January 2006 Archives

Below is C and R's account of the Bay Area Women's Initiative Leadership Luncheon held Jan 14 at Stanford

The first speaker for the Leadership Luncheon was Marlene Bjornsrud. She is the CEO of the Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative. She quickly pointed out that when they were forming this non-profit, she realized the initials BAWSI was pronounced "Bossy". She told her co-founders they could not be known as Bossy women, and Soccer great Brandi Chastain said, "Oh, yes we can!" She explained BAWSI's mission is to get and keep more girls involved  in sports. She reasoned that sports help to give girls and women a unique skill set. Then she explained how those skills can be for business and for life.

Then Marlene turned the podium over to the Cal Coach. It was supposed to be head coach Joanne Boyle. Unfortunately, Joanne's father was gravely ill, and she had flown back earlier in the week  to her home town of North Carolina to be with him and her family. Taking the head coach's place all week and today at the game and at this luncheon was Cal assistant Lindsey Gottleib.

Lindsey took the podium and looked all of 24 years old. Well, we're not sure how old she was, but she was young and passionate and spoke with a youthful exuberance. She told a good story about writing to Tara VanDeVeer. She had just finished four years of college basketball and had a degree in political science and wanted to tell her family that she was going to turn to coaching. She saw that Tara had had a political science major and chose coaching, too. So she wrote Tara. To her surprise, Tara wrote back. She turned to Tara standing on the side and said, "I still have that letter." The letter said, "Lindsey, the women's game needs young passionate people like you." So she became a coach.

Lindsey went on to say that a girl involved in sports was less likely to: be overweight, have an unwanted pregnancy, stay in an abusive relationship, drop out of school, or get involved with drugs and alcohol. They also tend to be more successful in business.

Then Tara got to speak. She stressed again that head coach Joanne Boyle was were she needed to be. She really liked BAWSI's message of helping women. She pointed out how far Stanford has come in terms of women's athletics gaining equality with the men's programs. She especially mentioned Jennifer Azzi, one of WSI's  fave, bringing the program from half a dozen fans to a packed house in her sports career. But she also said we still have work to do. She mentioned Candice Wiggins as a great role model of someone who works hard both on and off the court., and how hard theses women athletes work and sacrifice. Most people forget that part.

The final speaker was Cal athletic director Sandy Barbour. She said she was glad Joanne was with herfamily and that set a good example for her players. Then she spoke for a long time and her words were very meaningful. One of the many things she talked about is that the college students today don't remember the "lean years". They ask, "weren't scholarships always given? Didn't you always have access to the same courts, equipment and resources?" It is hard to make them understand they stand on the shoulders of the women who came before them, and it has not been that long ago.

She brought up how important sports are in our culture; every major newspaper has a sports section, for example. Sandy talked about her father, how he influenced her in regards to sports. Then she told a specific story that he tried to sign her up for little league in upstate New York in the early 60's. Although he was not successful, it was important to him and to her that she see him try. She segued into how fathers involved in their daughter's athletics is a big positive. She stressed again not every women involved in sports will go to the next level, but the skills you get from sports will serve you well in life. She mentioned how many men and women helped her in her career. And we believe it is true that in business, you need to be pulled up by someone. And for a women, more often then not, it is a man who pulls you up, gives you a chance, helps you succeed. And sports help you handle these things.

After her talk, she asked for questions. The first one was, does more media coverage help build fan interest? R and I debated the chicken and the egg on that one. Then WSI asked a question. We asked, "how important is the bottom line? Do you need your sports to make money? Or can you survive on your football making all the money." Sandy said it was a good question and answered the second part first. At Cal, football makes the money that drives the other sports. But only about 100 division one schools have that luxury. She cited that division III schools make no money from any sports, male or female, football, doesn't matter. But a school can decide how much is sports worth it to the institution. How much is  a sports program, which grows the athlete and benefits the community, worth to the school? And she answered most schools budget about 15 million dollars for their sports.

After the speakers, the luncheon broke up, some to get to the game and some to talk with the speakers. One thing WSI noticed is that it has been a long time since we have heard a clarity around, and inspiration, for women sports. This was a group of women so inspired by women's sports that the rivalry between Cal and Stanford was downplayed, or everyone was on their best behavior (except us, we booed Cal) because it was important to grow the attention to women's sports. There was a sense of purpose to help women and girls get these important skill sets one gets from sports. The theme we saw throughout the luncheon was that these were women who were driven , who won't stop, and want to give back, give other women who are deserving a chance through opportunity or recognition or money.