The Invention of the WNBA
The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league for women. The league was founded in 1996, and league teams began playing in 1997. The WNBA regular season runs from May to September, followed by the postseason play-offs to determine the league champion. The National Basketball Association (NBA), the leading men’s professional basketball league, thought of the WNBA. Another women’s professional league, the American Basketball League, started from 1996 and lasted to 1998 before disbanding leaving only the WNBA female athletes the opportunity to make a career of playing basketball professionally, just like men have been able to do for years in the NBA.
Women’s basketball
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“These women are so excited about the opportunity to play that they can’t help but show emotion. What I have always told my players is that there may be someone in the stands who is watching women’s basketball for the first time, and we want them to come back. I guess the biggest difference is that this isn’t just about women’s basketball, but a whole women’s movement” Many teams have NBA counterparts and play in the same colleges and gyms. The Connecticut, Seattle-Suns, Dallas Wings, and Chicago are the only teams that do not share an arena with a direct counterpart, two of the four (the Wings and the Sky) share with an NBA counterpart, and the Storm shared an arena and market with an NBA team at the time of its founding (Staffo 10). The four franchises, along with the Atlanta and the Los Angeles Sparks, are all …show more content…
women’s basketball team won the gold medal at the World Championships (Staffo 2). In 1972, women’s basketball and all girl women’s sports got another big boost when President Richard Nixon signed the E.A. the Educational Academic paper commonly known as Title IX. The amendments stated that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of or be subjected to discriminate under any educational program or activity. Another was reached in 1976 where women’s basketball became a part of the Olympic Games. Also in 1976, the first women’s professional for the first time. Basketball league was planned. Jason Frankfurt created a 12-team nationwide women’s basketball league the concept fell apart before the first game (Staffo
Before Title IX had become a rule, gender used to matter more than your performance in the sport. This means that even if you were an all-star athlete but you were a female then you would most likely be sitting in the bleachers watching. Why would ASU have more women’s athletics competing in Division 1 than men’s if Title IX is supposed to make equality for all? This is because the men’s football team and basketball team have so many participant’s that they have to take away other men’s athletics or add more women’s athletics to have the same number of total athletic participant’s. Both of these options work, but ASU decides to not have a men’s Division 1 soccer team because they don’t want to spend the extra money in adding another women’s sport as well. Wulf included a quote from Bunny Sandler when she says Title IX was "the most important step for gender equality since the 19th Amendment." In1972 Title IX became a law with President Richard Nixon signing (Bryjak). George J. Bryjak explains how the NCAA fought for the Tower Amendment which would have excluded men’s football and basketball from the Title IX coverage. Bryjak said they would do this because basketball and football both have a lot of participants; especially football because there is no women’s football team and the men’s team has over 125 players on average which causes Title IX to eliminate other men’s sports. This happens because none of the women’s sports incorporate that many participants in one par...
Over two decades have passed since the enactment of Title IX, a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in federally funded education, including athletics. As a result of Title IX, women and girls have benefited from more athletic participation opportunities and more equitable facilities. Because of Title IX, more women have received athletic scholarships and thus opportunities for higher education that some may not have been able to afford otherwise. In addition, because of Title IX the salaries of coaches for women's teams have increased. Despite the obstacles women face in athletics, many women have led and are leading the way to gender equity.
Title IX is a law that was made by the NCAA in 1972, that states that there can be no discrimination or exclusion of a gender through athletics or education. (Mankiller). Which means that men's sports cannot be favored over women's sports. Many people are very cognizant of this law. For example, if a school has $100,000, the school must spend the money equally between the athletics of each gender, even if there are more men's sports teams. They must get the same treatment. That may sound great, but Title IX has impacted men's athletics significantly. Although Title IX has been a valuable way to establish gender equality, the NCAA loses money, puts men out of scholarships, abolishes smaller men’s sports teams, and it should be
Lots of women were not allowed to play because of their gender. “Passing an entrance exam to morehouse college allowing women to get a good education but can not play on a basketball team” (Davis 3). School’s did not allow women to play because the schools did not think that women are not athletic. “Women were not allowed to play until the 1955 when they let men play” (Davis 4). It is hard for girls because so many people were saying that girls are not athletic as guys are.
Today many Athletic Directors do a good job of administering the Title IX programs and arguably almost no athlete today even knows that there was ever a time when women’s sports were not a fabric of the school and that the female athletes were supported by the student bodies as evidenced by sold out arenas for such women’s basketball programs as UConn, Tennessee, and Stanford.
Although Title IX states than, "no person in the United States, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to any discrimination..." it does not guarantee that people will carry this out. After the issuing of Title IX, many women in sports wished to step forward and be recognized. Part of the recognition they wanted was to be included in National Sports Associations like the men's National Basketball Association. Eventually their cries were heard, and sports associations like the NBA agreed to merge and include women. Becoming included was an eye opening experience to many of these women and they have faced (and still do) doubts and discrimination from the public, but along the way they have also reaped benefits they would not have if the merger had never taken place.
Title IX and the Education Amendments of 1972 were created to defend equal opportunities for women of all ages. Since its inception 44 years ago, women have seen impressive strides as well as disappointing failures. Social prejudice continues to exist limiting female participation opportunities, benefits for female athletes, coaching opportunities, and increased exposure to sexual assault and abuse. Few institutions treat female athletes equally due to the lack of enforcement by collegiate athletic departments. The enforcement of Title IX has not been a priority among far too many educational institutions leaving women open to discrimination and mistreatment.
Before the 1970’s, several colleges and universities declined female applicants (Happy Birthday 16). Females were discriminated because of their gender or because of their weakness. They were sexually harassed before Title IX and the statement “boys will be boys” was often used to excuse the boys’ behavior (Happy Birthday 16). Boys did not get in trouble for discriminating girls. Girls were excluded from youth leagues and other sports programs (Anderson). Women did not get the chance because most people said they were not interested. Many women helped Congress to forbid gender discrimination in public schools (Obama 10). This was a start for gender equality for girls in sports and education.
Much has changed for women since the 1970’s. One of the most important events that have happened in the world of female athletics is the establishment of professional athletics for women. Educational Amendments of 1972. These amendments assure that everyone who wants an education is treated equally no matter what race or gender, to create opportunities for everyone. Most important of those amendments is Title IX.
The enactment of this Title has significantly changed the playing field for athletic departments through out the nation by altering their funding systems to comply with its rules. As a result, women have benefited greatly. There have been additions of female sports as well as an increase of the number of scholarships awarded to female athletes, and also a lot more funding to provide more “equitable” facilities for them. According to the NCAA Gender Equity Studies , “from 1992 to 1997 NCAA institutions have increased the number of female athletes by 5,800. But tragically during that time these colleges also eliminated 20,900 male athletes.” (Kocher p.1) This dramatic landslide has occurred because athletic departments are under pressure to rapidly increase the proportion of female athletes by whatever means necessary. As the path toward complete “equality” gradually brightens for women in college athletics, a dark path is now becoming evident. Male athletes, in a sense, are now being discriminated against because of Title IX.
Frantz, Chris. A. The "Timeline: Women in Sports." Infoplease/Pearson Education, 2007. Web.
The National Basketball Association is the most popular professional basketball league in North America; it is also the most popular professional basketball league in the world. The National Basketball Association (NBA) is one of the most diverse businesses in the world, which was the deliberate plan of former NBA commissioner David Stern. The NBA was once an all white and male dominated league, now through years of an aggressive effort to diversify the organization the NBA is now one of the shining beacons for diversity, tolerance and acceptance in the workplace. Former NBA commissioner David Stern spearheaded and put into action on the best examples of creating and cultivation opportunities for success based on merit. “When David Stern steps down as NBA Commissioner in 2014, among the legacies he will have created is an era in professional sport when leagues and teams hired the best people possible. He embraced the moral imperative for diversity while helping to show the other leagues that diversity is also a business imperative. The evidence for the NBA’s continued commitment to racial equality is seen in the strong grades in the League Office and in many key areas on the team level.”(Lapchick, R.) To fully understand the transformation of the league we will cover the history of the association, team diversity, league diversity, the NBA diversity initiative, and current diversity issues.
It has taken many years for women to gain a semblance of equality in sports. Throughout history, women have been both excluded from playing sports and discriminated against in sports. Men’s sports have always dominated the college athletic field, but women were finally given a fighting chance after Title IX was passed. Title IX, among other things, requires scholarships to be equally proportioned between men and women’s sports. Although this was a huge gain for women, gender inequality still exists in sports today. An example of this persisting inequality can be seen when looking at men’s baseball and women’s softball. In college, baseball and softball are both major NCAA sports. It is widely accepted throughout today’s society that baseball is a man’s sport, and softball is a woman’s sport. Very few people question why the two sexes are separated into two different sports, or wonder why women play softball instead of baseball. Fewer people know that women have been essentially excluded from playing baseball for a long time. This paper will focus on why softball has not changed the way women’s basketball has, why women continue to play softball, the possibilities and dynamics of women playing baseball with and without men, and the most discriminating aspect of women being banned from playing professional baseball.
1. What is the difference between a Nature of the business The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league located in the United States. It is composed of 30 franchised teams, all of which are in the US except for one located in Canada. It markets teams and players, and regulates franchised team ownership.