Lopiano and Scott were honored by Ithaca College’s Department of Sport Management and Media, and spoke during an open lecture that was part of the ceremonies. Lopiano was presented with the Distinguished Sports Industry Leader Award, and Scott with the Sports Industry Professionals Founders Award. Both reminisced about their respective paths to their current positions, and had a few tidbits—both enlightening and amusing—to share.

Scott is responsible for all funding and donations at the WSF, and has seen endowed funds reach upwards of $3.5 million and the WSF budget grow to $6 million during her tenure. After graduating from Ithaca College, where she played basketball, Scott coached in the high school and college ranks and worked in health education, research, and administration before joining the WSF in 1994.

Scott began by telling the audience about her first sports camp experience. In 1976, she had scraped together just enough money to attend a basketball camp. At the end of that week, she walked away with the camp's “Most Desire to Play” award. She wasn’t the best player, or most improved, she just had heart, a trait that would serve her well throughout her playing and professional career.

Scott also reminisced about playing point guard at Ithaca. She said what started as a negative experience eventually became a positive one. In her first year, the team had a losing season, and Scott could tell that her teammates weren’t comfortable with each other. But the next year, after a team meeting and bonding events where each player’s insecurities and issues were laid on the table, the team turned its record around and had a winning season when no one expected them to.

During her playing days, there was also a point when Scott realized certain elements in athletics weren’t quite as they seemed. In order to figure out what she wanted to do after graduation, she started asking coaches around campus about their jobs—how many assistants did they have? How many classes were they required to teach? Their responses opened her eyes to the imbalances that existed between men’s and women’s athletics. “Women coaches had overwhelmingly fewer assistants and had to teach many more classes than the men,” she said. “I just didn’t understand why that was so. It was a moment of naïve innocence.”

At the WSF, Lopiano oversees close to $1 million in grants distributed to girls’ and women’s sports programs every year. Before joining the foundation, Lopiano, an NCAA athlete herself, was a men’s and women’s collegiate coach and athletic administrator. She spent 18 years as Director of Women’s Athletics at the University of Texas.

In her first few years at Texas during the early '70s, Lopiano experienced the same naïve innocence Scott spoke of. Her eyes were really opened when someone in the United States Congress called her up and asked if she could provide a copy of the men’s athletic budget at Texas. Lopiano said 'sure,' marched down to Texas Athletic Director Darrell Royal’s office, and got a copy of the budget from his assistant. She sent it to Congress, and a few days later they asked her to send the women’s athletic budget. The budget she obtained from the women's athletic department fit on one sheet of paper. “That’s when I realized something wasn’t right there,” she said.

A third phone call came from D.C. and Lopiano was asked to testify before Congress. After that call, the first thing she thought of was how proud her parents were going to be.

Soon, however, a phone call from the president of the university abruptly brought Lopiano back to reality. “Are you telling me not to testify?” Lopiano asked. “No, but I am going to tell you how to keep your job,” the president replied. He explained that as long as Lopiano made clear to Congress that she was speaking from her personal opinion, not that of the University of Texas, she’d be off the hook. So that’s exactly what she did.

After arriving in D.C., Lopiano was plenty nervous. However, she remembers a specific moment when she overcame those jitters and became flooded with confidence. On the way to meet a Senator before testifying, Lopiano, who stands 5’10” flat-footed, said her high-heeled shoes made a loud, distinct clicking sound as she strode across the Capitol building's marble floor. “And everyone used to smoke cigarettes indoors then," she explained, "so there was this heavy haze of smoke filling the air.

“Then I heard a voice say, ‘Dr. Lopiano…’ I looked around and saw nothing,” she continued. “Then I heard it again, ‘Dr. Lopiano…’ Finally, I looked way down and saw the Senator I was so intimidated by. I laughed to myself and thought, ‘I’ve got this. I’m fine.’” Lopiano was indeed fine, and her testimony was a big part of the beginning of Title IX enforcement.

Since then, Lopiano has testified in front of Congress as a Title IX expert several times. In addition to everything they’ve accomplished so far, Lopiano, Scott, and the WSF are hard at work to secure more opportunities for women in athletics. A few years ago, the WSF launched the GoGirlGo! campaign in an effort to get sedentary young girls active and interested in sports. Lopiano says this project is currently the WSF's top priority. In April, the foundation held its second annual Billie Awards, an event where writers, musicians, and filmmakers are honored for their work in portraying female athletes in a positive light.

Hearing Lopiano and Scott speak about facing adversity in their own career paths made me realize how hard they and women of their generation have worked in the fight to achieve gender equity in athletics. There is still a long way to go, but thanks to them, there are more and better opportunities every day.

Helpful Links

Women’s Sports Foundation

Donna Lopiano’s blog, A Force for Change

The WSF GoGirlGo! Campaign

The Billie Awards

The Ithaca Journal’s interview with Lopiano

Ithaca College’s Department of Sport Management and Media

Abigail Funk is an Assistant Editor at Athletic Management. She can be reached at: afunk@MomentumMedia.com.