How the law shaped one woman’s life
(Editor’s Note: Ann Meyers Drysdale was the first woman to receive an athletic scholarship at UCLA. The Hall of Famer, longtime TV basketball analyst, and mother of three kids shares how Title IX has helped shape her life and career)
I am one of 11 children, with five sisters and five brothers. I was a 1972 sophomore in high school in La Habra, California, playing seven sports when Title IX was passed. A law of 37 words that became the calling card for girls and women in sports.
Heading into 1973, I was so wrapped up with school activities, thinking about boys, learning to drive, hearing about Vietnam War, ERA, Civil Rights, and watching my older sister Patty play sports to understand what Title IX would mean for me.
But in the 50 years Title IX has been in existence, it has opened doors for me and thousands of other women, though a handful of women traveled a more difficult road to show what was possible before the legislation was passed.
I got to see women competing at a very high level because of my sister. She played three sports at Cal State Fullerton and won the 1970 national basketball championship under Coach Billie Moore.
I remember Billie Jean King (BJK) beating Bobby Riggs in a historic nationally televised tennis match, which helped liberate women all over the country. BJK and Donna de Varona would start the Women’s Sports Foundation when I was a senior in 1974, and I was excited to be asked to be a part of it.
I was also excited about being the only high school player to be named to the USA women’s national basketball team.
It was all part of a life-changing year for me because of Title IX.
My brother David played basketball at UCLA and he came home one summer weekend in 1974 with his roommate Kenny Washington, who had returned to UCLA to go to law school before being named the new Bruins women’s basketball coach. They asked me if I wanted to go to UCLA on a basketball scholarship.
With Title IX, I became the first woman to receive a full athletic scholarship to UCLA. I would also compete in track (my first love) and volleyball.
Both David and Kenny played for “Papa” (Coach John Wooden).
I was playing on the national team — that would become the first U.S. women’s basketball team to play in the Olympics at the 1976 Montreal Games — when I got to watch the Bruins and my brother win the 1975 NCAA championship. I wanted to have the same excited feeling.
I believe to this day, that if I didn’t go to UCLA, myself and women’s basketball would NOT have received the attention that we did back in the 1970s.
Yes, my brother and I made for a good story but my teammates and I were much more than a feel-good story — we could play. And Coach Wooden, who “validated” the women’s game, gave our program credibility.
I held 12 of the 13 school records when I graduated with a sociology degree, and had won championships with both track and basketball.
I would stay amateur to play in the 1980 Olympics, but then I was invited to have an NBA tryout with the Indiana Pacers. Dave was playing then for the Milwaukee Bucks.
What an opportunity of a lifetime! And one that would not have been possible without Title IX.
But Title IX isn’t just about sports, it’s about equal education and opportunity, prohibiting sex-based discrimination.
I would meet my future husband Don Drysdale and have 3 children (our two sons, DJ and Darren, plus our daughter Drew). Our daughter would compete on UCLA’S track team.
I am in 20 Halls of Fames, a national speaker on women’s sports, and continue to work in the game I love. In 2007, I was hired by the WNBA’S Phoenix Mercury to be their general manager. The team would win two titles and a third when I was Mercury vice president, while also working with the NBA’S Phoenix Suns.
I believe in order for Title IX to continue for another 50 years, that parents and coaches need to educate their daughters and sons, on what this law means and the importance of its existence for their futures.