September 21, 2006

CEDAR RAPIDS , IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) held its second of two Women In Athletics Symposium this past weekend, September 15-17, at the Embassy Suites on the River in Des Moines, Iowa. The Symposium, an initiative developed by the Conference’s Senior Woman Administrators (SWA), was designed to provide female student-athletes with an overview of opportunities in intercollegiate athletics and address concerns of perceived obstacles in entering the field. The previous Symposium was held in April.

“We feel so fortunate that NCAA grant dollars enabled us to conduct a program that I believe will have lifelong implications for the vast majority of the young women that participated,” IIAC Commissioner John T. Cochrane said. “This symposium addressed a very significant need at all levels of athletics and Iowa Conference institutions take tremendous pride in their continuing support of these types of important educational and developmental initiatives.

“It is imperative that young women understand the opportunities available to them and that we continue to foster access to, and an understanding of, the important role that women can and should be playing in the conduct of athletic programs.”

Student-athletes from each IIAC institution who have expressed an interest in entering the coaching or athletics administration field, along with members of the institutions coaching staffs, were selected by their athletics department to participate in the three-day event.

Participants had the opportunity to interact with female leaders in intercollegiate athletics including former Director of Division III for the NCAA and current Athletics Director at Wellesley (Mass.) College, Bridget Belgiovine, Executive Director of the American Volleyball Coaches Association Kathy DeBoer, and former Women’s Athletics Director at the University of Iowa, Christine Grant.

The program was divided into guest speaker presentations, roundtable discussions and two panels, one led by veteran athletics administrators in the Conference and one by young coaches. Presentations included educating the participants on differences in coaching women versus men; raising awareness of how coaches can exude confidence and leadership; making life and career transitions; Title IX and gender equity. Roundtables topics included interview and resume skills; the role of the team in and out of the arena; professional opportunities within athletics; ethics in sports; conflict management; and time-life-work management.

The Symposium concluded with student-athletes and coaches strategizing on how Iowa Conference campuses can spread the message of the weekend to those unable to attend and report to administrators their thoughts, ideas and suggestions to make the intercollegiate athletics environment more attractive to women.

Quotes from participants in the Iowa Conference Women In Sports Symposium follow:

Steph Hillman, Central College senior track & field student-athlete
“I was able to attend [April’s] symposium and was hoping I'd get the opportunity to attend [last weekend]. As a senior female interested in the field of athletics: administration, management, coaching, etc., I felt the symposium was very helpful and pointed me in the direction I need to be heading with full confidence that I am seen as equally qualified, motivated and determined for the same positions/careers as the men in my field. The speakers, senior woman administrators, conference student-athletes, female coaches and the men that attended left me with a lot to think about as far as where I would like to be as my career develops, and how eventually I would like to be seen as a woman in the field of athletics. It was a great experience; I hope they continue to host this conference for other female student athletes of the IIAC.”

Alicia O’Brien, Central College senior woman administrator
“I never attended something of this nature, and being a new SWA in the conference, I thought it was a great chance for networking amongst the women professionals in the conference. But more importantly, it was an opportunity to share ideas and experiences with a new generation of women in athletics. For our young female student-athletes who are considering a career in the athletic field, it was a chance to learn from women who have been in the field, doing the things that they are interested in.....there was a wealth of knowledge to take advantage of.”

Katie Green, Cornell College assistant women’s basketball coach
“I thought the conference was a wonderful opportunity for students, and young coaches, to interact and learn from women that have been collegiate coaches and administrators for more than twenty years. The energy and passion these women exhibit for athletics and their devotion to the next generation of female coaches, trainers, and athletic administrators is amazing. The symposium was a great opportunity to learn more about careers in athletics, to understand what issues may be especially relevant to female coaches, and to develop a professional network within the IIAC. One of the best features of the symposium, though, was when the administrator for each school met with their coaches and students and worked with them on developing ideas and action plans to take back to their respective campuses. This charge to not only learn from the experience but to also immediately take a more active role on campus is a unique opportunity that continues the experience well past the end of the symposium.”

Sadie Knickrehm, Luther College track and field intern
"It was a great experience as well as a positive, motivating and educational event."

Lindsey Nichols, Wartburg College junior basketball/softball student-athlete
“I really enjoyed the symposium. It opened my eyes to the opportunities that are out there for women and the speakers gave me confidence as a woman to step up and become more involved in a male dominated career. I will take everything I experienced and learned and use it NOW and in the future when I am in a career in athletics."

Monica Severson, Wartburg College associate athletics director/SWA
"Awesome weekend - we all have much to be proud of with our efforts to help the future of women in athletics."

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