In an op-ed for Our Sports Central, WNBA President Laurel J. Richie says that Title IX is grown up now, but the fight for women in sports isn't over.
And this week, as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Title IX and all it has done for women's athletics and for women in the United States — and, by extension of inspiration, elsewhere — it is informative to remember that Title IX was not always what it is today. Title IX is grown-up now — an elite player that has acted as the figurative point guard for two generations of women, dishing assists to help them reach their full potential — but it was not always so.
The legislators who passed this act, bold as they were, knew that they were hardly waving a magic wand when they signed this law. They pushed Title IX into position, like a rock ready to be rolled uphill, but then they moved on to other pressing matters of governing, and it was up to the gigantic collective effort of thousands to get it to the top.
So, today, in a world in which a women's professional basketball league not only can exist, but does exist; not only can thrive, but does thrive; not only can thrill fans from coast to coast, but does, I want to thank not only those who had the foresight to spur change through visionary legislation, but those who pushed that boulder up the hill.
Read the rest of Laurel J. Richie's op-ed at Our Sports Central.
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