Nov 5, 2017 7 min read

This is the second in a three-part series about women in sports.

By the time she became the president of the WNBA, Val Ackerman had been given a front row seat on just how male-dominated the professional sports world was on a national and international level.

“The good news now is that things have changed,” said Ackerman, the commissioner of the Big East Conference. “If you look at it, there’s more gender equity, more women involved and challenging men for positions at the senior level. Internationally, it’s still terrible. Internationally, IOC (International Olympic Committee) affiliations are 50 years behind us.”

Ackerman is one of a growing number of female commissioners in college athletics. She has combined her keen business sense, law background and athletic background into a position of influence and power.

She previously was a staff attorney for the NBA.

“That was a time when there were very few women working in basketball,” she said. “There were some secretaries and a few in middle management.

“Even when I was president of the WNBA, the business was very male dominated. That was the way of the world.”

Robin Harris, executive director of the Ivy League, said that while the numbers have improved, the percentage of women in significant athletic administrative positions has not.

She credits Title IX for opening doors for female athletes, which in turn has paved a way for women to become coaches, administrators, commissioners and significant contributors to collegiate programs and professional franchises.

“Title IX has been the game-changer,” Harris said. “It goes beyond athletics. It shifted the whole paradigm. Title IX actually opened up opportunities for women in all fields.”

Harris said that without her going to law school, she would not be involved in her profession.

“(Employers) are more welcoming the more diverse one is,” Harris said. “I never looked at this as overcoming obstacles. To me, it was a natural progression, following my passion for college athletics.

“If you believe in the collegiate model – not just football and basketball – you apply your values, beliefs, hard work and leading people across all sports. It works, and being in the Ivy League seems natural to me.”

Hillary Jeffries, director of special projects for the National Football Foundation in Texas and a Mapletown High School graduate, said it is women such as Ackerman and Harris who have inspired young women to strive for positions of importance.

“You see what some of these ladies have accomplished, and are accomplishing, and it’s just amazing,” Jeffries said. “There is a huge participation of females in sports now.

“We are absolutely moving into a new age. Women are moving into positions that men have dominated. Many of these women have been in the trenches so long and they are lifting up other women with them.”

Katina Lee, senior director of operations at the Washington Nationals youth baseball academy, played softball at Harvard. She had a law degree and changed course because of her love of sports.

“For me, it is great to see these young people grow up and like sports,” Lee said. “The opportunities are there. I never experienced any negative kind of networks. The real key is putting in the time and making yourself indispensable. A lot of it is being in the right spot. Everyone wants in and no one wants to leave.”

Athletes to administrators

Many of the high-level female college administrators were athletes at the collegiate level.

Heather Lyke, athletic director at Pitt; Chrissi Rawak, athletic director at Delaware; and Mollie Marcoux, athletic director at Princeton; were athletes first. Chelsey Pryor, a Washington native and current associate athletics director, business affairs, at William & Mary, played golf at Bishop Canevin High School and for four years at the University of Kansas. The opportunity to play in college allowed them to gain knowledge about sports, team building and working together, which has helped each of them to achieve in athletic administration and compete with male and female counterparts for those types of positions.

“Part of it now is the opportunities women have in college athletics,” said Rawak, who was a swimmer at Michigan when Lyke was a Wolverines softball player. “And No. 2, even more than before, we’ve created a pipeline, an expansion for women and that’s how these experiences have been created.

“Expertise and experience helps strengthen one’s chances in gaining significant positions.”

Lyke said the open-mindedness of those in hiring positions makes for a more equitable process.

As women exhibit expertise, it only enhances the opportunities afforded to them when seeking more significant positions.

“It’s improving for women,” Lyke said. “I think a lot of open-minded leaders understand that different people bring different perspectives. It’s healthy to have different perspectives and other options. Women have led successful athletic departments. There’s not a volume of them, but those women have paved the way.

“There is no key recipe. We need to support other women and help each other, seeing each other as colleagues not competitors. Obviously, our industry is competitive by nature. Why not share our best ideas? We are competitors with Duke. But their donors are not our donors. Their fans are not our fans. But you can share your ideas to help one another.”

Bill Dukett is a former athletic director at Washington & Jefferson. He said the NCAA’s charge to increase opportunities for females and minorities has worked, to a point.

“The NCAA has tried to diversify,” Dukett said. “There are programs out there – good programs for young people who want to get involved.

“The ability and willingness to look beyond one particular group of people has ended. Exposure has now been given to more than just men.”

Marcoux, who was a standout in hockey and soccer at Princeton, is diverse and well-rounded. She is married with three children and has worked for Chelsea Piers Management, the company that owns and operates two world-class amateur sports complexes in New York and Connecticut.

“More participation in sports by girls and women helps grow the interest in education through athletics,” Marcoux said. “When interviewing for jobs, it never entered my mind that I was a woman going against men. I felt if I was qualified enough, I’d get the job. You figure out who you are and when the doors open, you walk through with confidence and expecting a lot of success, no matter who or what you are up against.

“It’s not a matter of if you can work with a man or if he’ll work for you. It’s a matter and question of can you listen and help people. I’ve had a lot of men work for me in my career. The people you work with want to know you care about them and can help them achieve the department or the teams’ goals.

“Those who hire are focusing on the value one can provide,” she said. “We’ve all benefited from this evolution, not just women but society. Giving women equal opportunity and necessary resources allows them to reach peak potential. People can see talent and the skills that exist in everyone.”

Pryor said the rise of female athletics has helped create a different environment. Women often grow up in sports competing against boys until reaching a certain age. The girls and women have worked hard to gain a level playing field and earn respect.

“The greatest part for females is that now we can look at these situations and opportunities and know these positions are just as attainable for us as our male counterparts,” said Pryor. “Everybody can evaluate and observe what some of these ladies have done and achieved. They put in the hours. They gained the expertise.

“If you have the determination, desire and drive to separate yourself and then accept a role, you are making yourself more attractive to would-be employers. Some are aspiring and many have proven and are proving to be just as qualified as one another or anyone else.

“Female sports are exciting. Our women’s basketball team at William & Mary is electric and we’re on television and doing live streaming, like any other sport.”