on a permanent basis. I hope Summitt and Conradt win a thousand games each and leave all those men in the dust.
 And more than any of those, I hope that my two-year-old niece will have all the athletic opportunities I have, and more.
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