By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Women athletes celebrate expanded opportunities in collegiate sports this year, the 50th year of Title IX.
But now women’s athletics has a new challenge to face.
Title IX, as federal legislation, sought to level the collegiate playing field for women’s athletics.
Missouri Western State University Senior Woman Administrator, Theresa Grosbach, says it is important to remember the strides made over the years.
“I remember my Mom saying when she went to high school, it was tennis and golf and swimming were what was on the table for her and how much she would have enjoyed to play basketball or play volleyball and that opportunity just didn’t exist for her,” Grosbach tells host Barry Birr on the KFEQ Hotline.
Even the manner of play has changed.
Grosbach remembers women’s rules in basketball growing up in Iowa and is thankful women now play full-court five-on-five just like the men do.
Women’s athletics is now faced with the issue of transgender participation.
Grosbach says the MIAA Conference has yet to establish rules on the participation of transgender athletes in women’s competition. Grosbach says MIAA members have been discussing the controversial topic and expects the conference to follow national guidance on what she calls an ‘ever evolving’ issue.
“And so part of what we did these last couple of days was look again at where the policy is, what is the new information coming from the NCAA, and do we need to make any adjustments?” Grosbach says. “And, ultimately, that conversation starts with (the) Directors of Athletics and Senior Women Administrators and works its way up to the presidents in our league to kind of review the policy, information we put forward, and for them to make a final determination if we’re comfortable with it as a league.”
Grosbach says Missouri Western will lean on the conference and the NCAA to decide its rules for transgender athletes.