By Mackenzie Ferguson

 “As Mackenzie Ferguson wraps up her first 50 in the third leg of this relay, she is going to be a big factor in this race… Great kick off the wall from Collegiate’s Mackenzie Ferguson, to give the Cougars a lead… Wow. Two body’s length ahead for Collegiate… A great swim there from Ferguson of Collegiate… 27.98 split time!” – Woodberry Forest commentators, 2020 VISAA Swimming and Diving State Championship in Blacksburg, VA.

Swimming the 100 butterfly at the Collegiate home meet. Photo credit: Vaughan Aaronson.

Since a very young age, I have always followed three very important principles that have gotten me through many achievements in my life: dedication, failure, and positivity. And although my parents have taught me many important lessons on how to be the best that I can be, I developed my three major principles mostly through athletics.

Dedication, which I find to be the most significant factor for anything that I do, comes from swimming. Starting at just six years old, I have gone to swim practice six days a week every week, with only two weeks off in the summer for vacation. I constantly work on technique within each stroke, and I practice stroke counts until I find the perfect rhythm. Social gatherings and family dinners are often missed for swim meets and practices, and homework is often crammed in study halls to make up for two-hour practices. 

Failure, which people often view to diminish character, has actually given me the most growth in my swimming career. Missing Junior National cuts by 0.24 seconds and getting disqualified in the 200 backstroke are not my proudest moments, but I use those moments to get motivated and work harder. Then I will be able to look back and see my progress from before. 

And my positivity comes from the mental training that comes with swimming. My mental state before a race is just as, if not, more important than any training I have done. If I do not believe in myself that I can do well, then I won’t. 

(R-L) USA’s Simone Manuel, USA’s Katie Ledecky and USA’s Melanie Margalis react in the final of the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay event during the swimming competition at the 2019 World Championships at Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center in Gwangju, South Korea, on July 25, 2019. Photo credit: Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images.

Alongside these three attributes, there are four specific women who have greatly impacted my view of women’s athletics. Regan Smith, Simone Manuel, Katie Ledecky, and Serena Williams are four of the United States’ most successful female athletes, and some of the most influential athletes in history. All four athletes have set national and international records for their individual events and achievements, and are all advocates for Title IX, federal legislation that supports equal representation of gender for all collegiate and professional athletics. 

To me, supporting Title IX is so important because female athletes traditionally had been stereotyped as  “too emotional” or “too weak,” and were therefore seen to be less than a male athlete. But with Title IX, many girls over many generations have been impacted and motivated to become faster, stronger, and successful athletes, proving the stereotype wrong.

Title IX, a part of the Education Amendments of 1972, was implemented to balance gender discrimination in athletics for the college level. It prohibits mostly federally funded schools, at both high school and collegiate levels, from having financial imbalance between male and female sports, in regards to both admission and sport equipment finance.  

Prior to the establishment of Title IX, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned discrimination against race, religion, color or sex; these changes took place most in the work force and in voting rights. Although gender was factored in the Civil Rights Act, it did not clearly state any sort of impartiality towards women in educational programs, and within those, the athletic departments. 

The first court case in which Title IX was used to defend a female against sexual harassment in an educational institution was Alexander vs. Yale. In the case, two female athletes, Ronni Alexander and Margery Reifler, were sexually assaulted by both a music teacher and a hockey coach, and Yale University did not allow the women to express their concerns to the faculty. The district court did not rule in favor of the women, and they eventually decided to appeal the case. Although these two women did not win their case, many female activist groups formed an uprising against grievance appeals. In Yale’s case, the faculty members accused of the harassment were able to plead their “grievances,” and continue their work. But the case eventually reached national news, and topic of sexual harassment was applied to Title IX. 

Cover of TIME Magazine, June 26, 1978. Photo credit: Neil Leifer.

The most significant mandate implemented under Title IX is the equal balance of male to female sports in every school, as well as equal funding and treatment for each individual sport. This is why, at Collegiate, there are no restrictions on allowing girls to play boy-dominant sports, and vice versa. The other key factor to Title IX is that it addresses sexual harassment and violence against a specific gender in regards to athletics. If any school that adheres to Title IX then violates the amendment, the school can lose its federal funding and potentially be temporarily closed. 

Since 1972, women’s sports have grown and improved under the amendment, including a growing numbers of female athletes, as well as equal treatment for each and every sport. I interviewed several female teachers and friends involved in college sports to understand their experiences of what it is like to be a female athlete under Title IX.

Upper School history department chair Suzanne Lewis (and former varsity lacrosse and JV field hockey coach) said that, growing up, her father very much wanted her and her siblings to take part in athletics. In her Connecticut town in the 1980s, ice hockey was one of the most popular sports to play, but the “challenge was that there was only a program for boys. As a result, I was the only girl on my team.” 

Upper School Health and Wellness department chair (and former varsity lacrosse coach) Annie Richards had similar experiences with youth athletics. “When I was a kid,” said Richards, “basketball would have teams for boys but not girls. My mom didn’t need Title IX or anything else; she fought for me to be able to play on different teams with the boys. It went well, I got better, faster, and stronger, because the boys wouldn’t go easy.” Both teachers eventually played youth sports with all-girls teams, but both also agree that playing with boys made them tougher and more well-rounded for every sport that they played. 

Maggie Turner (‘21), a senior at William Penn Charter School, an independent school in Philadelphia, claims that although she has never experienced inequality in youth sports, it often frustrated her when she wasn’t allowed to run in a sports bra during track practice, while the rest of the boys got to run shirtless. “It had to at least be 90 degrees one day. It was so hot, and the boys immediately took off their shirts to run. But because it was considered ‘inappropriate,’ the girls were not allowed to run in their sports bra, and I remember one of my friends got sick from the heat.” 

This anecdote is reminiscent of a famous moment from the 1999 Women’s Soccer World Cup, when US team member Brandi Chastain took off her shirt in celebration after kicking the penalty kick that won the championship for the US, revealing her sports bra on international television. Chastain was criticized at the time for her spontaneous moment of celebration.

These situations made each interviewee persevere and face struggles that eventually led to growth, Luckily for all three women, the collegiate level of athletics had equal treatment and created some of the most memorable moments of their high school and college careers. 

According to the Title IX policies implemented at schools such as Harvard and Bucknell University, all athletic teams are to abide by the rules and regulations of sex equality treatment. All athletic teams are granted the same equal treatment in regards to finance, athletic field and training space, tutoring, etc. And all teams are supported by Title IX coordinators that can provide players resources to receive help and guidance for personal sexual harassment or violence. 

Richards, who played women’s lacrosse at Bucknell from 1997-2001, claims that she never had an experience with any Title IX coordinator, but she did feel very supported by the community of the school, especially by her teammates and coaches. Richards also said that it was “all fair from my perspective,” regarding equality between female and male sports. Both the men and women’s lacrosse teams “had a great field to use in the fall and spring, and during the winter our practices would rotate with the men’s lacrosse team,… and that rotated all winter until we could get back outside. We were treated and supported exactly as the men were.” 

Lewis, who was a dual sport athlete at Colby College, in both lacrosse and field hockey, said that she was given all the same opportunities as the male athletic programs at Colby and felt very included within her team. At the time, Title IX had been implemented for twenty years, so Lewis felt that everyone on campus was aware of the policy, and there was very little discrimination. Lewis’ coach at Colby had shared her own experience, and what her athletic career was like before Title IX. Lewis says that “women before Title IX did not have the budget for coaching, proper uniforms, and transportation.  [And] it was really up to the players to organize their seasons.” Lewis then followed with explaining that, “My experience was so different; by the 1990s, the women at Colby were treated like the men.  For example: When the college renovated the field house, the women got the nicer locker rooms. The men’s and women’s ice hockey teams shared the best ice time.” 

Turner, who is currently committed to play lacrosse at Harvard, says that while she talked to the coach, she highly emphasized the team camaraderie of both the boys and girls lacrosse teams and the sharing of fields and training facilities. “From what I’ve been told about the boys and girls lacrosse teams at Harvard, they are very equal. The two teams share the same weight room and practice fields, and both play in the big stadium. Additionally, they have the same budget. I also know that, socially, the two teams are very close knit and often have team dinners together.” All three interviewees collectively agreed that because of the safe environment that was provided, they all had great experiences with their respective sports teams and created the most memorable moments of their athletic careers.

Turner attacking the goal at a home game. Photo credit: Meredith Turner.

To get a bystander perspective of what gender discrimination looked like as an athlete who was never discriminated against, I interviewed my father, orthopedic salesman Rod Ferguson. Ferguson played football at Wake Forest University from 1985 to 1990. Prior to his years at Wake, Ferguson attended Halifax County Senior High School, a small high school in South Boston, Virginia, where he noticed many instances of gender discrimination. 

“Overall, there was a much greater importance put towards the boys athletics over the girls. Most of the money spent was put towards the boys’ cleats, uniforms, and fields.” Ferguson recalled that the high school never allowed for a girls soccer team to be formed, so “one girl, I can’t recall her name now, had protested to be on the boys soccer team because soccer was her sport. There was no one that could tell her no, so she jumped right into the team.” 

Later, when he attended Wake Forest, he claimed that the inequality never was brought to many of the athletes’ attention, since Title IX was implemented and well known, but there was some “unsaid priority” over female athletics. Again, most of the field space was given to the boys’ football or soccer teams, while the girls field hockey team would have a stricter practice schedule due to lack of field space. “Looking back, there were no girls that were negligent and frustrated with mistreatment, but I do feel sorry for bumping girls off of the fields so we could practice, as well as using the girls buses to carry all of the football team when we traveled. As being a father of two young girls, I [idolize] female athletics tremendously. It is really impressive how there are so many female athletes that are stronger, faster and tougher than some of the male athletes I know.” 

My dad is one of my valuable supporters through all of my athletic achievements, and for that I am so grateful. He used to drive me every morning at four to get to swim practice on time. And after a long weekend of lacrosse, he would greet me with a foam roller and then continue to show me some of the videos he took of my playing. When I continue to the collegiate level, whether it be swimming or lacrosse, I will always remember my dad’s support, and how he cares for my success, even when I fail. 

“Because I was a woman, I’ve had critics say I [would] never win another grand slam when I was only at no. 7- and here I stand today with 21 Grand Slam titles, and I’m still going.” – Serena Williams

Serena Williams. Photo credit: Al Bello/Getty Images.

At one time, people assumed that Serena Williams, a world renowned champion and mother of one, would be unable to pursue a record that has never been done before by any female. But with her own dedication, failure, and positivity about being a female athlete, she has been able to prove the critics wrong. Not only has she achieved now 23 Grand Slams as a woman, but she has surpassed the record for both men and women. Because of female athletes like Williams, who shattered the glass ceiling of gender discrimination, there are many more young female athletes in the world who are looking to become the next best athlete. And because of Title IX, these young athletes are able to train and work to the best of their ability in a safe and equally served environment. Even today, while I am still training harder and harder for both swimming and lacrosse, a quote by Williams always resonates with me: “I always believe I can beat the best, achieve the best. I always see myself in the top position.”

Featured image: Pixabay user finelightarts.