Category: college sports

A photo montage of black women's sports teams from 1905 to the present. It’s Black History month! Meet and greet some great athletes
Black Hustory · Black Present · college sports · fitness

It’s Black History month! Meet and greet some great athletes

catherine w

February is Black History month (although, of course, every month in which we study history should also be Black History month, but I digress..). One of my favorite things about all the social media posts celebrating Black History month is learning new stories about Black female athletes and achievers that didn’t make the current history books or main media outlets. So here are some entries I’ve been seeing on my social media feeds that you might have missed as well. Many thanks to the Facebook group American Black History – Culture and also to US Congressman Jim Clyburn’s FB page for all their work bringing these extraordinary people to our attention.

Althea Gibson

With her 1956 French Open win, Althea Gibson, native of Clarendon County, SC, became the first African American to win a grand slam. As one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis, Gibson paved the way for the likes of the Williams sisters, Coco Gauff, and countless others.

“Gibson (right) receives a kiss from compatriot Darlene Hard, who she beat to become the first black woman to win the Wimbledon title in 1957.” -CNN
“Gibson (right) receives a kiss from compatriot Darlene Hard, who she beat to become the first black woman to win the Wimbledon title in 1957.” -CNN

Silvia Bishop

Silvia “Rideout” Bishop became the first Black female to train thoroughbredd the United States when the West Virginia legislature uthorized her with the license for training racehorses. Between 1987 and 2000, Bishop’s horses won 44 races, earning a total of US$166,633.

Sylvia Rideoutt Bishop, standing with two men next to “Bright Gem” with jockey Jack Sollars.
Sylvia Rideoutt Bishop, standing with two men next to “Bright Gem” with jockey Jack Sollars. Photo from Wikipedia.

Bessie Coleman and a bunch of Black women who work and fly for American Airlines

Bessie Coleman was the first Black and Native American woman to earn a pilot’s license back in June 1921 and became the first Black woman to perform a public flight in 1922. A special American Airlines flight operated by an all-Black and all-female crew honored aviation pioneer Bessie Coleman on the 100th anniversary of Coleman becoming the first Black woman to pilot a public flight.

Bessie Coleman pilot’s license in 1921 from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.From Wikipedia.
Bessie Coleman pilot’s license in 1921 from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.From Wikipedia.
Am all-Black female crew for American Airlines flew to honor Bessie Colema, taking their own pilot licenses out for a spin...
Am all-Black female crew for American Airlines flew to honor Bessie Colema, taking their own pilot licenses out for a spin…

Kamora Freeland

While we’re talking about female aviation pioneers, let’s give a shout-out to 17-year-old Kamora Freeland. Now one of the youngest licensed Black pilots, she recently earned her private pilot’s license. “I have a passion for it, and I love it,” she said.-Freeland, a senior at Kingsborough Early College High School, passed solo and cross-country flight tests, even flying her mom to Martha’s Vineyard. Freeland heads to Spelman in fall, aiming for a commercial pilot’s license next.

17-year-old Kamara Freeland, one of the youngest Black pilots in the US. Picture and info courtesy of FB group American Black History-Culture.
17-year-old Kamara Freeland, one of the youngest Black pilots in the US. Picture and info courtesy of FB group American Black History-Culture.

Danielle Green

Danielle Green, Notre Dame basketball player and Iraq war veteran, has reinvented herself in several ways. From this Notre Dame profile:

[Green] was wounded by a rocket-propelled enemy grenade while serving with the U.S. Army in the Iraq war in May 2004. Pity, though, is wasted energy. As she rebuilds her own life, she is putting her experience to work as a readjustment counselor for the Department of Veterans Affairs, helping fellow service vets cope with the physical and psychological trauma they have encountered on the battlefield.

Green bicycles, she runs, she plays golf, she’s learning to fish. She’d like to start a family. “That would complete the circle,” she says.

Danielle Green won the Pat Tillman Award for Service at the ESPY awards. Picture courtesy of FB group America Black History-Culture.
Danielle Green won the Pat Tillman Award for Service at the ESPY awards. Picture courtesy of FB group America Black History-Culture.

Readers, do you have any shout-outs of your own for Black History month? Let us know in the comments.

U. of South Carolina coach Dawn Staley and player Bree Hall. It’s NCAA women’s basketball Finals Day, and the women are ready
college sports · fitness

It’s NCAA women’s basketball Finals Day, and the women are ready

catherine w

Today is the culmination of a tremendous season of women’s college basketball in the US. The University of South Carolina Gamecocks face off against the University of Iowa Hawkeyes. (Full disclosure: I’m a University of South Carolina alum and fan).

Even if you’re not a college basketball fan, you’ve likely heard about Iowa’s Caitlyn Clark, who recently passed Pete Maravich the NCAA Division I basketball all-time leading scorer. She’s opted to enter the WNBA draft, and experts have said she may yet exceed LeBron James’ all-time career scoring of 40,000 points.

University of South Carolina’s team coach Dawn Staley (a legend in her own right) says this about Clark:

“It’s a monumental game for our game,” South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley said. “We’re very fortunate to be a part of it. We get to witness firsthand the legacy of Caitlin Clark. You watch her. You prep for her. You can’t help but to really love how she dissects the game. You love how she executes. I mean, it’s simple. Her game is simple and yet powerful. How do you defend fundamental basketball? You can’t. She’s going to win every time.”

The Gamecocks are also ready to play. They are undefeated this season, at 38-0 after their 78-59 semifinal win over North Carolina State. Yes, you read that right: un-de-feat-ed. Some news outlets favor them to win today’s matchup. We shall see. I know this: I’ll be watching.

Maybe the fact that March Madness this year is focused on women’s basketball isn’t surprising to you, dear readers. But, let’s take a moment to look back to 2021: the women’s NCAA tournament facilities and food and branding were completely substandard, compared with the men’s tournament. I wrote about it here: who can forget the poor-excuse for weight room consisting of a small tower of hand weights, a sad little table, and some yoga mats?

Three years later, the New Yorker is writing about how women’s basketball became the best thing in college sports. And LeBron James is gushing over the game, noting the star power and elegant play. This is all deserved praise, and hard-won.

If you’re free at 3pm Eastern Time today, I suggest you check out the final. You’ll see teamwork, expert strategy, great athletic prowess, and women doing it for themselves and their teams. What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon?

college sports · fitness

NCAA women’s basketball tournament one year later: any progress on equity?

catherine w

In case you’ve forgotten, or don’t follow women’s basketball, or have just plain been busy, it’s NCAA tournament time. Last year, we were all treated to a low-fi/high-impact Tiktok video by Oregon’s Sedona Prince about the sad state of facilities for the women’s tournament players, as opposed to those for the men. I blogged about it here:

A small victory in a large battle: NCAA women’s basketball weight room gets a tiny bit bigger

And you can view Tiktok heard round the sports world here:

After a fair amount of hemming and hawing, obfuscation, and a 114-page report by law firm Kaplan, Hecker and Fink on gender inequity in the NCAA, Phase 1: Basketball Championships (I’m so happy this report is just the first phase…) the NCAA has made a few changes to the women’s tournament for this year (I got this info courtesy of a New York Times article ):

  • the women’s tournament has been expanded from 64 to 68 teams (the number the men reached in 2011)
  • the women’s tourney will be branded, like the men’s tournament, with the moniker March Madness, a move the N.C.A.A. had previously resisted
  • the men and women players will receive the same/equivalent swag bags
  • the mobile apps for the respective tournaments will be more compatible
  • the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball and women’s basketball staffs are now each 10 members; previously, they were 11 for the men, seven for the women
  • a gap in spending between the tournaments, which Kaplan’s report said was $35 million last year, will be narrowed by millions (although Dan Gavitt, a senior VP for basketball, wouldn’t say by how much)

Does that solve the problem of inequity in college basketball? No.

Once you look beyond the details of the tournaments and dig into the financial incentives, payouts and media relationships, you’ll see that women’s basketball has been underfunded in a system that rewards men’s basketball and snubs women’s basketball. Here’s what U. of South Carolina’s women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley had to say:

Dawn Staley, the coach of top-ranked South Carolina, said real change would not occur until the N.C.A.A. changed its revenue distribution model for the men’s tournament, which incentivizes investment in men’s basketball at the expense of the women’s game. The N.C.A.A. last year distributed $168 million to Division I conferences based on a formula that measures men’s tournament success over the previous six years.

The Kaplan report suggested that those funds should be distributed 50-50 based on how well each conference’s men’s and women’s basketball teams performed, though it should be phased in gradually (5 percent per year for 10 years) so as to limit disruptions to current athletic department budgets.

This would incentivize schools (and conferences) to invest in women’s basketball just as the current model has encouraged them to invest in men’s basketball since the 1980s.

“It took a lot of work to keep us where we were,” Staley said of a college sports system that is weighted toward men’s sports. “I don’t get it. We all got that much testosterone? Isn’t our money green?”

I love Dawn Staley. She’s a WNBA veteran, four-time Olympic gold medalist (3 as player, one as head coach) inductee in the Basketball Hall of Fame, and an expert on the politics and economics of promoting gender equity in basketball. She also coaches women’s basketball for my undergraduate alma mater, which makes me a little partial, too.

I also love Sedona Prince, and am very happy that this teenager had the gumption to out the NCAA using just her phone and her wry sense of humor. When UCLA Coach Cori Close was asked if the 114-page Kaplan report would’ve happened without Sedona’s video, she said, “the short answer is no.”

Well okay, then. Many thanks, Sedona Prince. Many thanks, Dawn Staley. Many thanks to all those coaches and players and allies and fans and families and others who work every day to promote gender equity in sports.

And if I may: Go, U. of S.C. women’s basketball team! Good luck in the NCAA tournament!