SYRACUSE, N.Y. (N.C.C News) — Whether it’s playing sports or being involved with sports media, Title IX has impacted millions of girls and women across the country.
Syracuse Women’s lacrosse goalie Kimber Hower has played sports since the fifth grade. She followed the footsteps of her mother and took her athletic talents to the collegiate level.
“Honestly, my family has been playing sports ever since I was little, so my mom got me into it,” said Kimber Hower.
When Hower’s mother played sports in the late 1970s, things were a lot different. It was the beginning of Title IX .
Fifty years ago, the U. S. Congress passed the civil law which gives girls and women equal opportunity across the country.
Before this law, the NCAA did not offer any scholarships to women to play athletics.
Since then, a lot has changed for both female athletes and women in the sports media.
“It opened doors for young girls and women in sport,” said producer Kristin Hennessey. “And as women’s sports grew, there grew more opportunity to broadcast those sports.”
The federal law prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or education program, giving women an equal opportunity to play sports and various different levels.
“I mean Title IX is the reason that I can play sports at the level that I can play it at,” said Hower. “With NIL [name, image and likeness] coming out… if it was like 30 years ago… it wouldn’t have existed on the women’s side, it would have just existed for the men.”
A lot of progress has been made from the law, but lawmakers continue to push for my equal opportunity.
The Biden Administration announced earlier today it wants to expand Title IX for LGBTQ+ students.