Where Do Female Athletes Get Their Role Models? Exploring Women's Basketball In the U.S. From Inception to NIL

Tierra Freeman1,2,3

University of Dayton

300 College Park, Dayton, OH 45469

1. Department of Management and Marketing

2. Berry Summer Thesis Institute

3. University Honors Program

Thesis Mentor: Elizabeth Eichler

Department of Management and Marketing

Rationale

The original research goal was to explore the influences of role models young female basketball players and how having a female role model can influence future careers in basketball. This topic was chosen because I was heavily involved in the sports world but had little to no female influence available via media or in person, as a coach or mentor. Instead, I found role models elsewhere and applied their teachings and influence in the other areas of my life. However, I wondered if I had stronger female coaches, for example, would I have continued to play a game I love? While I was fortunate and able to find role models whose teachings applied to other aspects of my life, not every young girl has that advantage. My question is, as female athletics become more visible, how will that influence the next generation of female athletes?

Definition

The definition of a role model according to the Miriam Webster Dictionary is a person whose behavior in a particular role is imitated by others. Examples of role models can be coaches, teachers, and parents, and also athletes, actors, musicians, and celebrities. However, an idol according to the same source, is a representation or symbol of an object of worship or broadly, a false god. Idols are praised for their individual acts while role models motivate, support others in their growth and development, show great leadership, and encourage others to participate positively in teamwork and cooperation.

Background

Basketball was invented in 1891 by James Naismith, an instructor at Springfield College in Massachusetts. Basketball joined the pantheon of organized men’s sports, which have been sanctioned and socially encouraged, joining baseball which was founded in 1857, (Mary Bellis, 2019), men’s soccer--whose first organized league in the U.S. was in 1862 according to the U.S. Soccer website, https://www.ussoccer.com/history/timeline, men’s wrestling which goes back to antiquity, and more.

The first recorded women’s basketball game was played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts, and spread across colleges in the United States. The WNBA’s History of Women’s Basketball states that in 1936, the women’s team called The Red Heads toured the country playing exhibitions against men’s teams. “Team members were required to wear makeup, look beautiful and play well.” It was only in 1976 that women’s basketball was allowed in the Olympics.

A few important athletic organizations are the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) founded in 1971, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) which formed in 1906, and Title IX which was founded in 1972. The purpose of Title IX was to prohibit sex discrimination by colleges that receive federal funds. In 1971, the AIAW was founded to govern women’s collegiate athletics in the United States. This association evolved out of the Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (1917) and was one of the biggest advancements for women athletics on the collegiate level (Mattheesen, 2016). The AIAW had been the sole governing body of women’s athletic programs up until the 1980s.

In 1981 the NCAA ruled in favor of bringing women’s athletics into their governing body which prompted Title IX. William Rhoden says that while the two organizations had previously been in competition from 1981-1982, the NCAA eventually took the lead in 1983 and in the end, the AIAW discontinued their operations, and most member schools continued their women's athletics programs under the governance of the NCAA (W.C. Rhoden, 2022).

Research

In addition to secondary research, guided by University of Dayton librarian Bridget Retzloff, I also conducted primary research through interviews and observation. Interviews included in this research are Corinne Daprano, Chair, Department of Health & Sport Science and Araion Bradshaw graduate and former University of Dayton women’s basketball player, and current Surrey Sevenoak Suns player (Women’s British Basketball League) were interviewed. My goal is to interview more WNBA players to identify their role models (older Generation Z) and survey current middle school or high school players (younger Generation Z).

Observations include live WNBA games and streamed WNBA and NBA games. I collected observational data regarding total attendance, gender, age, ethnicity, on-site signage and other marketing and merchandise. I observed the discrepancies between the ESPN and ESPN-W websites regarding sportscasters, content, advertisement, quality of game and media, fan attire, pre-game, half time, post-game activities, attendance, and the overall look of the stadium or venue. I have also explored and tracked leading player’s social media.

Findings

1) While Title IX created many opportunities for women, it also created setbacks for women in leadership positions, while allowing men to profit.

Because of Title IX legislation, female athletes can now be coached by men. From 1998 to 2000, over 80 percent of coaching positions were filled by men (Marisa Greenburg, 2008). This means that 80% of those positions were assigned to men and caters to the problem of female participation in athletics continuously rising while the job opportunities for these ladies falls drastically behind. As men fill these coaching positions, opportunities for women fall drastically behind.

Historically, collegiate athletes have not been able to benefit from their NIL rights when in contract with the NCAA up until 2021. This has negatively affected the earning potential of women’s intercollegiate athletes. These athletes have had to pass on securing sponsorship dollars to compete in NCAA athletics or they have had to sacrifice their college education to pursue endorsement revenue.

However, coaches freely profit off of NIL rights as they are not subject to the same rules as the athletes and head male coaches have the highest paid positions in over 40 states (Dean Golembeski,

2022). Male coaches have the highest paid jobs across 40 states. This leaves researchers to question why women are not allotted the same opportunities and pay wage? After all, women candidates for these positions show greater intercollegiate playing experience than men and have longer playing careers than their competitors according to (E. J. Staurowsky, 2020).

2) There is a lack of awareness of the inequities faced by females in sports in transportation, facilities, marketing, scholarships, and human resources.

Men’s professional basketball teams use private or chartered transportation. Women use commercial planes and often travel by bus. The WNBA president Nneka Ogwumike recently submitted a statement regarding travel that proclaims that commercial travel remains a “significant burden on our players and their bodies.” (Jelani Scott, 2022) Not only is it an issue, but it is a serious health and safety concern that must be remedied. Professional basketball player Brittany Griner has been the most recent example of some of the discrepancies that commercial travel can have on players. Had female athletes had the same opportunity for travel as men, Griner may not be in her current situation.

There are also inequities in practice facilities on some college campuses. For example, University of Oregon basketball star Sedona Prince created a viral Tik Tok video that showcased the major differences between weight rooms and gyms that her male counterparts had versus her own female teams. Where her team had a few weights stacked in the corner of the practice gym, the men’s weight room was equipped with a full gym in a completely different building that was well lit and greatly decorated. She then stated that once the NCAA got evidence of the differences, they flipped the narrative and said that it wasn’t due to a lack of funding but instead a lack of space. (SportCenter, 2022).

3) For men’s sports, players are only expected to be the best, whereas for women’s you have to look the best, be the best, have the most followers, and be the most marketable just for a seat at the table.

Being a female in sports is no easy feat. Women in athletics have been marketed significantly less and are marketed on completely different platforms than men. For these females, a lot of their marketing occurs throughout social media whether that be through their own channels and devices or their team’s. Female basketball stars like Candace Parker, Jonquel Jones, Courtney Williams and more have recently taken to social media to express their thoughts on what it takes to be a superstar in the WNBA. They mainly speak on the lack of opportunity’s present for women due not only to gender but also race and sexuality.

When interviewed by Katie Barnes, Jonquel Jones states that, “There should be more room, more seats at the table, to be able to bring more diversity, more authenticity when we kind of talk about the representation of the league and the people that should be promoted and shown.”(Katie Barnes, 2022) Many media outlets even offer separate pages for women such as “ESPNW” that are catered to female highlights rather than just including them on the main website page. This gives off the impression that these media outlets are for men but have female options on the side just in case. For men by men. Women also compete with other women, based on looks, gender preferences. “Black WNBA players won postseason awards. White women won coverage.” (Risa Isard, 2022). It was found by Risa Isard, a research fellow at the Laboratory for Inclusion and Diversity at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, that black players with more masculine gender expressions received the least amount of coverage. According to Jonquel, in women’s basketball and many women’s sports, “everything has become a popularity contest.”

4) NIL legislation may benefit or hinder women athletes.

In January 2021, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 against the NCAA in NCAA versus Alston (Alicia Jessop and Joe Sabin, 2021). This case centered on what value NCAA athletes can receive from a university in exchange for access to their athleticism. The NCAA spent 18 months prior working to defeat legislative NIL attempts and due to this ruling, the NCAA hurriedly drafted an interim NIL policy on the first of July in 2021. Despite their policy being published, the NCAA showed they had given very little thought or care to how to carry out this policy as it provided little guidance other than stating that NCAA athletes across all three divisions of competition could benefit from their NIL. AP Writer on sports and higher education Dean Golembeski states that due to the lack of care from the NCAA, experts have begun to wonder whether allowing intercollegiate athletes to benefit from their NIL will lead to Title IX violations.

Moving Forward

Moving forward, I would like to explore the attitudes of older and younger Generation Z female athletes (specifically basketball players) through surveys and interviews. I am seeking to find if my hypothesis is correct, that most older Gen Z players had a lack of exposure to female role models, yet many younger Gen Z players can identify more players and female influences, possibly due to increased social media usage and/or NIL. I would also explore specifically how University of Dayton’s male versus female athletes and athletic programs use social media and athletics marketing differently, if that differs from other local colleges, explore the ways of how name image and likeness (NIL) differs among players, and better understand player’s infrastructure--both their coaching, training, facilities and their individual support teams when it comes to managing social media, fashion, and more.

Closing

I would like to thank Dr. Sam Dorf, Elizabeth Eichler, Michele McDonald, and Laura Howell for all their help and guidance throughout the conducting of this research. I’d also like to thank my fellow BSTI cohorts as well as the Berry Family for making this experience possible and more than worthwhile. Lastly, I’d like to thank my family and those that supported me as well as Mission of Mary for allowing me to work alongside them to give back to the community and give me a growing sense of what community is and can be.

References

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Bellis, M. Timeline. US Soccer. Sponsored by Volkswagen. (n.d.). Retrieved August 19, 2022, from https://www.ussoccer.com/history/timeline

Bradshaw, Araion. Personal Interview. July 6, 2022

Daprano, Corinne. Personal Interview. May 25, 2022

Golembeski, D. (2022, April 4). NIL Enriches, Empowers Women College Athletes. BestColleges.com. Retrieved July 21, 2022, from https://www.bestcolleges.com/news/2022/03/31/ncaa-nil-womens-college-sports-sedonaprince/

Jenkins, S. (2020, January 28). History of women's basketball. WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved August 18, 2022, from https://www.wnba.com/news/history-of-womensbasketball/

Jones, Jonquel. Instagram Post. Jul 7, 2022

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Rhoden, W. C. (2022, April 15). Forty years later, the NCAA's takeover from the AIAW still isn't perfect. Andscape. Retrieved July 21, 2022, from https://andscape.com/features/forty-years-later-the-ncaas-takeover-from-the-aiaw-stillisnt-perfect/

Scott, J. (2022, August 9). Nneka Ogwumike releases statement after sparks players sleep in airport. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 19, 2022, from https://www.si.com/wnba/2022/08/09/wnbpa-pres-nneka-ogwumike-releases-statementafter-sparks-players-sleep-in-airport

Sedona prince shares difference between women's and men's weight rooms and NCAA Tournaments: Oregon Women's Basketball's Sedona Prince shared a video comparing the women's and men's weight rooms at their respective NCAA tournament bubbles. (via...: By SportsCenter. Facebook. (n.d.). Retrieved August 18, 2022, from https://www.facebook.com/SportsCenter/videos/sedona-prince-shares-difference-betweenwomens-and-mens-weight-rooms-and-ncaa-to/261437175609243/

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