Those Who Came Before: Women's Sports and the Impact of Title IX at Idaho State

Three months ago, the Idaho State women’s basketball team strode proudly into Reed Gymnasium and raised a championship trophy high above their heads. The sounds of cheering, clapping, and whistling permeated the air, and the smiles and happiness coming off of the Bengals was infectious. This trophy represented the second Big Sky Title for the Bengals in two years and was the culmination of a season filled with hard work and overcoming adversity.

Standing in front of a roaring crowd and watching the support that the women received, it would be hard to imagine that just 50 years ago women’s sports teams were not allowed the same resources and opportunities that men’s teams had all across the country. 4

50 years ago, the United States passed Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. This landmark legislation prohibited any institution receiving federal financial aid from discriminating in any educational program or activity based on someone's sex. 

This opened the door across the academic spectrum across the nation. In the world of athletics, this opened the door for over 300,000 women student-athletes to receive the same treatment and opportunities that already existed for men’s sports programs.  Before Title IX only one in 27 women participated in sports. In 2022, that number has risen to two in five.

The history of women’s athletics at Idaho State University started long before the days of Title IX however. In 1907, just six years after the Academy of Idaho’s inception and nine years after the first intercollegiate women’s basketball game between Cal and Stanford in 1896, there was a women’s basketball team playing in Pocatello.

Basketball as a sport had only been around for 16 years after James Naismith invented the sport in 1891. in 1896 the Cal and Stanford women's teams played one of the first intercollegiate matches and the sport spread around the nation with women jumping onto the new sport opportunity. 

In 1907, the Academy of Idaho formed a women’s basketball team comprised of 6 women. The sport at the time was a little different from today as the athletes took to the court wearing ankle-length dresses and playing on a grass court outdoors, on what is now the quad outside the Pond student-union building. 

Everyone knows that the Bengals mean business when it comes to women's hoops and this team set the the tone for strong women’s basketball in Pocatello, only losing one game that inaugural season, a game where they were forced to play by men’s rules with no practice.

For the next two decades, women’s sports at the academy of Idaho saw slow growth. The teams that existed, primarily basketball, saw success, but there was a lack of organization and finding opponents remained a challenge for the women. 

When opponents could be found, the distances between schools and lack of transportation options remained a challenge for these early teams. Described in one of the early Idaho Academy yearbooks, they remarked, “These games are scheduled by the Athletic committee so we usually go with the football boys on the trips.”

Other challenges existed for the early Bengals, because much of the sport was played intramurally, there existed a lack of interest among administrators and some did not see the legitimacy of women's sports during this period. 

The W.A.A

With the 1930s came an encouragement of women’s sports in Pocatello over the previous two decades. The school needed an organization and this prompted the establishment of the Women's Athletic Association (WAA) branch in Pocatello.

In 1928, Ruth White, the Physical Education Director for Women, established the WAA to expand access and participation of women’s athletics at the college.

The formation of the WAA allowed the school to join other national organizations including the American Conference of Athletic College Women and the National Amateur Athletic Federation.

Mrs. Joseph Sebesta and Miss Frances Root

In 1932 women’s sports at the school made a large leap forward thanks to the efforts of Miss Frances Root and Miss Joseph Sebesta.

The two women spent the year petitioning for expanded access to equipment  and growth of sports for women at the collegiate level. 

Underneath their guidance, women’s sports took off with the addition of Field Hockey, Volleyball Archery, and Basketball. The Bengals also hosted one of the more popular sports of the time, badminton. 

That year, after a hard-fought championship tournament, Madeline Garvin defeated Jack Stafford to claim the University of Idaho - Southern crown, showing the increased popularity of women’s badminton at the college.

Another sport that took off during the 1932 season was women’s volleyball. 

 The 1932 Idaho State Wikiup stated that, “Volleyball, although it lacks the novelty of archery, attracted one of the largest turnouts for the competitive games. Approximately fifty women participated in the volleyball tournament held just before the Christmas holidays.”

Through the efforts of these two women, sports once again took a leap forward in Pocatello. 

These women paved the way for the approximately 150 current Bengal women athletes and the thousands of women that came before the student-athletes of today.

Title IX to Today

Women’s sports flourished in the 1940s, as the nation saw many men head overseas to fight in World War II. Professional sports opportunities also became available to women for the first time, with the creation of the American Girls Baseball League. 

While this period proved women could compete in professional and interscholastic competition, women’s sports saw a decline in support during the post-war period.

In the period between 1945 and 1970, opportunities for women's athletics at Idaho State were limited. There is record of gymnastics and rodeo competition but little can be found in the Idaho State records about women’s athletics and success until the adoption of Title IX in 1972. 

The 50s and 60s saw lessened participation in women's sport and mostly centered on intramural activities. Women's participation in major varsity sports was centered around cheer and dance.

After the adoption of Title IX women's sports returned to the Idaho State campus and the Bengals once again found success in women's athletics with flourishing basketball, volleyball ,and softball teams. 

Other unsung heroes were the women who competed in athletic club sports that were less known or publicized prior to title IX, they kept the spirit of competition alive and continued the work that Sebesta, Root and White encouraged all those years ago, helping to open the door for women's sports today. 

Since 1972 the Bengals have seen championships in women's basketball, volleyball, soccer and softball. Individual champions have been crowned in cross country and track and field. 

The Bengals have had brilliant women show the world their ROAR and have taken gold on the world stage.

None of this could have happened without the passing of title IX and the efforts of the women who came before them. So, when our Bengals lift trophies high overhead, ROAR extra loud for the Bengals past and present who made it happen.