Open Letter to TriEqual's Founders, Volunteers and Supporters

An open letter to TriEqual’s founders, volunteers and supporters:

I am writing this letter as a 62-year-old woman who didn’t know that an athlete was living inside of her until two years ago.  Why?  Because women my age attended high school prior to the passage of Title IX in 1972.  We had no opportunity to participate in competitive sports, no opportunity to discover whether or not we liked competitive sports, and no opportunity to learn if we had any skills as an athlete.

Not only were there no competitive sports, the curriculum in PE classes was differentiated based on gender.  I remember boys going to the gym to play basketball while the girls went to the home economics classroom to square dance.  Women my age just had no way of discovering if we liked or had a knack for competitive sports when we were in school.

As a fifteen-year-old in 1968, I was part of the first basketball game that girls in my school ever played against girls in another school.  We didn’t have a coach, practices, uniforms, a referee, or a team bus.  We did have a PE teacher who was a courageous pioneer.  Our mothers drove us to the game and we wore our "flamingo pink" PE outfits.  I remember our PE teacher being SO excited.  At the time, I didn’t understand why this was such a momentous occasion.  Now I do.

Looking back, I am so proud of my PE teacher and the others who were champions for women in athletics.  I remember the debate.  It was emotional and sometimes ugly.  People said that sports made girls physically unattractive and would hurt their reproductive organs.  Girls who wanted to compete were thought to be strange.  Even though I wasn’t participating in sports, I remember my mother warning me that sports would give me huge shoulders and make me ugly, unattractive to boys.  Men were angry.  They argued that Title IX discriminated against men.  They said that since there were more boys involved in sports, it just made sense that there should be more athletic scholarships for boys (sound familiar?).  It was not an easy debate. 

I started teaching high school right after Title IX was passed.  At that time, everyone believed that 1) coaches in schools must also be teachers, and 2) it was not appropriate for girls to be coached by men.  Since there had never been girls sports, none of the female teachers had experience with sports or coaching.  Perhaps understandably, none of them wanted to coach.  I ended up coaching everything – volleyball, basketball, track – even though I had no experience in any of those sports and no experience in coaching.  When men were finally allowed to coach girls, the men that did so were harassed and called sissies.  They were not viewed as "real" coaches.  The first male coaches were also pioneers.  Thank goodness things have changed.  But unfortunately, inequities still exist in high school and collegiate sports.

Fast forward to 2013.  Imagine my surprise when, at age 60, I discovered that I could swim, bike and run.  I had no idea!  Imagine my shock, when I swam over a woman during a race in 2014 and discovered I liked it!  As a somewhat gentle person, I had no idea where this "beast" came from.  At first, that feeling scared me.  Later, I realize this is what competing feels like.  Cool.  Imagine my total disbelief when, at age 62, I finished 11^th at USAT Nationals and qualified for the 2016 Sprint Triathlon World Championship in Cozumel.  Even as I write this, I shake my head in disbelief.  All I can say is, thank goodness for the pioneers who supported Title IX.  Without them, I might still be square dancing!  I love triathlon and feel so fortunate to be able to participate.

And that brings me to the purpose of this letter.  I’m sure that when my PE teacher and others were supporting Title IX in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, they had no idea how appreciative a 62-year-old grandma would be in 2016.  Like them, you are also pioneers as you support your mission to instill "fairness, progress, and equality in the sport of triathlon."

I know you put time and energy into this fight because you love your sport.  But I also know that you are doing so because it is the right thing to do.  It's about social justice.  When the debate is frustrating, when the progress is slow, remember that there is a grandma in Indiana who appreciates your courage and all you do.  And . . . remember that forty-five years from now, there will be another grandma, someone just like me, who appreciates you too.

Warm regards,

Sue Reynolds