{"id":379,"date":"2018-04-28T15:53:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-28T15:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/2018\/04\/28\/2018421add-success-subtract-recognition-womens-athletics-continue-to-compete-for-equal-opportunity\/"},"modified":"2020-09-05T19:44:21","modified_gmt":"2020-09-05T19:44:21","slug":"2018421add-success-subtract-recognition-womens-athletics-continue-to-compete-for-equal-opportunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/2018\/04\/28\/2018421add-success-subtract-recognition-womens-athletics-continue-to-compete-for-equal-opportunity\/","title":{"rendered":"Add success, subtract recognition: women&#8217;s athletics continue to compete for equal opportunity"},"content":{"rendered":"<div\n        class=\"\n          image-block-outer-wrapper\n          layout-caption-below\n          design-layout-inline\n          \n          \n          \n        \"\n        data-test=\"image-block-inline-outer-wrapper\"\n    ><\/p>\n<figure\n            class=\"\n              sqs-block-image-figure\n              intrinsic\n            \"\n            style=\"max-width:2000.0px;\"\n        ><\/p>\n<div\n              \n                style=\"padding-bottom:66.64999389648438%;\"\n              \n              class=\"\n                image-block-wrapper\n                \n          \n        \n                has-aspect-ratio\n              \"\n              data-animation-role=\"image\"\n              \n  data-animation-override\n\n          ><br \/>\n            <noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/rugby-celly.jpg\" alt=\"Image via Quinnipiacbobcats.com\" \/><\/noscript><img class=\"thumb-image\" data-src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/rugby-celly.jpg\" data-image=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/rugby-celly.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"2000x1333\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" alt=\"Image via Quinnipiacbobcats.com\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"5ade3920352f53e474703d60\" data-type=\"image\" \/>\n          <\/div><figcaption class=\"image-caption-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-caption\">\n<p>Image via Quinnipiacbobcats.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>By Bill Ruocco<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, December 1, 2016, Quinnipiac women\u2019s rugby players were celebrating their second consecutive national title in the cafeteria of Quinnipiac\u2019s main campus. Joy filled the room-they had done it again with a victory over Central Washington to bring the title back to Hamden. Everything was good, except for one thing: John Lahey, current president of Quinnipiac, was nowhere to be seen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said he shook hands with us and everything but he wasn\u2019t actually present,\u201d said Flora Poole, a senior at Quinnipiac who played four years of rugby. \u201cIt\u2019s [President Lahey\u2019s support] that is like one extra thing we haven\u2019t gotten or accomplished yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>President Lahey\u2019s office could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Hillary Haldane, an anthropology professor with a focus in gender studies, echoed this same sentiment.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;All the things that women do and get no credit for, it&#8217;s no different with sports. You hold up and value what the people in power hold up and value,\u201d said Haldane. \u201cThe fact that our president goes to the men\u2019s games and doesn\u2019t go to the women\u2019s games is appalling. Your job as the president his to simply act like you care about something.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Other female athletes say they feel the same way \u2013 &nbsp;regardless of success or accomplishment, the lack of recognition for women\u2019s athletics at Quinnipiac will continue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn my almost four years of being here there has definitely been a blind eye to the success of the women&#8217;s teams,\u201d said Mackenzie Merkel, a senior member of Quinnipiac women\u2019s indoor track and field. \u201cThere have been national champions, records broken, huge upsets, but the cycle continues as none of it gets the recognition it truly deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite the victories and consistent success inequality prevails when it comes to women\u2019s athletics at Quinnipiac. There is an argument to be made that women\u2019s rugby is the most successful sport at the school. However, the exposure the team gets and the following it attracts do not reflect that.<\/p>\n<div\n        class=\"\n          image-block-outer-wrapper\n          layout-caption-below\n          design-layout-inline\n          \n          \n          \n        \"\n        data-test=\"image-block-inline-outer-wrapper\"\n    ><\/p>\n<figure\n            class=\"\n              sqs-block-image-figure\n              intrinsic\n            \"\n            style=\"max-width:1843.0px;\"\n        ><\/p>\n<div\n              \n                style=\"padding-bottom:56.2669563293457%;\"\n              \n              class=\"\n                image-block-wrapper\n                \n          \n        \n                has-aspect-ratio\n              \"\n              data-animation-role=\"image\"\n              \n  data-animation-override\n\n          ><br \/>\n            <noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/rugby-running.jpg\" alt=\"Image via Quinnipiacbobcats.com\" \/><\/noscript><img class=\"thumb-image\" data-src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/rugby-running.jpg\" data-image=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/rugby-running.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"1843x1037\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" alt=\"Image via Quinnipiacbobcats.com\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"5ade395ff950b727bc6f1015\" data-type=\"image\" \/>\n          <\/div><figcaption class=\"image-caption-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-caption\">\n<p>Image via Quinnipiacbobcats.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe coverage of the sports are different,\u201d &nbsp;said Taylor Schussler, another senior who has played her last rugby game for Quinnipiac. \u201cI think if you\u2019re breaking down coverage it shouldn\u2019t be based off of what&#8217;s the most popular sport.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What Schussler is saying is that although the women\u2019s rugby team is more successful than most sports here, it does not get the coverage that the others do. Lack of recognition and support for women\u2019s athletics is not limited to Quinnipiac, it also extends to the rest of the NCAA.<\/p>\n<p>This inequality stems in part from a lack of opportunity to compete in the first place. Without the opportunity to play, a lot of these women athletes do not even get the chance to earn support.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven though female students comprise 57 percent of college student populations, female athletes received only 43 percent of participation opportunities at NCAA schools which is 63,241 fewer participation opportunities than their male counterparts,\u201d according to an NCAA publication cited by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.womenssportsfoundation.org\/research\/article-and-report\/elite-athletes\/pay-inequity\/\">the Women\u2019s Sports Foundation from 2014<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<div\n        class=\"\n          image-block-outer-wrapper\n          layout-caption-below\n          design-layout-inline\n          \n          \n          \n        \"\n        data-test=\"image-block-inline-outer-wrapper\"\n    ><\/p>\n<figure\n            class=\"\n              sqs-block-image-figure\n              intrinsic\n            \"\n            style=\"max-width:707.0px;\"\n        ><\/p>\n<div\n              \n                style=\"padding-bottom:58.27439880371094%;\"\n              \n              class=\"\n                image-block-wrapper\n                \n          \n        \n                has-aspect-ratio\n              \"\n              data-animation-role=\"image\"\n              \n  data-animation-override\n\n          ><br \/>\n            <noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/opportunity-new.png\" alt=\"Graphic by Bill Ruocco\" \/><\/noscript><img class=\"thumb-image\" data-src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/opportunity-new.png\" data-image=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/opportunity-new.png\" data-image-dimensions=\"707x412\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" alt=\"Graphic by Bill Ruocco\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"5ade342daa4a99380e0996bd\" data-type=\"image\" \/>\n          <\/div><figcaption class=\"image-caption-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-caption\">\n<p>Graphic by Bill Ruocco<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Even with Title IX in place, there is still a vast discrepancy in the opportunities that men get in sports in comparison to women. And even when women get the opportunity to play, the amount of financial aid granted to men and women athletes remains unequal.<\/p>\n<div\n        class=\"\n          image-block-outer-wrapper\n          layout-caption-below\n          design-layout-inline\n          \n          \n          \n        \"\n        data-test=\"image-block-inline-outer-wrapper\"\n    ><\/p>\n<figure\n            class=\"\n              sqs-block-image-figure\n              intrinsic\n            \"\n            style=\"max-width:758.0px;\"\n        ><\/p>\n<div\n              \n                style=\"padding-bottom:64.37995147705078%;\"\n              \n              class=\"\n                image-block-wrapper\n                \n          \n        \n                has-aspect-ratio\n              \"\n              data-animation-role=\"image\"\n              \n  data-animation-override\n\n          ><br \/>\n            <noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/scholarship-new.png\" alt=\"Graphic by Bill Ruocco\" \/><\/noscript><img class=\"thumb-image\" data-src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/scholarship-new.png\" data-image=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/scholarship-new.png\" data-image-dimensions=\"758x488\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" alt=\"Graphic by Bill Ruocco\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"5ade3475562fa7d99a41c2c1\" data-type=\"image\" \/>\n          <\/div><figcaption class=\"image-caption-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-caption\">\n<p>Graphic by Bill Ruocco<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cAlthough the gap has narrowed, male athletes still receive 55 percent of NCAA college athletic scholarship dollars (Divisions I and II), leaving only 45 percent allocated to women,\u201d the 2014 NCAA publication stated.<\/p>\n<p>Title IX implies that men\u2019s and women\u2019s athletics will receive the same opportunities both financially and substantially. That is not what the report reveals.<\/p>\n<p>According to Attorney Felice Duffy, a New Haven attorney specializing in title 9 suits, it is not uncommon for schools to not fully comply with Title IX.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think any school has ever had to fully comply with what Title IX needs, they just come up with some type of settlement. I mean, you\u2019re familiar with the situation at [Quinnipiac],\u201d said Duffy.<\/p>\n<p>Back in 2009, a lawsuit was filed by members of the women&#8217;s volleyball team after Quinnipiac announced that it would eliminate the team in favor of competitive cheer, which since has been renamed acrobatics and tumbling. Quinnipiac ended up settling after the judge ruled competitive cheering to not be a sport and the school agreed to spend more money on facilities and equipment for women\u2019s \u201csports of emphasis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Differences in finances for men\u2019s and women\u2019s sports, Title IX or not, have always been a problem.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is no clause in Title IX that says \u2018except if one gender generates more revenue than the other,\u2019\u201d Andrew Zimbalist pointed out in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/03\/26\/opinion\/the-ncaas-women-problem.html\">a 2016 New York Times article<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A very good example of gender disparities in athletics is a comparison of the University Of Connecticut men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball programs. The women\u2019s basketball program at UCONN is one of the best, if not the best, women\u2019s basketball team ever, winning four consecutive national titles from 2013 to 2016 and 11 altogether. The women\u2019s program also owns the two longest win streaks, irrespective of gender, in college basketball history.<\/p>\n<p>The men\u2019s program has won four national titles total in its existence. Nevertheless, the men\u2019s team still attracts about 2,000 more fans than the women\u2019s program to every home game.<\/p>\n<p>In the 2014-2015 season, the UCONN men\u2019s basketball program averaged 10,687 fans at every home game. The women, on the other hand, averaged 8,216 fans per home game.<\/p>\n<p>All together, in the 2016-2017 season, NCAA Division One women\u2019s basketball had an average attendance of 1,538 per home game. NCAA Division One men\u2019s basketball had an average of 4,633 fans in attendance per home game. The disparity is not lost on women athletes.<\/p>\n<div\n        class=\"\n          image-block-outer-wrapper\n          layout-caption-below\n          design-layout-inline\n          \n          \n          \n        \"\n        data-test=\"image-block-inline-outer-wrapper\"\n    ><\/p>\n<figure\n            class=\"\n              sqs-block-image-figure\n              intrinsic\n            \"\n            style=\"max-width:931.0px;\"\n        ><\/p>\n<div\n              \n                style=\"padding-bottom:29.967775344848633%;\"\n              \n              class=\"\n                image-block-wrapper\n                \n          \n        \n                has-aspect-ratio\n              \"\n              data-animation-role=\"image\"\n              \n  data-animation-override\n\n          ><br \/>\n            <noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Enterprise.png\" alt=\"Graphic by Bill Ruocco\" \/><\/noscript><img class=\"thumb-image\" data-src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Enterprise.png\" data-image=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Enterprise.png\" data-image-dimensions=\"931x279\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" alt=\"Graphic by Bill Ruocco\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"5ade34ad352f53e4746f1133\" data-type=\"image\" \/>\n          <\/div><figcaption class=\"image-caption-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-caption\">\n<p>Graphic by Bill Ruocco<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is obvious that there is a big difference in attendance between men\u2019s and women\u2019s sporting events,\u201d said Mackenzie Merkel, a senior on the women\u2019s track and field team at Quinnipiac.<\/p>\n<p>Haldane compared the difference in interest in men\u2019s and women\u2019s athletics to the attitude of the restaurant industry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI look at sports as no different. Women are good and competent.. can make a mean stew, but it doesn\u2019t come out of that five-star restaurant,\u201d Haldane said.<\/p>\n<p>Though the difference in attendance is glaring, the female athletes here have learned to focus on the task at hand rather than dwell on the negatives.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe get a lot of support from the people that we care about,\u201d Schussler said. \u201cIn my time here I have learned to not put a lot of emphasis on the outside support of the people that we don\u2019t care about.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Attorney Duffy believes that no matter how much we worry about attendance or financial attention, the problem is deeper with women\u2019s athletics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll these things you\u2019re talking about, we don\u2019t pay as much attention, we don\u2019t need a new stadium because of lack of attendance, is all putting the cart before the horse because if they actually supported them the way they supported men\u2019s, it would change the culture and people would look at them the same way,\u201d Duffy said.<\/p>\n<p>This inequality is a problem that players say still bugs them. But some players say that hope is on the horizon for their beloved sport and women\u2019s athletics in general.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can see the following grow, even how small it was, incrementally over the years,\u201d said Tricia Fabbri, head coach of the Quinnipiac women\u2019s basketball. \u201cWith the platform that social media has, it has allowed us to grow our fanbase \u2026 At each home game it has gotten better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even locally the support has picked up, with someone noticing this<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/QURugby\/status\/935178693579812864\"> billboard<\/a> on 91 this past November.<\/p>\n<p>Haldane believes that journalism is a great starting point to attack this problem.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think student journalism can help a lot, you create the news that&#8217;s fit to print,\u201d said Haldane. \u201cIf women\u2019s lives and stories and women\u2019s sports gets printed, it sets a tone for what people are going to think is normal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Women athletes are waiting not only for steady attendance, but also the attention and support from their school that they think they deserve. Incremental growth in both attendance and support is key for women\u2019s athletics at Quinnipiac, according to women\u2019s athletes and coaches.&nbsp;It is on it\u2019s way, but just at it\u2019s own pace.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere has definitely been a great improvement this year with getting the other sports event out there via Instagram,\u201d Merkel said. \u201cI just think its not much of an interest to the students who come out to those things because there isn&#8217;t as much hype around it \u2026 I hope [recognition] happens sooner rather than later but I do think it will take some time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Thursday, December 1, 2016, Quinnipiac women\u2019s rugby players were celebrating their second consecutive national title in the cafeteria of Quinnipiac\u2019s main campus. Joy filled the room-they had done it again with a victory over Central Washington to bring the title back to Hamden. Everything was good, except for one thing: John Lahey, current president of Quinnipiac, was nowhere to be seen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":380,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66,5,142,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-capstone-projects","category-hamden","category-homepage","category-quinnipiac"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2710,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379\/revisions\/2710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}