Women's sports have come a long way in the last 50 years

When I was in high school you could count the number of girls sports on one hand. Actually you didn't even need the hand. There were none. Not one sport existed for any girl that might want to participate.My, have times changed.The inspiration for this column involved several things. First was the winter sports tab provided by the A-T. Then there was the NCAA volleyball championships. Last, but not least, was the ejection of Philadelphia's Joel Embid in the first half of an NBA game this week. You will see shortly why that event had me thinking about the distaff side.My alma mater may have been a little slow to allow sports for girls. Fifty-plus years ago Attica High School had zero. However, I remember my mother talking about playing field hockey in high school and that was in the 1930's! I cannot tell you with any kind of reassuring accuracy which girls sports were first added to area high schools, but here are some thoughts.The earliest girls high school sports included volleyball, basketball and softball during the fall, winter and spring. Track would be added and soon cross country. I can see why cross country came a little later. When I was a freshman in high school, I was not allowed to participate as running the full TWO MILES was considered too far for a frosh to run. Kind of makes you laugh today, doesn't it?In more recent years tennis, soccer, swimming, bowling and wrestling have found their way into athletic programs. Girls have choices now and I think that's great.These sports did not happen overnight. I recall the GAA or Girls Athletic Association. When I was teaching one year I was in charge of the GAA basketball program. It was not sanctioned, but the kids did play against competition from different schools. After the game, both teams met in the cafeteria for milk and cookies.I vividly recall one of my students coming to me in tears during the school day as she had forgotten to tell her mother that it was her turn to bring the cookies. Yes indeed, girls sports has come a long way.When I peruse the sports tab each season, I look for different things. Maybe some old friends who are still coaching. I also look for numbers as some schools struggle to field full teams in many sports.There was one thing that got my attention when this year's winter sports tab came out. That was the number of schools that were fielding girls wrestling programs. This has to be the hottest new sport going. Schools no longer have an athlete or two that has taken up the sport of wrestling, but have full teams with a wrestler for nearly every weight class.Over the years as I looked at the rosters for our local colleges, all of the female wrestlers came from out of the area or even from other states. That, it appears, will no longer be the case. I always enjoy seeing local high school athletes try to make their mark at Heidelberg or Tiffin University. Perhaps that group will include female wrestlers in the near future.Another way to see how girls sports have evolved is to look at officials. When I played sports in high school there were virtually no female officials. Considering there were no girls sports, that made sense. When I coached girls basketball in the early 1980's few female officials were plying their trade.Two exceptions to that were Linda Depinet and Dana Danhoff. Both of these ladies were excellent officials, but there were few other women that worked the games. That has changed, particularly at the college and professional level. In today's world, it is not uncommon to see female officials in a variety of sports including volleyball, basketball and yes, even football.When you watch women's collegiate basketball, it is usual to have two (if not all three) of the referees be women. A female college football or NFL official? You bet. So when Joel Embid was ejected for arguing (vehemently, I might add) a call this week, it was interesting to see the young lady T him up and toss him from the game. A long way indeed. This year's NCAA volleyball national championships was a historic event. First of all, the four teams were from two conferences. The ACC was represented by Pittsburgh and Louisville. The Big Ten had Penn State and Nebraska. Louisville won its semifinal match over Pitt and Penn State topped Nebraska in the other semifinal.So it would be the Big Ten versus the ACC for the title. It was also going to be the first ever female head coach to win a national title. Dani Busboom Kelly was on the sidelines for Louisville who would be playing at home as the KFC Yum!Center was hosting the finals.Penn State's coach was Katie Schumacher-Cawley. So indeed a female coach would be taking home the trophy for the first time. The Nittany Lions would prevail 3-1 and history was made. But it wasn't that simple.Schumacher-Cawley announced in October that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She would continue to coach while undergoing chemotherapy. To win a national championship under such trying circumstances is incredible.This story proves that women's sports have come a long way. It also proves something else. As much hard work, sweat and effort go into sports it is important that we remember it is just a game. There are other things that are more important.Such as life itself!