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Title IX working at Arizona

UA, Livengood setting the path for female athletes to compete,

With its inception in 1972, Title IX - the gender equity agreement - was supposed to level the playing field between men's and women's athletics at the collegiate level.

More than 20 years later, Title IX is still a work-in-progress, but few schools across the country have been more successful in its time than the UA.

Arizona has 11 women's athletic programs thriving under the direction of athletic director Jim Livengood, associate athletic director Rocky LaRose and their staff.

"I think we are a leading institution in Title IX, that's a no-brainer," Livengood said. "It is financially hard to support all 19 athletic programs but I want to have a lot of programs for our student athletes."

Livengood and the University of Arizona have more than just financially supported the 11 women's programs, they have created an atmosphere of equity and comfort for all the UA's women athletes.

That comfortable and supportive environment has translated into successful programs as three teams - women's swimming and diving, women's golf and softball - are or were close to capturing national championships this year.

Others like volleyball and women's basketball had their most successful seasons in their program's history and were ranked in the nation's top-25, while cross country, soccer, track and field and tennis were successful and continue to show improvement.

"I think one of things that is really beneficial is that so many of the other sports are successful and you feel a healthy competition to not only keep up but to do better," women's basketball head coach Joan Bonvicini said. "I think here at the U of A what makes this a great situation is all sports are given a full allotment of scholarships to be successful and then you are given a pretty good budget and our facilities are very competitive.

"This is a great place to go to school, so you are given a great deal of tools to be successful."

One of the difficulties of creating an equal balance between the male and female athletes is creating a close relationship between the number of participants in both men's and women's athletics, along with making sure each sport is adequately financed.

In the 1998-99 fiscal year there were 230 athletic scholarships allotted to female athletes compared to 264 for male athletes.

The 11 women's athletic programs had a budget of $3,504,800 in 1998-99, with women's basketball receiving the highest amount at $1,007,500 and women's indoor track and field receiving the least with $10,500.

A main reason for the enforcement of Title IX at Arizona, though, has been Livengood's pledge to keep the playing field equal for both genders.

"I just think Jim is very sensitive to doing the right thing," UA swimming head coach Frank Busch said. "That's to me what makes being here as really being a treasure to be here and working in this department because it is working with people who want to do the right thing and are committed to doing the right thing."

Doing the right thing with Title IX has also created a vast amount of opportunities for women, especially those who want to coach at the collegiate level.

No sport has opened up more opportunities for female athletes in the past 15 years than women's soccer.

In 1986 there were 80 NCAA women's soccer programs but now in 2000 there are 260. The majority of programs, including Arizona's, were started six years ago though.

"Title IX across the country has created opportunities for me to be in this position," soccer head coach Cathy Klein said. "My life has changed through the ramifications of Title IX."

Title IX has also changed the face of soccer, as with the increased amount of competition between schools has put more and more pressure on the coaches to succeed.

Klein, who became a head coach at the age of 21 at Utica College in New York, said the intensity 15 years ago is completely different from today's game, which is due to Title IX.

"You never got fired if you didn't win," she said. "I will definitely tell you that day is gone."

Though women's athletics through Title IX provides more opportunities, there is still a lot more to be gain and sought for women athletes and their programs.

The tables still aren't balanced in terms of budget as the UA men's programs receives more than $7 million more than their female counterparts, though they have three less programs.

Much of the disparity is due to the high cost of maintaining the football team and the fact the men's sports at Arizona brought $19,590,700 in 1998-99 compared to $750,000 by the women's teams.

The difference in budget money is one of the many reasons Livengood is not satisfied with equity at the UA, even though the school is one of the leading institutions in following the terms of compliance in Title IX.

"I don't think there will never be a day when I come to work and think we are done with equity," he said. "I want to continue the pace we are on now and have academic success."

Chris Martin can be reached at sports@wildcat.arizona.edu