*Author Olivia Smith is a Summer VISTA Cohort Leader serving at Up2Us Sports.*

The history of Title IX is a bumpy one. In its inception, the goal of Title IX was to stop discrimination in all educational programming and activities that receive federal aid. Large major institutions were resistant to adapting to the rules of Title IX and tried to undermine its implementation. Two powerful women were influential in the success of Title IX.

Patsy Mink, a Hawaiian native and the first woman of color elected into Congress, wrote and sponsored Title IX. Patsy’s drive for women's rights was influenced by her experience as a Japanese American woman in the 1970s. Professional tennis player Billie Jean King was a prominent endorser of Title IX. In an iconic tennis match called Battle of the Sexes against Bobby Riggs, who spoke out against women athletes, King won in three straight sets proving women were just as talented as men.

The Battle of the Sexes and the passage of Title IX are credited for a boom in women’s sports and women in sports being taken more seriously. While Title IX increased female participation in sports at the high school level by 1057% and 614% at the college level, it is estimated that 80-90% of institutions are still not compliant with Title IX today.

To fully encapsulate Title IX’s impact, especially on our Summer VISTAs, I spoke with Catherine Tamarelli and Jayla Bynum. Both Catherine and Jayla have a long history in sports, and they contribute their drive and determination to their experiences in athletics. Catherine Tamarelli is a Summer VISTA at the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF), serving as part of the Community Impact team. She is a long-term female athlete currently playing water polo at Columbia University. Jayla, serving on the Up2Us Summer VISTA team, competes in shot put and javelin on the University of Maryland’s Division 1 Track and Field team.

Q - Catherine: What does the service you do at WSF mean to you? How does it help support Title IX?

A - Catherine: I am so excited and honored to work for an organization dedicated to upholding and protecting Title IX. As a female athlete, I have benefited immensely from Title IX: 51 years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to play on an all-woman’s water polo team in college. But I'm also aware that Title IX has not made sex-based inequality in sports a thing of the past. Growing up, I was one of the only girls in one of my sports (sailing), and I almost quit because of it. Instead, I got involved as a volunteer coach and instructor to encourage younger girls to try water sports.

Q: What does it mean to you to be a female athlete?

A - Jayla: Being a female athlete simply means the world to me; I wouldn’t be the person or woman I am today if I wasn’t allowed the opportunity to express and find myself through sports. Being a female athlete is empowering beyond measure; the community, opportunity, and personal dynamic are something I’m forever grateful for.

A - Catherine: Being a female athlete, to me, is about both uplifting myself and others. This part of my identity empowers me to be not only the best athlete but the best person I can be - and also to share what I am learning with other women and girls.

Q: What is the social and emotional impact of being a student-athlete?

A - Jayla: The social and emotional impact of being a student-athlete can be a tough tightrope to walk. Like a lot of things in life, there’s the good and bad. On a positive note being a student-athlete has brought me a lifelong chapter to be forever grateful for, the degrees, the friendships, the memories, the growth. Sports have taken me all across the US, with the luxury of doing what I love every day.

Q: Who is your favorite female athlete, and what does it mean to you to have that role model in the public sphere of sports?

A - Jayla: Growing up, I was a huge Serena Williams fan; seeing a woman at the pinnacle of the sport made my dreams seem more reachable. Another athlete is Olympian shotputter, Michelle Carter. Seeing a woman who doesn’t have the traditional petite “athlete” body allowed me to see that even the most elite athletes don’t have to look a certain way. It’s important to have figures like that to foster generations of little girls who find beauty and strength within themselves and their bodies.

A - Catherine: I swam competitively for 12 years, so my favorite female athlete has to be Katie Ledecky. Watching Ledecky swim felt different to me than watching, for example, Michael Phelps because, as a younger girl in the same sport, I could imagine myself in her place. Even though my own Olympic dreams weren’t meant to be, the motivation and discipline that I learned from watching her have definitely helped me elsewhere in life.

Q: How can sports and physical activity be a symbol of power for women?

A - Jayla: Sports are unique because not only do you learn physical skills, but you learn life. In sports, you are taught patience, perseverance, the ability to push beyond physical and mental limits, etc. The things you learn can transfer into one’s everyday life, and if watching a little girl blossom from a shy caterpillar into a confident butterfly isn’t empowering, I don’t know what is.

A - Catherine: Sports are a way for both men and women to hone their bodies and minds, learn key life values, and push themselves to perform their best. Many sports remain male-dominated today despite over 50 years of Title IX. However, female athletes consistently break these barriers and prove that there is no sport that they are not capable of. Choosing to do sports empowers women to seek their full potential.