The 1954 Supreme Court decision of Brown vs The Board of Education determined separate but equal was a myth. In 2021, Sedona Prince Tweeted a video of the women’s weight room at the NCAA Basketball Tournament. It showed a rack of dumbbells in the corner of a room. In contrast, Prince’s video also showed the expansive weight room for the men’s participants in the NCAA tournament. The stark contrast leads one to believe NCAA officials didn’t pay much attention in high school civics class.
Prince’s Tweet exposed a Pandora’s Box of inequity that not only runs through women’s college basketball but all of women’s sports. Officials can correct the optics . Congress can convene to enforce Title IX. I propose NCAA officials take a walk in the trenches where women athletes practice and perform. This will show them women are equal to men.
The Playground
Basketball was my second love. I played for my high school team which was highly ranked in the hotbed Washington, D.C. area. My game was respectable. I know the game and I know these college girls can ball
When I lived in Boulder, Colorado, I played a lot of pick-up at the University of Colorado rec center. One day, a young woman looked to join the guys in a game. No one was openly a neanderthal so she was readily welcomed. I chose her to play on my team. Her name was Rachel.
The games were always competitive. Winners stayed on. This made losing not an option. On our first possession, Rachel was wide-open in the right corner. A pass was whipped to her. She planted her feet and released a 20 footer. Swish! A smile crossed her face, a few high-fives were exchanged.
On our next possession, Rachel was again open in the right corner. It was now clear her defender decided it wasn’t worth the bother to check her. Instead, he played a one man zone. Woosh. A pass was rifled to Rachel. She planted her feet and released another 20 footer. Swish!
As we retreated to defense, I mockingly yelled at Rachel’s defender, “You got to check the girl. You got to check the girl.” The game ended quickly. We won, Rachel was checked in our next game. She still continued to score.
Family
My initial respect and appreciation of women was derived from my family. My grandmother, Sadie T.M. Alexander, was the first black woman in the country to earn a PhD. My aunt and sister are PhDs. I have been engulfed by strong women my entire life.
In spite of this impressive lineage, my background in sports has been even more influential in my belief in the capabilities of women. I tell people, “I’m not from the streets. I’m from the playground.”
I’ve spent countless hours training with women throughout my track career. This experience has unequivocally showed me women are as respectful, hard working and dedicated to their sports as men.
First Impressions
I first learned woman can compete with men in Junior High School. This was in the dark ages of women’s sports when Junior High Schools did not have sports for girls. There was, however, one industrious and talented young woman who had the “nerve” to join the boy’s track team at a rival school in our county.
In a meet among a number of schools, the high jump competition came down to this young woman and another guy. All the other events were finished. The bus drivers were in their buses ready to take everyone home.
The boys didn’t board the buses to leave, Instead, the different teams ringed the high-jump apron to watch the conclusion of the competition. A roar erupted at each new height the young woman cleared to remain in the competition.
I can’t remember who won. It really doesn’t matter. We were mesmerized. It was more meaningful to us than Billy Jean King’s win over Bobby Riggs. We were present to see a young woman our age go toe-to-toe against a guy. It was also a damn good competition.
Training Days
During high school, my track coach, Skip Grant, also coached a CYO team. Two young women on this team, Aileen O’Connor and Jill Hayworth, were national class distance runners. At a formidable age, I had an another front row seat to the fact young women are made up of more than sugar and spice and everything nice. Through oppressive Washington, D.C. heat and humanity, frigid winters, mile after mile, Aileen, Jill and the other girls on the CYO club were at practice banging out workouts alongside the boys.
One practice with Aileen stands out to this day. Coach Grant had included her with the boys for a two-mile time trial. I was distressed that Aileen might beat me. I thought, “Here I am one of the best high school 800M runners in the nation and I’m about to get beaten by a girl.”
A gift of Coach Grant’s was he could read minds. He sensed my agitation. Discreetly, he pulled me aside and simply stated, Aileen won’t beat you if you run like you can.
Aileen beat a number of the boys that day. I ran like I could. A few years later, I came to realize, top women could beat me in races outside of my core events. This fact extends to all men track athletes. In fact, I promise Usain Bolt would not win an 800M race against Ajee Wilson. Leave a comment if you’d like to make a wager.
Pain-O-Meter
Athletes abhor those who squander or fail to exploit their talent to the fullest. My good friend and Olympic 1500M finalist, Jeff Atkinson, imagined a device that would measure the effort, grit and determination of an athlete’s performance in relation to their talent. The device would be a true measure of which athletes truly maximized their potential. The device would be called the Pain-O-Meter.
In the absence of a Pain-O-Meter, my training partners and I could only debate who would achieve a top score on the device. One of the few unanimous top scorers on the Pain-O-Meter was a woman in our training group: Pattie Sue Plummer.
Pattie Sue arrived at Stanford University with a modest running resume compared to the numerous All-American on the team with her. Belief in her coach, resolve to achieve greatness and an imperviousness to setbacks and challenges guided her to two Olympic Teams and an American record in the 5000M. Women would dominate many spots on a Pain-O-Meter for most endeavors.
The Future
These are my stories. My privilege of a great family, enlightened coaches and thoughtful friends helped me understand what I have described. There are similar stories across all sports. Unfortunately, the decision makers rarely visit these spaces.
Nevertheless, I can end with a hopeful story. In 2015, the United State women’s soccer team won the World Cup. These ladies captivated the country. The team showed what people can achieve when given the proper support.
The Golden Ball winner (Best overall Player) of the tournament was Carli Lloyd. One day during the tournament, my ten year old son, Carlo, had a particularly outstanding soccer game of his own. He took his game to a new level on this day. In appreciation and respect, his teammates, began to call him Carlo Lloyd.
Maybe times are changing.
You brought energy and fostered community on and off the track. I always felt supported by you in high school and college. Love reading your insight!