Hall-of-Fame athlete links Olympic success, Title IX

  Friday, August 19, 2016 2:00 AM
  News

Pittsburg, KS

As the U.S. women’s Olympic teams prepare to wrap up a historically successful Rio campaign this weekend, Sunny Pierce thinks back to a time not so long ago when women’s athletics was barely an afterthought.

Pierce, a physical education teacher at Girard High School, is a member of the Pittsburg State University Athletics Hall of Fame who held PSU’s all-time women’s basketball career scoring average when she graduated.

But as a youngster, in the days before Title IX, only boys got to play “real sports.”

“I grew up loving to play sports. I would beg my brothers and their friends to let me play. I would dream of 'playing for real,' and would play imaginary games, and win imaginary championships,” Pierce said at a 2012 Apple Day convocation.

Pierce said this week that she has loved watching the Olympic competition and gives much of the credit for the success of the women’s teams to the landmark Title IX legislation of 1972.

“One day in middle school my PE teacher told us about legislation called Title IX that would provide opportunities for girls in sports,” Pierce said at the convocation in 2012. “It seemed like she looked right at me and said, ‘This could change your life forever.’ My senior year of high school, we had our first girls basketball team. I came to PSU and continued to play.”

Pierce said the Olympics is just one of the reminders of how far women have come in the battle for equality in athletics. She said its something she thinks about when she walks through PSU’s Weede Building with her husband, John, a PSU football coach, and sees the renovations for both women’s and men’s programs.

“He was always so excited to show me the progress that was being made,” Pierce said. “There are improvements for both our young men AND women. It sends a message that all of them have a great opportunity to reach their potential, and fulfill their dreams. I think John was excited to show me, in particular, because he knows how much it means to me.”

Pierce said it has been a blessing to be part of the growth in opportunities for women in sports.

“Surely, it has made us better people, wives, mothers, friends, co-workers and leaders.”