A League of Our Own: Why Must WNBA Players Be Compared to Men?
Over the weekend I read an article titled: "Five Reasons to Believe Women Will Play in the NBA". While the WNBA has struggled to receive national notoriety, respect and fan support, I will admit it is somewhat encouraging to hear NBA commissioner David Stern give women's basketball players respect saying, "sure, I think that's well within the range of probability," regarding women playing in the NBA. Even Dirk Nowitski weighed-in on the subject stating, "Skills-wise, yeah, but physical-wise, it's tough…" At the same token, however, it baffles me that women's basketball players must constantly be compared to men, the WNBA compared to the NBA. It's almost as if we must be able to compete with the men in order to be validated as professional athletes.
I suppose I take issue with this because in no other sport are women constantly compared to their male counterparts. Allison Felix isn't invalidated because she isn't as fast as Usain Bolt. Serena Williams isn't constantly being compared to Roger Federer. Beach volleyball player Misty May-Treanor isn't encouraged to go against Phil Dalhausser in order to see if she's really got the goods. Only in basketball are we constantly compared to men. My question is why? Why can't we just be who we are, the best women's basketball players in the world?
Our history of playing basketball is as old as the history of basketball itself, and yet, we've had a rocky road claiming our place in the sports landscape. Here's a truncated version of our journey.
A Very Brief History of Women's Basketball
Basketball was invented in 1891 by James Naismith at a Massachusetts YMCA school. A year later, the first women's basketball team was organized by Senda Berenson, a physical education teacher at Smith College.- In 1896 my alma mater, Stanford won 2-1 in the first intercollegiate women's basketball game vs. University of California at Berkeley. Three years later, however, both Stanford and UC Berkeley banned women's basketball, and thus began women's struggle for the right to play basketball competitively.
- In 1908 the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) took the position that women or girls should not play basketball in public.
- In 1914 the American Olympic Committee declared its opposition to the participation of women in the Olympics competition.
- Women's basketball continued to grow as a sport on various levels, nonetheless, including on the high school level as well as in industrial leagues (teams sponsored by companies for their workers) established in the 1920s in many parts of the country.
- In 1924 the Olympics included women's basketball as an exhibition event.
- In 1926 the AAU held it's first national tournament for women's basketball with six teams participating.
- In the 1930's there were various "barnstorming" (traveling) women's basketball teams that traveled the country playing against men. The most notable were the All American Red Heads.
- In 1955 the first Pan-American games were held and women's basketball was included. The US women's team won the gold medal.
- In 1970 the five player, full-court game was adopted for women's basketball. Until that time women played a 6-on-6 game where only 3 players from each team were allowed on each half of the court.
- June 23, 1972 Title IX was enacted, requiring federally funded schools to fund women's sports equitably, including teams, scholarships and recruitment. Originally the law states, "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance..."
- Although in 1936, men's basketball became an official medal sport in the Olympics, it wasn't until 1976 that women's basketball was officially recognized as well.
A Brief History of Women's Professional Basketball
- In 1975 the Women's Professional Basketball Association was founded and disbanded before the season started.
- In 1978, the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL) was founded and played 3 seasons from the fall of 1978 to the spring of 1981. This is considered to be the United States' first professional women's basketball league.
- In 1980 the Ladies Professional Basketball Association was founded with six teams. It folded only a month into it's first season.
- In 1984 the Women's American Basketball Association (WABA) was founded by Bill Byrne hoping to cash in on the success of the 1984 gold medal winning U.S. Olympic team. There were six teams and lasted one season.
- The National Women's Basketball Association was formed and disbanded before the season in 1986.
- In 1991 the Liberty Basketball Association (LBA) was founded and lasted only one game.
- The Women's Basketball Association (WBA) formed in 1992 and played three summer seasons 1993 to 1995. The league played a 15 game schedule and the games were broadcast on Liberty Sports of Dallas. When FOX Sports bought Liberty Sports and the WBA, they disbanded the league.
- The American Basketball League (ABL) was founded in 1996 with 10 teams and played during the traditional basketball season. It folded during its third season Dec. 22, 1998.
- The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) was founded in 1996 as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league began play in the summer of 1997. It's season goes from June to September. The league began with 8 teams and currently has 12 or 13 (depending on whether Sacramento will move to another Bay Area city or just fold). The WNBA's 14th season is set to begin the summer of 2010.
I provided this brief history, including several failed professional women's basketball leagues, to set the framework for what I believe our focus regarding women's basketball should actually be: we need a successful league of our own. We don't need to try and play in the NBA to prove we are great players. We need the WNBA to prove itself a thriving professional league that will be sustained for generations to come, just as the men's professional sports leagues have. Our daughters need great professional players to model their game after, just as our sons have. It's imperative that we stop comparing the women's game to the men and allow women's basketball players to be just that…women's basketball players.
Article originally posted on OlympiaHoops.com
