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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 2003)
* jiimify 17, ?fim BOOKS — .............. ▼............... ortland lesbian writer Sara Gogol has made a name for herself chronicling the rise of women’s professional basketball. Her bxxiks Playing in a N ew League: The W omen o f the American Basketball League's First Season and Katy Steding: Pro Basketball Pioneer are a part of the growing literature about women in sports. Her latest project took her off the court and onto the sidelines— hut by no means into the background—o f women’s athletics. Hard Fought Victories: Women Coaches Making a Difference profiles these leaders, chronicling their impor tant contributions to sports and women’s history. The Portland Community College literature and women’s studies instructor spent a year traversing the United States talking to more than 60 women coaches about their experiences, methtxJs, challenges and successes. She visited Division 1 schrxils as well as lower divisions and included a variety of sports: basketball, ice hockey, volleyball, tennis and more. The result is a compelling set of interwoven stories chronicling the lives of, in Gogol’s words, “strong women who have made a difference.’’ Take, for instance, Marianna Freeman, head women’s basket ball coach at Syracuse Universi ty. When she graduated from high school in 1975, she was part of the first generation of girls to have athletic scholarships available to them. Freeman was recruited by three schools and accepted a scholarship from Cheyney University, a historically black college outside Philadelphia. Her coach was C. Vivian Stringer, now head coach of Rutgers’ The sport of surfing ind more information on women and minorities in sports on these Web sites: • Black Coaches Association: www.bcas- ports.org • Center for the Study of Sport in Society: www.sportinsociety.org • Women’s Sport Foundation: www.womenssportsfoundation.org • Sexual Minorities in A thletics: www.smia.org Featuring Sporting chances sees a vital need for more professional coaching opportunities. With the number of women holding head coaching positions for women’s teams at an all-time low of 45.6 percent in 2000, Lopiano warns, “Women coaches and administrators are an endangered species.” A major barrier for women in coaching is by M eg D aly homophobia. In a section called "A Question of Attitude,” Gogol reveals how insidious— and deeply painful— this continues to be in college sports. “Homophobia is in the bone marrow of women’s sports,” says £ sports sociologist Mary Jo Kane. Gogol found that Division I coaches are least inclined to be open about their sexual orienta- 8 tion “because they have especially " strong pressure to win, to recruit top athletes and to present them selves as public personalities.” Readers will be inspired, however, by Beth Bricker, Helen Carroll and Jenny Allard— several “out” head coaches. Hard Fought Victories has been sell ing well, and Gogol enjoys being able to “tell some of that history” to so many people. Her next project, though, is “totally different. After 1 Sara Gogol records the history of “strong doing three nonfiction women’s I women who have made a difference” sports books, I’m now tumtng back women’s basketball to fiction,” she says, referring to a team and Women’s volleyball novel in progress about three generations Basketball Hall of coach Laurie Corbelli, “I tell of women in a Jewish family, including a Fame inductee. them how important they are to me and that Holocaust survivor. It was Stringer I’m there for them.” Learning about one’s history,.she feels, is who encouraged vital inspiration. “The more I learn about Freeman to go into coach ne reason Gogol wrote Hard Fought Victories women’s history, the more important it ing, and eventually Freeman became her was to make a contribution to the recording becomes to me.’ ’ i n assistant coach. As Gogol writes, “It was a of women’s history. Bom and raised in coaching move that inspired Marianna to work Chicago, she grew up before Title IX— the 1972 M eg D aly is a Portland free-lance writer. even harder to excel.” educational amendment that bans sex discrimi One of the issues Gogol’s book highlights is nation in schools, whether it be in academics or mentoring. Stringer is noted by several coaches athletics— and had little to no opportunity to as a primary role model. participate in competitive sports. ara Gogol interviewed a number of area Now in her role as head coach at Syracuse, Instead of teams for girls, she explains, “We coaches for her book, including Willamette Freeman told Gogol, “It’s important that 1 use had PE. classes and a little intramural play University volleyball coach Marlene Piper basketball to teach young people about life.” called Girls Athletic Association, for which and head basketball coach Paula Petrie, U ni there was no coaching." Being a role rruxlel for African American play versity of Oregon assistant track coach Sally ers is essential too, Freeman says. “I think it’s Lack of sports opportunities meant Gogol Harmon and Portland State University softball real important that I’m out there as a woman and other young women missed out on having coach Teri Mariani. and as an African American woman.” a female athletic mentor. She cites her aunt You can support your local womens sports and mother as her role models of “women who One of the similarities the writer found teams by filling up those stadiums. Check out could use their minds and who had a strong among the coaches is how they treat their play these season schedules online: political awareness.” ers both on and off the court or field. No mat Portland State University: ter how tough they are, most use an ethic of Though girls and women today have many goviks.ocsn.com caring. University of Texas track coach Beverly more opportunities to participate in competi • University of Oregon: Kearney tries to create “a family relationship” tive sports, we’re a long way from gender parity goducks.ocsn.com/calendar/ore-calendar.html with players, while Willamette University with men in sports— and especially in coaching. • Willamette University: Gogol, like Donna Lopiano, executive volleyball coach Marlene Piper emphasizes www.willamette.edu/athletics director of the Women’s Sports Foundation, “respect for human dignity.” Says Texas A&.M Sara Gogol’s latest book celebrates victory and challenges homophobia in women’s sports History in the making S am Y.t/t/ Metro Police Club Ballroom (formerly PPAA) 618 SE Alder February 14 8:00pm $10 an Carol Reise Lyndin and Warren Misha s Make a Date™ Tickets available at Gai-Pied Books 2544 N E Broadway 503-331-1 125 Proceeds to benefit Rose^City Rose City Gay Freedom BandJ A Rose City Swing 503 790-2170 - w w w .rtgih.org V alentine D a n ce 1 j3 7
