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Lagging behind

Female athletes trail their male counterparts when it comes to money spent on sports.

By Dave Benson of The News-Sentinel



News-Sentinel photo
Shannon KelleyShannon Kelley graduated from Northrop High School in the spring of 2000 as one of the school's top female track athletes. Kelley has since taken her talent to Purdue University, where the athletics department spends over twice as much on the men's teams as on the women's.

Purdue's Shannon Kelley is not the kind of person who is used to finishing in second place.

She was a state champion and set a state record in the 100-meter hurdles her senior season at Northrop High School. She graduated at the top of her class in 2000.

Now that Kelley is in college, though, she's had to get used to lagging behind in some areas.

Kelley and her fellow female student-athletes trail their male counterparts when it comes to participation in sports and the amount of money spent on female athletics.

For example, females make up 50.1 percent of the

undergraduate population at Big 10 schools, but only 47.3 percent of the athletes. Nationwide, females make up 54 percent of the undergraduate population and 40 percent of athletes.

Females are even further disadvantaged monetarily:

* Female athletes at Big 10 schools receive 42.4 percent of scholarship dollars.

Statewide they receive 2.9 percent fewer scholarship dollars than men.

* Female athletes benefit from only 30.5 percent of the athletic budgets at Big 10 schools and 36.2 percent statewide.

"We've got a long way to go," said Sandy Barbour, senior associate athletic director at the University of Notre Dame. "As an industry, we've made wonderful strides with proportionality of participation and the number of sports offered. That's where people looked first to correct inequity.

"But from an operational standpoint, men's programs have been going on far longer. There have been long-standing traditions for men's programs that women haven't established yet. That makes it easier for them to get more money."

Colleges and universities are beginning to address the situation.

Barbour is part of Notre Dame's Title IX institutional task force. Title IX issues are addressed by the student services departments at Purdue and other Big 10 schools.

"Student services is a part of the athletic department," Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke said. "It's a group of people who look at academics, life skills, opportunities and compliance at all Big 10 schools.

"These are all athletic administrators who help keep a watch on the interests of student/athletes."

While female athletes trail their male counterparts monetarily, they have reached equality in other areas.

"We share our weight room with the football players," Purdue's Kelley said.

"We share the same coaches. By no means do they get favored. Whoever is in there gets priority at that moment. I'm very happy about that. I never feel like I'm getting ignored. In the training room, everyone gets paid attention."

There have been similar changes made in the academic realm as well. There was once a time when female athletes struggled to receive adequate academic support.

"There is one building we all go to," said Kelley of Purdue's academic support.

"Each team is given an academic adviser who makes sure everyone gets their stuff done. Everybody can get tutors. Now, coaches decide how many study tables they want, but everybody is monitored the same."