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A step ahead

There has been a constant tug of war in the land of athletics for the past 30 years - with women on one end and men on the other.

Athletes and coaches have been affected by the gender differential in sports, whether the allotment of scholarships, scheduling of games and practice times or media coverage. And the tug and pull can be seen at Southern Illinois University.

Although SIU has seen a good track record since the implementation of Title IX in 1972, SIU still has made some decisive changes affecting the shape of the Athletic Department today.

"I think we have an overall philosophy of how to treat all of our athletes equally," SIU Athletic Director Paul Kowalczyk said. "I think that comes from the administration on down to the coaches and we are in pretty good shape."

Roster Management

With athletics looked upon as educational activities and programs, and federal money being pumped into the veins of universities, each athletic program must follow the requirements of Title IX.

During the past nine years, the SIU Athletic Department has tried to even out the women and men's rosters to meet the ratio of men and women on campus.

In 1992, only 29 percent of the student athletes were female, while males made up 71-percent.

In 2002, men only made up about 57 percent of the athlete population.

In 1997, SIU had a 58-percent male, 42 percent female campus with 65-percent of athletes being male and 35 percent for female.

According to the 2003 NCAA Gender Equity Survey for SIU, the University is now at a 54.4 percent male, 45.6 female ratio, while males make up 64 percent of the athlete population and females make up 36 percent.

With this little differential in the past decade, Kowalczyk is trying to make a point of equalizing the ratio of student-athletes to that of the undergraduate male female ratio.

Kowalczyk decided to give an incentive for women's sports: the team's budget would be increased if the coaches were able to bring walk-ons to the team.

The team could also be rewarded a budget increase if the coach was able to increase a roster to what the Athletic Department believes to be a reasonable roster size.

"Within athletics we decided this is one way to help our coaches," Kowalczyk said. "There is no incentive for them to add players if they are going to lose money in their budget."

This plan is only for women, and according to Kowalczyk, is a result of Title IX.

"We wouldn't be doing this whole roster management if it wasn't for Title IX," Kowalczyk said.

But according to softball head coach Kerri Blaylock, those numbers are not that easy to come by, especially when trying to strengthen a program. She wants to make sure that every team member can help progress the depth of the program.

So far, she has not met the number to qualify for the budget increase, despite the gradual growth over the past years.

"We have a target number to reach, but I also don't want to sacrifice making sure that I have the quality of athlete that I need," Blaylock said. "It's tough for us to meet it because when you have a top 25 level team, you want to maintain that level and finding kids that can compete at that level."

Like Blaylock, women's basketball head coach Dana Eikenberg has also not met the roster size needed to receive the budget increase.

Eikenberg said it is tough to add players to her team when players seek time on the court. "The more people you have the less playing time you get," Eikenberg said. "So it doesn't foster a very harmonious environment."

Eikenberg also stated she has other priorities right now, such as building up the program and making sure the team can compete both academically and athletically.

Money Talks

The overall operating expenses for males and females mirror that of the male vs. female ratio of participation in sports at SIU, with men's teams accounting for 64 percent of the budget, and women's teams taking 36 percent.

The two big revenue-driven sports, football and basketball, make up the greater chunk of the men's budget.

In fact, many women's sports such as golf, tennis and track and field spend more money compared to the men's golf, tennis and track teams.

According to the 2003 NCAA Gender Equity Survey, women's golf's operating expenses were $58,773, while the men's were $24,931.

However, funding is not looked at on a male to female ratio. There are so many other factors, travels, the type of equipment and the uniforms.

The Javis Amendment, which is under Title IX, states that there are "justifiable discrepancies for non-gender related differences in sports that could be taken into account."

Structure

After receiving a complaint in 2000 over the facilities for softball alleging discrimination, the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights told the University to make the necessary changes.

"There was seating for hardly anybody," Blaylock said. "We had to change in an equipment closet.

"For the level of program we had, it was not a good situation."

The old softball field did not include a clubhouse, dressing room or bathrooms, all of which were provided for the baseball team at that time.

"If you want to look at something that SIU had a shortcoming on at the time, that would be it," Kowalczyk said, who came to SIU just as the plan was being implemented.

As a result of the complaint, Charlotte West Stadium-Rochman Field was constructed, and provides a state-of-the-art facility that overshadows any other softball stadium in the MVC.

"SIU had to respond to that complaint, but they didn't have to respond to it in the scale that they did, and that's the thing I praise them for," Blaylock said. "They could have built a smaller scale that could have sufficed, but they took the bull by the horn and did something to be proud of." After Title IX was implemented sports such as wrestling, men's and women's gymnastics and field hockey were erased from the school's list of sports.

The gymnastics team was considered to be one of the top teams in the nation along with the men's wrestling team.

What is Title IX?

Though Title IX can apply to other facets besides athletics, there are three basic aspects of Title IX when it comes to athletics.

The first part is participation, where it is required that women and men are provided the same opportunities to participate in sports. This does not mean that the same sports should be offered, just that they have an equal opportunity to participate.

The second rule under title IX deals with scholarships. The federal government requires that athletes be allotted scholarships that are proportional to the participation of the athletes.

There is no provision stating that men and women's sports must spend the same amount of money due to the Javis Amendment, which stated that there are differential costs that factor into the situation. Some sports, like football, require more money for equipment and personal support thus allowing them to have more funding.

The third and final part deals with "other benefits," which requires the athletic programs to be equal in their treatment in provisions such as equipment and supplies, scheduling of games and practice times, travel and daily allowance locker rooms, practice and competitive facilities, coaching, and recruitment of student athletes.

Salaries

Gender differences in athletics can also be seen when it comes to salaries for coaches.

Division I-A men's head coaches received an average $91,966, while the woman's pay check paled in comparison, averaging $69,354, according to the NCAA Gender-Equity Surveys in 2002.

SIU has similar numbers, but in smaller proportions, with men earning a yearly paycheck of $79,394 and female head coaches making $48,434.

Despite the lag in equality over pay increases, Blaylock said that she doesn't try to get caught up in the situation and that she is happy with what she is paid.

Eikenberg added there are more pressures and scrutiny when it comes to more high profile sports, such as men's basketball or football, and that in women's sports that hasn't happened yet.

"I'm a firm believer in due time everyone will get their fair shake," Eikenberg said. "I don't want to get something for nothing. "I want to be paid for what I'm doing and paid for being a part of it, and hopefully our success will breed that equality."

Moving Up

Charlotte West has played an integral part in implementing women's sports into collegiate programs at SIU.

West was a leader in women's sports and one of the pioneers in placing women's collegiate sports on the map. Throughout her career West coached SIU's tennis, softball and field hockey teams, and served as associate athletic director before her retirement. In addition, West helped to get funding for women's sports along with scholarships, equal opportunities, and getting women's programs recognized through the NCAA and Missouri Valley Conference.

"You could probably pick a topic and Charlotte West probably had some involvement in it," Kowalczyk said. "She's just been a beacon of light for women's athletics."

Blaylock said that whenever she goes to universities, West's name is still brought up to this day.

"When I'm out recruiting or at conventions dealing with softball, everybody in upper administration, or coaches, all know her and know what she did for the sport," Blaylock said.

Overall, Blaylock has seen a great progression in women's athletics since she was a softball player herself.

"When I played we got $10 a day for meal money, took vans all the way down to Florida all night, and got one set of terrible uniforms," Blaylock said. "Now at the places that are well funded there are equal scholarships, money to travel in charter buses and fly."

Blaylock added that there are more opportunities now for women to get involved in sports both athletically and professionally.

Eikenberg sees the media coverage as one facet of women's athletics that is still lagging today. But with the CBS and ESPN contracts that will provide more women's sports to be added to their media coverage, she hopes this will change.

"I think the thing we are always searching for is the exposure," Eikenberg said. "But we all as coaches know that you that you have to have a product on the court to be able to entice that exposure."