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AHEAD OF ITS TIME...
by Chris Brennemann, PhD
Support For Female Athletics
Quincy College was ahead of its time in initiating and garnering support for female athletic programs.
This academic year marks the 50th anniversary of Title IX. As a key factor in the Education Amendments of 1972, Title IX prohibited sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that received funding from the federal government.
The evolution of women’s intercollegiate athletics at QU started before Title IX was enacted. From the early-to-mid 1960s, women’s athletic options were limited to intramural sports and tennis matches organized by tennis coach Ann Hawk Bergman. In 1965, the field hockey program was launched by Coach Sharlene Taylor Peter. Women’s basketball was also added in 1965. Volleyball was added in 1966, and softball was added in 1971.
Quincy College’s women’s athletics received administrative funding in 1971 and joined the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), which became the national governing body of women’s sports. In 1975, women’s intercollegiate athletics became a program at Quincy College. By 1979, Quincy College was an AIAW-Division III school and was allowed to offer partial scholarships to female student athletes.
While tennis was the first individual sport for women, field hockey was the first team sport for women. Initially, the field hockey program was self-sustaining. Physical education majors filled the early field hockey teams. When Sharlene Taylor Peter was put in charge of the health and physical education recreation department, she called all the women physical education majors together and told them the college was going to start a women’s field hockey team. Few of those women knew much about field hockey, but they showed up to practice the next day and brought others with them.
Coaches and players provided most of their own equipment and paid for food and trip expenses.
Support for the field hockey team came from several Quincy College personnel and departments. The Quincy community rallied behind the program that led to the formation of the Hawkette Booster Club in the early 1970s which assisted with the funding of tournaments, trips and equipment for all Quincy College women’s athletics.
Quincy College’s groundbreaking field hockey program provided the foundation for team intercollegiate athletic opportunities for women students.
