In Her Own Words: What Title IX means to me

Being a female athlete is tough. There is no sugarcoating it. 

History has taught us that women are lesser or an afterthought at every level and on every stage in sports.

If they just accepted that statement, those on the Yale women’s rowing team wouldn’t have had the courage to stand up and strip down in 1976. Not knowing it then, the women who exposed their entire bodies with “Title IX” painted on their chests and backs to protest the inequalities in treatment between the men’s and women’s teams would inspire me and countless others to attend Yale. More importantly, they became champions of women’s rights in all sports for generations of athletes to follow.

Their actions brought focus to a recurring fight for equality and fairness that is still being fought today. Although women still suffer from a pay gap and are still struggling for equity in professional sports, Title IX was a massive step toward expanding the opportunities for women’s intercollegiate athletics.

Would my parents have encouraged me to play sports knowing that it would come to an end before college? Would they have invested their time into traveling several hours just to watch me finish last in a tournament? Would they have let me be the only girl on the baseball team if they thought I wasn’t going to grow strong and resilient?

If they had not seen the value in sports, I would not have made the friends I did. I would not have learned how to deal with losing. I would not have learned to celebrate winning graciously. I may never have learned to stand up for myself or the value of being part of a team. I would not have joined the thousands of women continuing to push for equity in sports.

I have Title IX and my parents to thank for the opportunity I received to play sports at a young age and to then follow that passion in college. Today, Title IX means that I get to practice and compete at the highest level and don’t have to feel like my sport means any less.

Women’s golf is growing fast. 

That’s somewhat thanks to COVID-19 and somewhat thanks to the initiative that the United States Golf Association and the Ladies Professional Golf Association have taken on to bring more excitement into the sport. Playing the U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina, this summer, I got to witness firsthand what it is like to be a professional golfer. It is a little bit of glam and a lot of grit. Maybe it was the $10 million purse or the impeccable course, but there was an energy in the air for everyone playing that week. 

Many of those professional golfers started out when they were young and moved up the ranks in college. Having the opportunity to play in college was a crucial step in many of their careers, the way I expect it to be as I continue my own journey.

Being a college athlete has provided me with several opportunities to grow as a leader and find my voice. One of those ways has been through student-athlete advisory committees that exist at the campus, conference and national levels.

When I learned about SAAC in college, I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of. I saw the potential in SAAC to drive change at both the campus and national levels. Through SAAC, I have led a letter-writing campaign to Congress advocating to make Election Day a federal holiday; provided input on name, image, and likeness legislation; and worked on video contests and social media campaigns, all with the insight from Title IX as the wind at my back.

Like many other women, I’ve tried to keep that momentum going by pushing for more opportunities for girls in sports and education.

Volunteering with golf’s First Tee organization is something extremely rewarding for me. I hope it inspires a new generation of girls to pick up a club. In education, I’ve volunteered with an organization called Code Haven to teach computer science to middle schoolers in New Haven, Connecticut, introducing coding to girls who may never have otherwise had the chance to learn it.

There are so many ways that the effects of Title IX have trickled down to touch the lives of those who were neglected before. No girl should feel she can’t pursue an opportunity simply because she’s a girl. No girl should miss out on learning the lessons best taught by sports. That is why Title IX is so valuable. It protects the integrity and meaning of education and sports for girls who unfortunately are still fighting for equality in both.

Title IX, on its own, is not heroic. Words on paper do not mean anything without the people who uphold them and challenge them to shape their impact. People like the 1976 Yale women’s rowing team, Billie Jean King, Venus and Serena Williams, Abby Wambach, Simone Biles and many more have helped lead the charge in elevating the voices of female athletes everywhere.

I celebrate Title IX by recognizing these people who fought for its creation, enforcement and progression. They are the reason I believe Title IX is something worth celebrating and continuing to fight for.

Ami Gianchandani, a senior student-athlete on Yale's women's golf team and a statistics and data science major, is vice chair of the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee as well as the Ivy League Representative.