Title IX levels playing field at Pitt

It’s a cold, early-October night.

Michelle Phalen, Pitt’s head softball coach, is bundled… It’s a cold, early-October night.

Michelle Phalen, Pitt’s head softball coach, is bundled in her Panthers jacket, standing along the sidelines of Founders Field and rooting for the women’s soccer team.

Surrounding her are athletes, coaches and parents who were all affected in some way or another by a piece of legislation passed 32 years ago, Title IX, the goal of which is to promote equality between women and men in collegiate and high school athletics.

“Title IX, to me, really means opportunity for athletes,” Phalen said enthusiastically. “I think every one of the girls at the University of Pittsburgh have benefited from it one way or another.”

It has many benefits for women, as Phalen said, because Title IX requires the ratio of male athletes to female athletes to be close to the ratio of male to female undergraduates. But there is an unfortunate downside: It may force schools to make sacrifices on the men’s side. Four years ago, Pitt placed roster restrictions on several of its men’s sports programs. This academic year, the caps are at their lowest marks ever in all of Pitt’s men’s sports.

In contrast, the women’s programs have had goals placed on them.

“We’ve been kind of working our way toward the ultimate numbers, which are in place this year,” Donna Sanft said. Sanft is Pitt’s associate athletics director for student life and compliance, and she’s been working with the roster restrictions for the past three years. Her department refers to the restrictions as “roster management.”

She explained how all schools have chosen different options when it comes to complying with Title IX. One option that Pitt had was cutting a men’s team, but it was an option the administration did not feel they would have to take.

“Dropping a sport was something we wanted to avoid at all costs,” Athletics Director Jeff Long said.

“The administration feels confident that they can meet the goals we’re using with roster management procedure, without having to make any additions or deletions to teams,” Sanft said.

A second option is adding a women’s team, which has been done in other schools in the Big East Conference, but it was not in the budget for Pitt.

“Adding teams and hiring coaches and all that is a very expensive proposition,” Sanft admitted.

The final option available to schools is to implement roster restrictions, as Pitt has done. Pitt administrators conform to the Title IX rules by looking at national averages while setting caps and goals. Sanft explained that for the men’s teams, Pitt finds the national roster average and aims for a number below that average. With the women’s teams, administrators will shoot for a number above the national roster average.

“The administration is trying not to be in a position where anybody has to make a tough decision about cutting any men’s sport,” Sanft said.

Although Title IX influences Pitt athletics, the Pitt men’s coaches generally agree that the roster restrictions do not severely affect their programs.

“They’re part of reality,” said Chuck Knoles, coach of the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams at Pitt. His men’s roster cannot exceed 28 athletes this season, while he can have as many as 31 athletes on his women’s roster.

“With all the benefits with Title IX, we can take a few hits these next few years,” Knoles said.

Participation in women’s sports has risen dramatically since the early 1970s, when Title IX was enacted. In the past 15 years, the increase has been even greater.

This year, Phalen saw a great turnout of women seeking to play Panther softball.

“We’ve had the most kids ever come out for Pitt softball this year,” Phalen said, adding with a smile, “I don’t know if it’s a Title IX issue, but they’ve asked us to keep our numbers up. We’re going to carry 20 [players], and there’s not one girl on the team I’m keeping just because it’s a number.”

Phalen explained one criticism of Title IX.

“That’s where some people may look at it and say, ‘They just need to keep their numbers up,'” she said.

To her, and to the Panther athletics department, this is not true.

Many criticisms of the legislation come from the casualties of Title IX. Since the act was passed, a number of schools have had to take more severe measures and cut men’s programs.

Pitt’s head wrestling coach, Rande Stottlemyer, does not get too upset when he has to cut a few players.

“The alternative is worse,” he said, referring to the cutting of programs.

His team has had a cap of 30, which forces him to cut at least two players from his roster of 32 this season. But Stottlemyer understands the big picture.

“You’re talking to a guy who is the father of four daughters,” Stottlemyer said proudly, adding that all his daughters play sports. One of them, Rebecca Stottlemyer, is a freshman utility player on the Pitt softball team this year. Another one of his daughters, Tara, is a sophomore defender and midfielder for Lehigh University’s women’s soccer team.

But Stottlemyer said the legislation could backfire for women.

“You may, in the long run, limit women’s sports by cutting men’s,” Stottlemyer said.

Title IX works to keep numbers representative for both genders, so if men’s teams continue to be cut, women’s sports may have to begin cutting players to avoid becoming disproportionate.

But Pitt is looking to expand, not contract.

Long said that Pitt’s goal is to build the programs by raising funds.

“We raised $3.8 million last year; highest in Pitt history,” he said.

Long believes that through annual fund-raising events, Pitt sporting programs can prosper. Pitt is making efforts to do so, including through the summer hiring of Mike Pratapas, who is known for his ability to raise funds during his tenure at Rice University.

“Bringing Mike was [done] to bolster fundraising,” Long said.

But until then, Pitt will have to work with what it has, which track and field head coach Alonzo Webb understands.

“If you’re given parameters, you work within them,” he said.