Local Sports Report - Yakima Herald-Republic

YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

SEATTLE - Stephanie Urrutia, a senior from Sunnyside, topped 1,000points for her college career last Saturday in Seattle PacificUniversity's victory over Seattle University.

Urrutia, a 5-foot-9 guard, scored 18 points on 6-for-9 shootingfrom the field as the Falcons, ranked second in the nation among NCAADiv. II schools, improved their school-record unbeaten record to 16-0.

Urrutia, who also scored over 1,000 points during her high schoolcareer, entered the game needing eight points to reach the milestone.

She is averaging 12 points a game for SPU, which is 7-0 in theGreat Northwest Athletic Conference.

Women in Sports Celebration Saturday

ELLENSBURG - Central Washington University has announced acelebration of National Girls & Women in Sports day to be heldSaturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Nicholson Pavilion.

The day was chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1986 to honor femaleathletic achievement and recognize the importance of sports andfitness participation for all girls and women.

The celebration will include instructional clinics in fivedifferent sports for girls ages 8-13 and their mothers.

The $10 registration fee includes lunch, two tickets to the CWUwomen's basketball game against Alaska Anchorage (scheduled for 7p.m.), guest speakers and an instructional clinic.

While the pre-registration deadline for ordering T-shirts haspassed, walk-up registration is encouraged, although phonereservations are required.

If Coe-Brown's no dynasty, how about a juggernaut? - The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)

How about these scores? Coe-Brown Academy girls' basketball team94, Pelham 22. Coe-Brown 74, Hillsboro-Deering 30. Coe-Brown 84,Newmarket 20. And these -- 78-15. 60-18. 58-15. 64-20.

In short, Coe-Brown girls a ton, opponents not much.

Tom Hall and his Comanches have built themselves a basketballpowerhouse on Route 4 between Concord and Dover.

There are more numbers. Coe-Brown had won 57 straightregular-season games, nine of them this year, going into Fridaynight's game at Farmington. It last lost a regular-season game onDec. 16, 1991, to Belmont. The Comanches have won the last two ClassM state championships. They have made the tournament in each ofHall's 15 years and this year will make it 16. They are 142-9 in theregular season in the last nine years.

And Amy Smith and the rest of the seniors are 61-2 in regularseason games during their careers.

A dynasty?

'I don't think so,' Hall said in his office after practice Tuesdayafternoon. 'I think we're incredibly competitive day in and day outand people know they have to compete with us for 32 minutes. But Ithink we're far from a dynasty. When I think of a dynasty I think ofJohn Wooden's UCLA teams or the Celtics. Now if you come and sithere six years from now and we're still winning . . .'

They just may be. Last year, Coe-Brown lost nine players from itsfirst state championship team of the year before and still wentundefeated in the regular season and, surprising many, won a secondstraight title. This year Hall has five seniors, three juniors(including 6-foot-2 1/2-inch Jen Robinson), four sophomores and fourfreshmen. The junior varsity was undefeated last year and is againthis year. And 77 girls from fourth to eighth grade attended lastyear's weeklong summer camp run by the varsity.

'It's tough to tell beyond the seventh grade, but with the kids inthe program, I think the next six to eight years look very strong,'Hall said.

Besides an intense and dedicated coach and athletes, the Comancheshave much going for them: They just opened a brand spanking-newgymnasium across the road from the academy, the school isprivate-public -- meaning it draws students from outside thedistrict as well as in -- and it offers no other winter sports forgirls so there is no competition for athletes.

If dynasty is not the word, juggernaut might be.

'A relentless and overwhelming force or movement,' is oneWebster's definition.

'Anything that elicits blind and destructive devotion or ruthlesssacrifice,' is another.

Anyone who has come up against Hall & Co. and their pressuredefense would have little argument with the first. The second mightgo a bit far, but you can bet the word ruthless has been used morethan once when coaches around the state have talked of Hall and hisprogram.

While giving him his due as a coach and applauding the talent andachievement of his players, not everyone is always thrilled with hismethods.

Hall knows that some feel he will run up the score. But he saysthat comes from looking at box scores in the paper.

His team has never scored 100 points. And won't, at least in theregular season, he said.

'And we certainly could have scored 120 or 130 in some games, butwe pulled back,' he said. 'I don't see the point, or any need forit. Although they have asked. We really do have some heart,contrary to what some people think.'

Hall grabs a scorebook and points out that his regulars are notscoring late in the game and that the scoring is well balanced. Hehas never had a player score more than 33 points in a game.

'And we hardly ever press more than a half,' he said. 'That'spretty tough to do when it's 37-7.'

But, yes, he wants his kids playing hard every minute of everygame. And he will have them running the offense and shooting at theend. And the defensive goal is always to keep a team under 10 forthe period -- in only five periods did teams score that many in thefirst 45 regular-season periods this year.

He wants them playing each period like it's 0-0 to start and towin each period. It's that focus that has helped the Comanches avoidletdowns -- no one has come closer than 34 points to them all year --while being the team that everyone wants to knock off.

'We don't really think about how much we're beating teams by,'said Amy Smith. 'It's more how we played. Even if we beat a team by40, we know if we didn't play as well as we could.'

You can't worry about pounding a team, she said.

'You feel a little bad,' she said. 'But Coach Hall says we needthat animal instinct to put teams away. You don't really think aboutit.'

And the Comanches continue to put teams away.

They have a test coming up with two of their next three games --at home Thursday and in Weare Jan. 24 -- against powerful John Stark,a team they picked up this season.

Soon it will be tournament time and a whole new set of challenges.

There are too many teams (27) in Class M to have a good read onwho can do what going into the tournament, Hall said.

Coe-Brown, White Mountains and John Stark were all undefeated, andLittleton, Belmont and Conant had one loss entering last week. Lastyear, Coe-Brown needed a ferocious rally to beat Littleton in theclosing minutes of its semifinal game.

Are the Comanches on their way to a third straight title?

'We're not as beatable as some other teams,' Hall said. 'But Idon't know. I haven't seen Littleton or Conant or John Stark yet.It's so difficult to get a handle on all the teams. But we're verytalented. I do know that.'

Score another for the St. Anselm men's basketball team for its90-84 win at New Hampshire College Monday in the latest installmentof one of the finest rivalries around.

'Any time you can go into their gym and beat them, it's a qualitywin,' said St. Anselm coach Keith Dickson. 'It shows the mark of amature, experienced team to go into someone else's building and andbe tough enough to win. I didn't think we played a great basketballgame, but we played well when we needed to down the stretch.'

The win, their second over NHC this year, should gain the Hawkssome respect nationally, as well as locally, Dickson said.

GYMNASTS ARE BEAMING OVER NEW TEAM'S SUCCESS - The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)

LAWRENCE - For three years, since they were freshmen, JacquelynRudis and Kellie Ryan wrote letters. They wrote to the CentralCatholic High School principal, the athletic director, theadministration, the board of directors. They wrote to anyone whomattered.

Their letters all asked for the same thing: that Central Catholicinstitute a girls gymnastic team.

Dozens of letters and stamps later, their perseverance has paidoff.

Rudis and Ryan are seniors now and cocaptains of CentralCatholic's first girls gymnastics team, and the two bubbled withenthusiasm after Central defeated Pope John of Everett this month inthe school's inaugural meet.

'It's like a dream come true, finally,' said Rudis, who lives inNorth Andover. 'I'm disappointed I'll only be in the program oneyear, but I'm happy that we finally have a gymnastics team. I wouldhave really been disappointed if we got it after I graduated. Butit's good for my sister [Annaliese], who's just a sophomore. She'llhave three years.'

Ryan, who comes from Dracut, was just as enthusiastic.

'It's so amazing to be a part of the first team,' she said.'Jacquelyn and I have been trying to get one started for so long. Wewrote so many letters. Years from now, I'll be able to say I wascocaptain of the first Central Catholic team.' Ryan will also be ableto add that she was the first winner on the balance beam and all-around.

The letters Rudis and Ryan wrote prompted Central Catholicofficials to conduct a schoolwide survey asking students which girlssports should be added. Gymnastics was a close second to field hockeyand was chosen because the school offered just three winter sportsfor girls basketball, indoor track, and cheerleading. Field hockey,as well as lacrosse, which finished third in the survey, will beconsidered down the road, said athletic director Peter Paladino.

'Since going coed eight years ago, we've tried to match up as manygirls sports as we could,' said Paladino. 'We want the girls to haveequal opportunities. We made good matches with cross-country, soccer,volleyball, basketball, indoor and outdoor track, tennis, andsoftball. We didn't have anything for the girls equivalent tofootball or ice hockey or wrestling. In looking at the whole picture,there were less programs for the girls. As Central Catholic grew, wewanted to increase the opportunities.'

Once Central Catholic officials gave gymnastics the go-ahead, theattention then turned to finding a coach. That, said Paladino, provedto be a bit easier than they had anticipated.

Caitlin Worth, 23 and fresh out of Ithaca College with a degree inmath, had applied for a teaching position. During the interviewprocess, she said she had a gymnastics background and expressed aninterest in the job.

Worth 'went through the coaching interview process, and it waslike, `Wow,' she just knocked our socks off,' said Paladino. 'It wasgreat knowing that we could have a coach who was also a teacher inthe system. That's a big plus.'

Worth, who was an All-Conference gymnast at Masconomet RegionalHigh School and then competed during her junior and senior years atIthaca, said she expected maybe 15 to 20 girls to report to the firstpractice. Instead, she got 35. That number forced her to make somehard decisions, such as how many girls to carry on the roster, andhow to, if needed, make painful cuts.

'The team basically ended up putting itself together,' said Worth,who wound up with a roster of 18, consisting of three seniors, fourjuniors, nine sophomores, and two freshmen. 'You could tell who wascommitted. They were the ones that showed up every day. There weresome who'd come occasionally and some who never showed up at all. Itmade our decisions a lot easier.'

Worth had four weeks to prepare for the historic opener againstPope John and said it was a bit more difficult than it should havebeen because of new rules that went into effect this year. Instead ofusing Level 9 USA Gymnastics rules that apply skill levels like A, B,C, D, and E, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Associationdecided to go with National High School Federation rules, which applyskill levels including medium, superior, high superior, and bonushigh superior.

'We got our routines to match up pretty well with the new rules,'said Worth. 'It was the judges that seemed to have more difficulty.Our meet with Pope John lasted more than three hours because theyjust weren't sure how to apply the rules. Under the old rules, themeet probably would have been complete in less than two hours.'

Nonetheless, Central Catholic prevailed, 128.55 to 119.75, and thefirst winners included Ryan in the all-around and beams, AnnalieseRudis in the vault and floor exercises, and Alison Conway of Lowellon the bars.

'I knew they had the talent to perform, but I didn't know how theywould compete,' said Worth. 'They really rose to the occasion. Theyall hit their routines at the same time. They proved themselves toughcompetitors. I was happy and relieved when the meet was over. Winningour first meet is something none of us will forget.'

Crestwood Board Votes To Eliminate 9 Positions - Standard-Speaker (Hazleton, PA)

E.J. Gall has limited vision in one eye, and cannot play sports.His mother, Gayle, said the only extra-curricular activity E.J. canparticipate in is band and chorus.

Gall and about three dozen parents and students - includingseveral in the third grade - pleaded with the Crestwood School Boardin a three-hour marathon meeting to save the elementary musicteaching position, seven other teaching positions and a middleschool nurse.

Facing a $1 million deficit, the board voted 5-3 - with onemember absent - to slash nine teaching positions, including sixelementary school teachers. Superintendent Dave McLaughlin-Smithsaid the elementary music program will be 'altered,' but did notknow how Thursday.

Board members Ken Malkames, Bill Thomas and Dave Ralston votedagainst the teacher cuts.

The board voted 6-2, with Malkames and Ralston voting no, toapprove the $32 million budget, which maintains the current 9.16-mill property tax rate.

The elementary music school teacher's position was eliminated,but she will bump into the position of another teacher who had lessseniority.

Several students and parents said music and other extra-curricular activities are an integral part of the education process.

They not only pleaded to save the elementary music program, whichconsisted of a band and a chorus, but also pleaded to save middleschool foreign languages and sports. But McLaughlin-Smith said thoseprogram would not be affected by the budget.

One Crestwood graduate said his discovery of music led him tobecome a music major in college.

Several of the parents who spoke said they would rather payhigher taxes to maintain the level of education Crestwood has becomeknown for.

At the beginning of the meeting, Malkames said he wanted to tablethe action so that the board could further examine the budget, tosee if the changes proposed could be altered.

If the board is able to find funds to save the positions, thebudget could be altered, Thomas said before voting.

One diabetic eighth-grader said she needs the middle school nursewhen she feels ill.

One cheerleader said she and her group paid most of theirexpenses out of pocket. A softball player, the last speaker, criedas she said her sport, cheerleading and field hockey were the onlysports for girls.

The evening began at 5 p.m., when about two dozen parents andteachers picketed in front of the high school along state Route 309with signs that had 'Kids, Cuts and Compassion' printed on them, andother messages about cutting the programs handwritten in blackmarker.

Title IX's impact goes far beyond athletics for girls - Charleston Daily Mail

The sight of little girls running up and down a basketball courtor soccer field is so common these days that it is hard to imagine atime when they were not playing sports.

Scouting services focusing on the promotion of female high schoolathletes to college coaches are almost as common as ones touting thenext Heisman Trophy candidate.

Teenage girls now have college coaches attending their games,sitting in their living rooms offering scholarships and trying tosell their colleges just like the boys.

In reality though it was not very long ago at all that thingswere very different for girls.

June 23 marked the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixonsigning the Education Act of 1972 into law.

Title IX of that Act reads, 'No person in the United Statesshall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, bedenied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under anyeducation program or activity receiving federal financialassistance.'

Neither sports nor athletics are mentioned among those 37-words.Yet Title IX has become the bedrock upon which female sports hasgrown exponentially in the United States.

That simple statement led to monumental changes affecting helives of millions of young girls.

'It gave me the opportunity to go to college,' former Dunbar Highand University of Charleston star basketball player Cathy (Burke)Widdecombe said. 'My parents probably could not have afforded tosend me without that scholarship.'

She played on one of the first high school state championshipteams in the fall of 1976.

Just how many lives did Title IX effect?

During the 1971-72 school year 294,015 girls took part in highschool sports in the United States.

'In those days girls just wanted the opportunity to play,' formerCharleston Catholic girls basketball Coach Frank Scagnelli, Jr.,said. 'Then parents realized there was the opportunity to getscholarships and that was a big plus.'

Title IX gained some teeth in 1992, when courts determinedmonetary damages could be awarded as a result of suits based on thelaw.

In the college ranks women saw a 70 percent increase inscholarship money, a 45 percent increase in head coaches' salaries,and a 75 percent increase in assistant coaches' salaries by 1997.

With high schools forced to offer more girls sports programs andcolleges forced to offer more females scholarships the number ofgirls playing prep sports took off.

By 2011 the number of girls participating in prep sports hadrisen to 3,173,549 according to the National Federation of StateHigh School Associations.

That is to say that in 1972 one out of 27 high school girlsparticipated in sports compared to one in three today.

Some sports also played by boys really took off.

There were 132,299 girls playing high school basketball in 1972.That had increased to 438,933 by 2011.

A total of 26,010 were playing tennis, 17, 952 volleyball and9,813 softball. Those numbers increased to 182,074 for tennis,409,332 for volleyball, and 389,455 for softball.

'It's amazing how girls sports have grown,' Widdecombe said. 'Tosee how many girls get to play and can even go on and playprofessional ball.'

The impact of Title IX was felt most in West Virginia when thestate Supreme Court ruled in July of 1994 that the then fall girlshigh school basketball season discriminated against girls andrequired the season to be moved to the winter.

'Perhaps, more compelling than any unfairness to actual femalebasketball players is the message this scenario conveys to girls ingeneral, that girls' sports are second class, that boys takepriority as to use of sports facilities and resources, and girlstake the leavings,' Justice Margaret Workman wrote, speaking for the4-1 majority.

This past school year 12,689 girls participated in high schoolsports in West Virginia compared to approximately 2,000 in 1972.

Once sports for girls began being added in state high schoolsthere were not too many problems, at least not locally.

'I never had any problems,' former George Washington and CapitalHigh girls basketball Coach Terry Ferrell said. 'I was blessed towork with good guys coaches at both schools and we always alternatedpractice times.'

That does not mean girls were accepted into the sports world aseasily everywhere in the state.

'It didn't really affect me,' former George Washington girlsbasketball Coach Bob Neely said. 'But I think some of the othercoaches had to really scrounge around to even get basketballs.'

He did recall one prominent booster complaining about his girlsteam asking for $300 to go to the state tournament in Buckhannon inthe late 1970s.

'That changed when his granddaughter played years later,' Neelysaid. 'He was for the girls having everything they wanted then.'

As recently as 1998 the Mercer County School Board and PrincetonHigh were sued due to inequalities between the school's baseball andsoftball programs.

Since then a new softball field has been built.

While the number of girls playing high school sports continues tolag behind the number of boys the difference has been cut to about1.2 million with 1.1 million of those boys playing football, a sportthat has no similar female equivalent.

The impact of Title IX goes far beyond the courts and playingfields.

It is also credited with lowering the dropout rate of girls fromhigh school and increasing the number of women who pursue highereducation and obtain college degrees.

According to a recent Sports Illustrated story before Title IX, 7percent of new lawyers and 9 percent of new doctors were women;today the figures are 47 percent and 48 percent.

All because of 37 seemingly simple words.

Raising hope; 40 YEARS OF TITLE IX IN SPORTS.(Sports) - The Seattle Times (Seattle, WA)

Byline: Jayda Evans; Seattle Times staff reporter

On a casual Wednesday afternoon, 13-year-old Kaya Dumas is surrounded by family at her grandmother's home in Richmond, B.C. Photo books by Annie Leibovitz are on the coffee table and a hint of wisteria lingers in the air from the garden off the kitchen porch.

It's an artistic environment created by the family for Nami -- that's what they call grandma Marcia Brodie -- who was diagnosed with breast cancer in April.

The house is just a visible bond, created through the frequent trips from Seattle to help care for Marcia as she undergoes chemotherapy treatments. But family members have already cultivated a warrior spirit from Nami through sports.

Funny, they're just starting to see it.

'Nami, whose face is covered in wrinkles invisible to me.' -- A poem Kaya wrote for school, taking extra time to glue it to orange paper, her grandmother's favorite color, and adorn it with sparkly butterflies.

When too often women and sports get tangled up in conversations about numbers and statistics -- how many fans were in the arena, or the TV ratings -- Kaya and her family are examples that it's simpler -- and deeper -- than that.

'Oh, you better watch out for number 12,' says Kaya, a 5-foot-7 curly topped basketball player with big dreams.

No. 12 is the family number, starting with her grandfather, John Gillies, and passed through her mother, Michelle Dumas, before landing on Kaya's back. And now Kaya is simply a young Seattle basketball player, one of hundreds of thousands of girls who play basketball in America. One of the millions who participate in sports nationally.

And even though she might barely understand Title IX, the law that celebrates its 40th anniversary Saturday, she and her family have been influenced by it.

The challenge now, even as Kaya and other children enjoy their opportunities, is to encourage others to join in and play.

'Sport is such an esteem-building way of living your life and having that support on so many levels. Why not encourage it?' asks Marcia, 65, who put all four of her children in sports until they opted out. Two still haven't, Michelle and her brother Geoff.

'Look at the age that these kids are participating but look at the number of kids that just don't have the opportunity,' she continues. 'That's where we fall down and draw the line between elitism and just having fun and learning a skill and feeling wanted and needed. ... There's maybe a little too much emphasis on being the best. That kills it for some kids who don't have parents behind them to say, 'That's OK. Just go and have fun.' '

Encouraged by her mother and grandmother, Kaya doesn't have to worry about being the best.

During the day, she and her friends snap bubble gum, wearing the latest fashion trends as they walk the hallways of their middle schools. At night, they slip into the latest basketball gear to snap nets.

Not that everything is all buttons and bows. Participation in sports for girls has grown exponentially since Title IX became law in 1972. But there still are inequalities in inner cities, where transportation or financial hardships might prevent children from opportunities to enjoy sports' benefits.

'The next layer to this (Title IX) is more of a shift in perspective,' says Michelle Dumas, Kaya's mother, a former athlete and now a coach. 'And it'll change more as women do more. A shift in being on the outside of the window looking in saying, 'Man, I wish I could do that. Those are elite things going on in there.' To, 'Where can I get a ball so I can try, too?' It's a shift in culture.'

Michelle Dumas began with an inquisitive letter and willingness to coach a girls team through the A-Plus program at Rainier Vista Boys & Girls Club. Her persistence, combined with charitable donations from Microsoft guru Steve Ballmer and hoops star Brandon Roy, helped establish a team that focuses on academics and basketball -- in the third year after the launch for two boys teams.

Kaya is a participant, earning a 3.92 GPA and scoring 17 points in a big victory in a game at Nathan Hale High School last month. But her team is no mere spinoff from the boys.

In fact, the girls make sure to include 'Lady' in their team rally cheer to make the distinction clear. And no one cares about the old fight to rid women's sports of that term.

As part of the A-Plus program, there's a post-practice meal that quickly becomes a talent showcase. One girl provides beats, another raps lyrics and others dance to the music.

Girls will console their teammates if someone had an emotional day at home or school. Michelle, and Eric Bakke, the co-coaches who often act like co-parents to the girls of diverse backgrounds, might prompt conversations by asking questions about life or silly things like which cartoon character they would marry.

'Mine would be Beast,' says Michelle, 41, referring to the fairy tale 'Beauty and the Beast.'

Michelle, who has been divorced for seven years, is raising three children in Seattle. It's no mystery her daughters, Kaya and 10-year-old Ysabella, and 11-year-old son Xavier, are passionate about basketball.

Michelle was born in Canada but spent time in the United States as a child due to her stepfather's job as an engineer and surveyor. She played whatever she could, starting with softball but loving basketball the most.

'We had to hit off a tee and I wanted them to throw me the ball,' Michelle says of her time with a California girls softball team. She didn't like that her team was given T-shirts as uniforms, while her brother's team had full baseball gear. 'I have flashbacks thinking about it. I remember being that age and being annoyed.

'I never touched a basketball until eighth grade. I think about that today when I look at these girls. If I had a basketball when I was in third grade, I just think, an Olympic team, a professional team, no problem. I'm bitter. I would have loved to have had that perspective then. To know there were more options. But if you don't have the right person giving you the information, your world can be very small. In a lot of ways, my world was small in women's athletics.'

Michelle played volleyball, basketball and softball in high school in Canada, then played basketball at the University of British Columbia.

Her mother's sports world was even smaller. Marcia Brodie felt an athletic rush at the age of 9 when she was taught how to swing a golf club at a Vancouver, B.C., golf and country club. But when her first swing sent a ball sailing through a decorative windowpane above the clubhouse, she wasn't taken in and trained like a future Tiger Woods.

Aside from occasional trips to another local club to play during 'kids hours,' Marcia didn't really play sports again until high school, when she fell in love with field hockey and joined a community softball team. But at school she was at the mercy of the skill level of her PE teachers. And if PE was rhythmic gymnastics that quarter, that's what the group of girls learned.

'Those of us who were just dying to go outside and whack a ball suffered,' she says of the era. 'We were made to feel thrilled that we got a T-shirt and a hat. Where the boys were praised. It was a different time of life, it really was.'

Now, through Kaya, Marcia she sees her old instincts to be a rancher, not a rancher's wife, or athlete and not a passer-by, weren't so strange after all. Marcia even acted on some desires, working in the Arctic and living off the land at times.

'When I stop to think about where I've been and what I've done, I've done a lot of things that a lot of women wouldn't even consider,' she says. 'I was never sure, until very recently, that it was right, which is weird.'

Through the stories shared on that Wednesday afternoon, Kaya frequently interjects how her friends wouldn't put up with not having the same uniforms as boys. And imagining a world without the ability to play basketball?

'It would be aggravating and make me feel like I couldn't get out of a box,' she says.

Kaya shares her own stories with her gift of writing, dreaming of a profession that includes chronicling world travel while playing basketball. It's a dream that also has natural family roots, given her great-grandfather was a newspaperman in Vancouver.

Her dreams are able to flourish, her mother and grandmother insist, because of the Title IX legislation.

Still, on that spring day, Kaya's path is unpredictable. For now, she's simply one benefactor of a movement in which possibilities are endless if given a chance.

'It will,' Kaya says of Title IX truly creating equality in her future. 'People aren't as crazy about not letting girls do things or thinking they're not as good as boys because so many (women) have already done so much more than before.'

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com.

On Twitter @JaydaEvans

CAPTION(S):

Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times: A family portrait of Marcia Brodie, 65, of Richmond, B.C., her daughter Michelle Dumas, 41, of Seattle, right, and Michelle's two daughters, Kaya Dumas, 13, front, and Ysabella Dumas, 10, back. (0421544092)

All should be outraged by IHSA photo restrictions.(Neighbor)(Cul-de-sacs) - Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)

Byline: Joni Hirsch Blackman

Lots of capital letters in any story often cause my eyes to glaze over. Much of what happens between big groups often has nothing to do with those of us just living our lives in the suburbs.

But don't make the mistake of overlooking the recent lawsuit filed by the Illinois Press Association against the Illinois High School Association. This is something that affects any of you whose children participate in school activities.

It affects others as well. This lawsuit is about whether the IHSA has the right to control photographs taken at state events. As of now, the group restricts use and re-sale of photos taken by journalists at these events to those printed in traditional newspapers.

But part of the justification of doing so is that professional sports associations do the same thing. I, as a taxpayer and parent of Illinois students, would like to announce to the IHSA - which, it seems, should be working in the best interests of our children - that my children are not professional anything and I'd prefer to keep it that way.

The creep of everything in life going lower and lower each year has got to stop somewhere and this is as good a place as any to start.

High school events are not professional sports. The children and young adults who participate are not paid to do so and their parents - and, by proxy, the newspapers whose photographers can get close enough to take great photos - should be able to do so without restriction.

Someone I respect enormously - Sue Schmitt, publisher of the State Journal-Register in Springfield - was quoted in the Daily Herald's editorial about the subject. She said, 'The high school sports we cover, to me, is something we do for the community and definitely not something we do as a financial windfall for us.'

The papers want to be able to provide readers with what they know we want - coverage of high school activities. The IHSA, as a public, non-profit entity, should understand and encourage that, not restrict it.

My own recent encounter with this subject enhances my outrage. Last spring, as I wrote at the time, my son was on a high school team that went to state.

This is a long-hoped-for and never truly expected event in any family's experience and, of course, the photo opportunities are precious.

(OK, anyone who knows me is laughing at this point. I find precious photo-taking opportunities on a daily basis, but I'm talking normal people, not camera addicts, here.)

Many of us took photos from the stands before, during and after the games. But at this indoor event, when my son and his team were being honored at the quintessential moment of Americana - the medal stand, where each boy had a medal placed over his head - the lights in the gymnasium were turned off.

Turned off.

I was dumbfounded. It was too late to re-situate myself closer and, indeed, there was no available place to stand near the ceremony in the dark, except for the 'official' photographer.

There was one light on, where the 'official' photographer stood and took photos of the boys on the stand, and of the group as they held their trophy. I took photos, but they are very dark and somewhat blurry; the best I could manage on short notice with a long lens.

The only consolation was I assumed I'd eventually be offered these photos at some exorbitant price. The kicker was, while many photos were available at a hefty cost online, none from the medal stand were even there. Perhaps even the 'official' photographer didn't get any usable photos under those lighting conditions.

Whether the local photojournalists got any photos of the boys on the medal stand, I don't know, because the use of their photos is restricted.

I was and am appalled at a public entity whose non-profit purpose is to 'regulate interscholastic competition in 13 sports for girls, 13 sports for boys and seven non-athletic activities.'

Moreover, the IHSA board consists of taxpayer-paid (at least the public school ones) principals of the 750 public and private schools who are members.

I know from comments received from parents whose boys were on my son's team that all most parents want is a simple photo of their child at the final moments of a state competition. Doesn't seem to be too much to ask.

Let this public group know how you feel about them regulating the photographic opportunities of your, or any, children.

Travis retirement will take another pioneer in girls sports.(Sports Extra) - Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)

Byline: John Leusch Daily Herald Sports Writer

One of the pioneers of high school girls sports in the Daily Herald area will be leaving the coaching ranks this June.

Joanne Travis, the first girls sports coordinator at Forest View High School, is retiring after 31 years in District 214 and two years in District 211.

She has coached volleyball, badminton, track and field, tennis and softball in her 33-year career.

'Today's girls have so many more opportunities than when girls sports were started in the 1970s,' Travis said.

'They now can continue on after high school, whether it's Division I, II or III and play the sports they love. Back then, after you finished high school, it was over. A lot of them are coming back now and coaching, too.'

Travis said she had to laugh when a student recently approached her and asked where she played college sports.

'I said they didn't have them for girls back then,' she said. 'He gave me a puzzled look and I just repeated that there were no sports for girls then.

'Of course, we're talking about 17- and 18-year-old kids so they have no clue whatever how things were back then.'

Travis is greatly impressed by today's athletes.

'The level of skills today is unbelievable,' she said. 'And obviously, the coaching is better than it was back then.

'I'm really happy for the young ladies to have these opportunities today. I was just a small part of helping develop it and I'm happy I was able to have that small part.'

Travis had not even started kindergarten when she knew she was going to be a physical education teacher.

'My mother and the mother of Ron Ashley (former Prospect boys basketball coach) were good friends,' Joanne said. 'I even remember his mother saying you should be a physical education teacher. I was probably 4 or 5 years old. If nothing else, that rang a bell for me. So I did it.'

Joanne graduated from Palatine High School in 1963 and then studied physical education at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Ohio.

In 1968, she was offered a job at Palatine High School to direct pom poms and orchesis.

Joanne's mother, Doris, was the secretary to longtime Palatine athletic director Chic Anderson.

'I didn't want to work there because it was too confusing with my mom already there, but they really needed a person so I finally agreed,' she said. 'I really didn't know a thing about pom poms or orchesis.

'But, thank God, the kids knew what they were doing. In our generation, we had to learn on the job because we never had anyone coaching us when we were in school. We hadn't been coached then like the boys.'

In the fall of 1970, Travis accepted a physical education position at Forest View, along with the head coaching position for badminton and tennis. She was there until the school closed in 1986 and then transferred to Elk Grove.

In 1973, her Elk Grove track and field team tied Wheeling for the Mid-Suburban League championship and placed fourth in the first state meet for girls. That team included state discus champion Vanessa Calabrese.

'Daryl Phillips (a boys track and field coach) helped me a lot with Vanessa,' Joanne said. 'I was fortunate to have some very good athletes come out for track and field. And they did an excellent job.'

In those early day of girls sports, Travis, like many coaches, ran two girls sports programs in the same season. She would direct track and field practice in the morning and then badminton after school.

One of her major contributions was starting club volleyball for area high school girls. They were able to develop their skills during the off-season.

Travis and a partner directed the River Rapids Club, which operated at Lyons Township. Some Members of Rolling Meadows' 1979 state runner-up volleyball team participated in the club.

Travis, currently Elk Grove's freshman boys volleyball coach, plans to move to Arizona for her retirement years and play plenty of golf.

'The reason I was in this job all these years was to give the girls the opportunities that we were not given in years past,' she said.

'That's why all of us (the pioneers) did it so long - to give these young ladies a chance.

Very soon it'll be Krupke Stadium Ex-coach's name to be the first to adorn a Lake Park High building.(News) - Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)

Byline: Mike Burke Daily Herald Staff Writer

It might be the ultimate honor for a high school coach and athletic director.

Lake Park High School in Roselle will name its east campus stadium after Ralph Krupke, who taught and coached for 33 years.

This is the first time Lake Park has recognized a person's contributions in such a way. No other building or part of the school is named in someone's honor.

Before his retirement in 1992, Krupke taught gym and driver education at Lake Park. He served as the school's athletic director for 28 years and coached wrestling, track and football.

The decision to honor Krupke was prompted by a small group of students who took on the cause as a class project.

Krupke says that makes the honor even more rewarding. Because of the students he got to know at Lake Park over the years, he said he couldn't imagine a more satisfying career.

'If I had it to do over again, I'd do the same thing,' he said.

The stadium and school were three years old when Krupke was hired in 1959. At that time, Lake Park offered no sports for girls.

Krupke said he was proud to oversee that addition.

'The development of a girls program was rewarding,' he said. 'Fortunately, we had an administration that really supported athletics for girls.'

Krupke, 65, said he never imagined the school's stadium would bear his name.

'We just felt he deserved to have something named for him,' said Kyle Petranoff, a senior from Bloomingdale and one of the students behind the effort. 'Because of his involvement in athletics, we thought an athletic facility was appropriate.'

Petranoff and five other students in a contemporary issues class at Lake Park's west campus made Krupke their class project. Their teacher, Ken Evans, suggested topics, including a study of Lake Park's history and the identification of a person to be recognized.

The students interviewed many people who know Krupke, including his wife, Pat.

'Of all the people we talked to, no one had a bad thing to say about him,' Petranoff said.

Other members of the group were Kirby Daniels, Mike Muscari, Pete McCarthy and Janelle Myers. As part of their research, the students sent an e-mail to every teacher in the school asking for their thoughts about Krupke.

'Everyone called him 'Mr. Lancer,' ' Muscari said.

One teacher responded that if Krupke ever got cut, he would bleed the blue and white colors of the school.

'That's how much he loves Lake Park,' Petranoff said.

The students eventually made a presentation to a school improvement committee, which liked the idea and forwarded the recommendation to the District 108 board, which this week approved the name week.

The students have yet to meet Krupke, who was kept in the dark about the project until the board's decision.

The stadium will be rededicated in Krupke's honor next fall, after a $936,000 renovation. The stadium, built in 1956, was the school's first football field. It now is used for track and varsity soccer games. Football games moved to the west campus when it opened in 1975.

When Krupke Stadium reopens in the fall, the soccer field will have been rebuilt over a new irrigation and drainage system. A new, all-season track also will be built around the field, along with long jump, pole vault, shot put and discus areas.

Wheeling decides to divide girls athletic director's job by seasons.(Sports) - Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)

Wheeling High School will have three people share the position of girls sports coordinator for 1996-97.

Mike Burke, assistant principal for student activities, made the official announcement this week.

In a departure from the past when Pat Ritchie served as the girls coordinator, Wheeling will have different people assigned to the fall, winter and spring sports seasons.

Ritchie, who was the only girls sports coordinator in Wheeling history and the former varsity softball coach, officially retired from the school in June.

After retiring from her teaching and coaching duties at Wheeling, Ritchie, a member of the Illinois Girls Coaches Association Hall of Fame, had continued to work as the school's girls sports coordinator.

Two Wheeling teachers and coaches and graduates of area high schools will fill coordinators' positions.

Craig Ameel, a special education teacher, will serve as the coordinator for Wheeling's girls sports in the fall.

Ameel was the head girls gymnastics coach for nine years and also has assisted in girls track and field for five seasons.

Ameel, a graduate of St. Viator High School who also coached at St. Viator and Glenbrook North, is the Special Olympics coach at Wheeling.

Mark Saylor, a physical education teacher, will coordinate the winter sports for girls.

Saylor, an Arlington High School graduate, directs Wheeling's boys and girls cross country programs and girls track and field.

Burke said no decision has been made on Wheeling's spring sports position for girls.

Jim Wendler will continue as the boys sports coordinator.

Wheeling also announced the appointment of a new athletic department secretary.

Into the Dark Ages Students live medieval life for a day.(Neighbor) - Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)

Byline: Kari Hartman Daily Herald Staff Writer

Still Middle School sixth-graders recently learned there's a world of difference between the world of today and the world of the Middle Ages.

Take, for instance, the sports girls now play. In medieval times, girls could merely watch from the sidelines as men competed. Organized sports for girls didn't exist then.

And the early sporting competitions themselves were a bit different - jousting and arm wrestling were quite popular, for example. Spectators watched men compete in these arenas rather than, say, football and soccer.

'We want students to know life was a little bit different in the Middle Ages,' sixth-grade teacher Jennifer Coombs said.

Sixth-graders at the Aurora school tasted this old world first- hand during a Medieval festival, an annual event at Still and other Indian Prairie Unit District 204 middle schools.

Still students dressed as knights or in flowing gowns. They practiced a bit of chivalry and adapted their table manners to the era during a banquet.

They spent most of the school day portraying the time period.

'They really enjoy it,' Coombs said.

Krajicek the infamous bottler finally finds his vessel - The Independent (London, England)

They used to say about Richard Krajicek that the only place youwould find his name in the latter stages of a tournament was on asick note. They used to. Krajicek has for long been the greatunderachiever, a man either injured or thinking about his nextinjury. The strength of his body was not matched by the grey stuffin his skull.

All that changed this fortnight in a single moment. Krajicek wasin a third-round tie-breaker with Brett Steven, of New Zealand,having lost the previous set (the only one he dropped alltournament) when the hobgoblins began multiplying in his mind.Previous themes such as his recent mistakes and the iniquity ofgrass were revisited, the sort of self-pitying that formerlyprefaced defeat.

But then Krajicek decided to try. He beat Steven followed byMichael Stich, Pete Sampras, Jason Stoltenberg and, yesterday, inthe final, MaliVai Washington.

Those who know Krajicek talk of a shy, sensitive man, nothinglike the personality you would imagine from his much-repeated quoteof 1982. Then, with PR skills borrowed from Oliver Reed, hedescribed 80 per cent of women players as 'lazy, fat pigs'. Despitethis unwise observation, Krajicek has never been deserted by thepublic of his native Netherlands. The son of Czech immigrants doesmuch to nurture the junior game in his homeland. Tennis is notpurely a middle- class sport in the Netherlands, it stands secondonly to football in popularity. Krajicek's progress through thetournament has been followed in the media there with as muchfervour as England afforded Tim Henman.

In the bad old days, Krajicek could be guaranteed to drop hishead and stomp around in a permanent bow for at least part of amatch, but yesterday his 6ft 5in frame was pylon straightthroughout.

The body language of the loser came from Washington.

For the first time since 1975 and the year of Arthur Ashe'svictory, 50 per cent of the playing personnel was black, but againit was not a ratio that could be applied to the crowd. In theUnited States, too, tennis is a game more associated with cucumbersandwiches (crusts removed) than bangers and mash, and the nets inAmerica's inner cities tend to be drooping from a basketball hoop.

There are far more black American women on tour than men(Washington and Bryan Shelton are the only ones of note) but thenthere are fewer alternative sports for girls across the Pond tochoose. Some will see Washington's deeds as pivotal in gettingyoung black boys interested in tennis, but the Ashe experiencesuggests that would be a fallacy.

At times this fortnight, on television at least, Krajicek'smatches have appeared to get in the way of a study of a blondewoman in the players' guests box. Daphne Deckers, Krajicek's27-year-old girlfriend, is well-known in the Netherlands and nowtoo over here, thanks to drooling BBC cameramen.

FLANAGAN CLAN CELEBRATES 50TH SEASONCLAN BEHAVIOR - The Columbian (Vancouver, WA)

GREG WAHL-STEPHENS/For The Columbian

Bruce Flanagan, center, gathers the current edition of his long-running Flanagan Clan Girls Track Team for a workout last week inWoodland.

GREG WAHL-STEPHENS/For The Columbian

Bruce Flanagan, longtime coach of the Flanagan Clan Girls TrackTeam.

GREG WAHL-STEPHENS/For The Columbian

Bruce Flanagan, left, and McKenna Flanagan, right, help MeganShubert over a line of hurdles before the start of Flanagan Clanpractice. Both girls are his granddaughters.

WOODLAND Bruce Flanagan has always been a track and field man.

Sure, he played the team sports at Raymond High School. But whenyour dad is the principal, well, some peers might think your placeon the team was secured by something other than ability.

In track and field, its about what you do. Its measured by theclock or a tape, he explained. So that really gave me a passion fortrack.

Five decades teaching girls in Southwest Washington how to race,jump and throw is the legacy of that passion.

In 1963 Bruce Flanagan was a young physical education teacher atthe elementary school in Woodland when he formed the Flanagan ClanGirls Track Club.

There was nothing for girls back in 1963, recalled Barb Boswell.From out of nowhere, this track club rises up.

Flanagan Clan was the first girls track club to join the OregonAAU, which included Southwest Washington.

Neither Bruce nor his wife Alyce was surprised when the clubquickly became popular.

There was nothing for girls, so they really jumped at theopportunity, Bruce said.

Alyce sewed the red Flanagan Clan logo onto the blouses thatthose girls wore to competitions in Seattle and Portland. Brucemelded a team from girls in his physical education classes andothers who showed up to train at the simple four-lane Woodland HighSchool track.

That track was rock hard in the summer and youd sink in when itwas wet. It was only wide enough for three hurdle lanes, Flanaganremembered. Even when we had one of the best track programs in thestate, we had that crummy track.

Boswell Barby Brewster, back then was one of the first bigsuccesses. She still has the medal she won on June 8, 1963, at GrantHigh School in Portland the first of hundreds of state JuniorOlympics medals that Flanagan Clan athletes have earned.

Boswell also has fond memories of the first high school statechampionships for girls, an invitational meet in 1969 where she wonthe discus throw and along with three Woodland teammates finishedsecond in team points.

Clan accomplishments

Flanagan, now 73, is certainly proud of the many victories girlshave won while competing for the Clan. Tara Wards 1998 nationalcross country championship for girls ages 11-12, and Laura Allens1969 national best in the triathlon for girls ages 10-11 are the twonational titles.

But success for Flanagan Clan athletes has never been measured inmedals.

If you get PR (personal record), youre a winner, no matter whatplace you finish in that day, said Flanagan, who has used thechallenges offered by track and field to teach skills that apply tolifes hurdles.

The Flanagan Clan Girls Track Club was formed a decade beforeTitle IX became law, ushering in new opportunities in sports forgirls and women. Bruce Flanagan said he always had the enthusiasticsupport of the school board and the Woodland community. Ironically,Flanagan said he remembers that after Title IX became law, he gotoccasional flak for restricting his program to only girls. Hisresponse was simple: I was thinking of girls athletics before thegovernment was. Being the P.E. teacher at the grade school a job heheld for 30 years helped Flanagan establish and sustain the club.

I knew who could do what (events), and Id talk it up. When youget the in girls, then everybody wants to be part of it, he said. Weused to just dominate the (Presidents) physical fitness test. We hada core group of girls, and the rest of the girls thought that wasthe norm and would just follow along and the whole level of fitnesswould be out of sight compared to the national norms.

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated the year Flanaganformed his Clan. Because Kennedy championed physical fitness,Flanagan named the annual award given to the clubs most outstandingathlete in memory of Kennedy.

The list of winners of the Kennedy Award is a whos who of femaleathletes from Southwest Washington, a testament to the reachFlanagans Club has had from its modest Woodland perch.

The first Kennedy Award winner was Gina Miller of Kalama, astudent in Alyce Flanagans sixth-grade class that first year.Boswell won the award twice, the first of many Woodland students sohonored. But Kennedy Award winners have also hailed from WhiteSalmon and Cathlamet.

Staying same despite changes

Dwindling emphasis on physical education in school was theprimary reason Bruce Flanagan retired after 30 years as the P.E.teacher at Woodland Primary School. His disappointment is clear whenhe talks about the days when every student would be in his gym classfive days a week.

Those days are long gone, and Bruce Flanagan has been retired for20 years (his son Glenn has been the schools P.E. teacher for manyyears).

But Bruce Flanagan still coaches hurdlers for Woodland HighSchool.

And the Clan is going strong.

Over the weekend, Flanagan Clan athletes won five championshipsat the Junior Olympics meet for Western Washington. Many morequalified for the upcoming regional Junior Olympics.

When the Flanagan Clan was formed, 880 yards was the farthest theAAU allowed girls to run.

Bruce has guided his club through five decades of change, andthree governing bodies for track and field. He has seen racedistances chanced from yards to meters. Despite his protest, TheFlanagan Clan was forced to shift its affiliation from Oregon toWestern Washington for championship meets.

Because the Clan Van he used for transporting girls to crosscountry meets died in December, Bruce has decided to forego crosscountry this fall. But his finish line is nowhere in sight.

Echo Bowl will be replaced by a Walgreens pharmacy store in Glendale, Wis. - The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, WI)

Byline: Mark Johnson

Aug. 3--GLENDALE, Wis. -- Bob Greenfield was 10 years old, and too small to excel in basketball or football, when he rolled his first game at Echo Bowl.

It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

At 13, he was performing odd jobs at the Glendale bowling alley, working behind the lanes as a pin chaser, the troubleshooter who fixes the pins when something goes wrong. Today, at 44, he carries the exalted title of 'house pro,' an honorary position.

'I had my 40th birthday there. I had my son's 6th birthday party there. I've been Santa Claus when they had bowling with Santa, probably the first Jewish 'Bowling Santa,' ' Greenfield said.

He was one of many loyal patrons who expressed sadness this week at the impending sale of the family-run bowling alley, one of a vanishing breed. Walgreen Co. plans to build one of its pharmacies on the site, at 5400 N. Port Washington Road.

In its 48 years, Echo Bowl wasn't just a place where league teams bowled and friends gathered to watch Packers games, but somewhere couples went on first dates and, on occasion, even married. Parents held their children's birthday parties there using bumpers to spare kids the frustration of a gutter ball; often there were 15 to 20 birthday parties per weekend.

On Friday nights, the faithful gathered for Thunder Alley, which mixed bowling with a rock 'n' roll club, complete with disc jockey, fog machine and light show.

'Some of these people would come back week after week after week,' said Randy McLees, a part-time bartender at Echo Bowl for 23 years. 'I've gotten invited to kids' weddings who came to rock and bowl . . . I just feel bad. There's not many places for kids to go. What are kids going to do in Glendale, hang around the mall?'

Walgreen has made an offer to purchase the Echo Bowl property, and the deal is almost certain to go through based on the approval of Glendale officials, said Donald Hildebrand, president of Echo Bowl. Glendale's seven-member Plan Commission approved a conditional use permit for the store Wednesday night.

Hildebrand would not reveal how much money Walgreen offered but said of the offer: 'It was good and it was right. This wasn't something we were looking to do.'

Walgreen wants to raze the bowling alley and build a 14,000-square-foot pharmacy with drive-through service to replace its pharmacy in Bayshore Mall. Construction likely would begin in September, and the new pharmacy would be finished and ready for occupancy by the end of March or early April.

Redmond Commercial Development, contractor for the project, would not comment. Glendale City Administrator Richard Maslowski said the pharmacy will employ about 35 people.

Echo Bowl employs 43 workers during the peak winter season and around 25 during the slower summer months.

From the day it opened in 1956, the bowling alley was a family business, the kind of place that is going the way of the old team shirts with the bowlers' names stitched on them.

Frank Prasnikar built Echo Bowl for his daughters, Kathy Zappia and Krista Hildebrand, who is married to Donald. The two sisters remain co-owners of Echo Bowl.

Nancy Hildebrand, Donald's mother, worked at the reception desk of Echo Bowl for many years. Everyone called her Ma.

Donald and Krista Hildebrand's four children all worked for the bowling alley at one time or another, as did Zappia's two children.

'Echo is really full of personality and mojo,' Greenfield said. 'It just has a feel to it. It's kind of like 'Cheers' a little bit.'

The alley started with 16 lanes and added another eight in 1961, just in time for the bowling boom.

'In the 1960s and 1970s, they built bowling alleys like there was no end -- like they built service stations. They overbuilt,' said Don Janke, executive director of the Greater Milwaukee Bowling Association, which represents 10,200 sanctioned bowlers and 330 leagues.

During its heyday, the association had about 60 bowling alleys. Today it's down to 33, including Echo Bowl.

Janke said the number of bowlers locally has been dropping 2 percent or 3 percent a year, not only here but nationwide.

'All of a sudden, families had so many other things to do,' he said, citing the rise of youth sports and especially sports for girls. 'The parents no longer have the free nights.'

Janke said he'd hate to see Echo Bowl go, adding: 'They've been a persistent supporter of league bowling and tournament bowling.'

With the new bowling season just three weeks away, the leagues that used Echo Bowl may have to scramble to find new locations.

For some, the bowling alley held associations that went much deeper than sports. David Whitcomb's first date with his future wife, Carla Durand, ended at Echo Bowl. It was 11 years ago, and they both worked for the gas company. They had just finished dinner and Whitcomb did not want the night to end.

'I'm trying to think of something to do,' he said. 'I asked, 'Do you want to shoot pool, maybe go bowling?' '

Echo Bowl had a pool table in addition to bowling. Plus, Whitcomb had grown up with Donald Hildebrand, playing football together on their eighth-grade team. That night at Echo Bowl, Durand promptly defeated her future husband -- at pool. Later Whitcomb would get her involved in league bowling.

They married nine years ago and have bowled in a league together for at least five of those years.

'I'm very happy for Don, Krista and Kathy. They've worked very hard,' said Whitcomb, 50. 'But it's an era that's gone.'

'I think it's a shame,' Greenfield said, 'because bowling, especially in the colder weather, offers somewhere for families to go.'

To see more of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.jsonline.com.

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LATE COACH'S IMPACT FELT; CAROLYN RHINEHART OF CHITTENANGO IS REMEMBERED AS A STERN BUT CARING TEACHER.(Local) - The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY)

Byline: Larry Richardson Staff writer

Carolyn Rhinehart was a pioneer in girls sports in Central New York.

She spent more than three decades shaping what once were a few basic 'play day' sports for girls into a huge program for today's female athletes in the Chittenango school district.

Rhinehart, 68, of Chittenango, died Sunday after a long illness. But friends and former co-workers say her impact will be felt for generations.

'Carolyn's physical education teaching was outstanding, and she always had the kids' interest at heart,' retired Chittenango athletic director Frank DiChristina said Monday. 'She lived from the days of play days and honor teams (intramural girls all-star teams that competed against other schools) to today's multisport girls varsity programs, and through many rule changes in all the sports.'

Rhinehart was a leading advocate for girls sports in Section 3, working to add sports at the section level, DiChristina said. He and Rhinehart attended State University College at Brockport from 1952 to 1956 and accepted physical education teaching jobs at Chittenango the same year. She retired in 1989.

'At that time we had four girls sports - field hockey, volleyball, basketball and softball - and Carolyn coached all of them, along with the cheerleading squad. She was the girls sports coach at Chittenango for many years,' he said. 'She lived in the transition time of the Title IX federal regulations, which provide equal opportunity for girls in athletics.'

Those opportunities had an impact on many girls throughout the 33 years Rhinehart coached. One of those former athletes, RoseAnn Button, now is assistant dean for campus life at Mohawk Valley Community College.

'I played volleyball, field hockey, basketball, softball and track at Chittenango from 1961 to '65, and Carolyn was the****coach of all of them,' she said. 'She took a special interest in me and helped me grow up in the right way. I wasn't a high jumper, and she encouraged me to do it. I accomplished more than I ever thought I could do.'

Button said Rhinehart loved coaching and was part of 'the last era of real coaches.'

'A lot of the fun was going to and from the games on the buses,' Button said. 'We'd all sing.'

Another former athlete who was coached by Rhinehart agrees.

'Girls sports were so unorganized in those days. They were honor teams,' said Ginny (Hale) Nykaza, a 1965 graduate. 'We went to Rome Free Academy for play days almost every Saturday, and other schools would be there. We'd still wear our red sleeveless gym outfits and pinnies to compete.'

Nykaza said the high school girls were friendly with the teachers and would 'hang out' in Rhinehart's office.

'Carolyn was never married, so I guess she had a lot of free time to counsel us or go over strategy,' she said.

Nykaza described Rhinehart as a stern teacher who cared about the students.

'Everyone in the class had to participate in the activities, and no one got out of taking a shower,' she said. 'I used to bite my fingernails, and she thought it was a terrible habit. So she put stuff on my fingernails that made them taste terrible. It didn't work.'

Longtime Chittenango boys basketball coach Phil Gordon, now retired, said Rhinehart was an outstanding teacher and coach.

'Carolyn was an ace in a deck of cards. You can't get any higher than that,' he said. 'She was one of the outstanding women's coaches in the area for many years, and her teams were very competitive. Carolyn wasn't a cream puff; she was a disciplinarian. But she was very understanding of all the kids.'

Rhinehart didn't limit her teaching to traditional physical education.

'We started ballroom and square dancing classes at the high school and taught it for more than 30 years,' Gordon said.

Sports was a large part of Rhinehart's life outside coaching. She bowled and played in local softball leagues and won second-place medals in tennis doubles in the 1992 and 1993 state Senior Games.

She also enjoyed cross stitching, reading, traveling and ceramics. She had a pet cat, Daisy.

Rhinehart, Chittenango Middle School physical education teacher Kathy Gaske and retired fifth-grade teacher Flo Adelman made and sold ceramics together.

'Carolyn had the kiln in her cellar, I did the slip work, and Kathy did the painting,' Adelman said. 'We set up at craft shows.'

Rhinehart, Adelman and retired Chittenango High School nurse Margaret Holdridge once rented a camper and drove to the 125th anniversary re-enactment of the Battle of Gettysburg and along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

'We lost the brakes on a mountain near Gatlinburg, Tenn., and the steering went, but Carolyn got it over to the side,' Adelman said. 'We had a ball, even with all the breakdowns.'

Rhinehart is survived by a sister, Evelyn LaMay of Oswego, and a brother, Emerson Rhinehart of Chateaugay.

Contributions

There are no local calling hours or services for Carolyn Rhinehart. G.F. Zimmer Funeral Home, Chittenango, has arrangements.

NOW trying to be relevant today; At its convention in St. Paul, the group hopes to convey that it supports all women.(NEWS) - Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

Byline: H.J. Cummins; Staff Writer

If one measure of an activist's relevancy is enemies, the continuing death threats to members of the National Organization for Women suggest it's still a player.

'We have been opening our mail with latex gloves for years,' NOW national president Kim Gandy said, referring to last fall's scare after letters to NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw and Sen. Tom Daschle released anthrax spores into their offices. '... Our staff gets regular briefings from the FBI.'

The matriarch of the women's movement, NOW is sometimes accused of being out of touch. The organization neglects mothers at home, some critics say. Others contend that the great need now is for harmony, not more equality, between the sexes. And many young women - including a handful approached at random at the University of Minnesota - haven't even heard of NOW.

No wonder NOW is calling its 2002 national convention in St. Paul this weekend 'Linking Arms in Dangerous Times.'

NOW members say they picked the slogan because the notion that they support one category of women over another has always been a bum rap. They also say they worry that young women don't understand how many rights have been won in the past few decades - such rights as access to abortions and equal educational opportunities that they think are threatened by conservative judges and a Republican White House. And then there are the evolving women's issues to attend to: For example, with so many mothers working now, the need for good child care has grown.

'We've been in a defensive mode lately,' said Jill Pearson-Wood, president of Minnesota NOW.

'There are huge women's issues, and I don't see them going away any time soon,' said Debra Ness, executive vice president of the National Partnership for Women & Families, formerly the Women's Legal Defense Fund, in Washington, D.C.

The cause began in '66

It's easy to forget how much has changed for women since NOW started in 1966, advocates say.

Newspapers still separated their help-wanted ads by 'men' and 'women' into the 1970s. Janitors then typically out-earned librarians in the same building because as men, 'they had a family to support.' Little League baseball didn't open equally to girls until 1974.

It wasn't until 1981 that Minnesota law addressed poverty among older women by requiring all retirees - the vast majority being men then - to get their spouse's approval if they wanted to skip survivor benefits in favor of bigger monthly pension checks during their lifetimes.

'Before that, everyone saw it as his decision to do whatever he chose with his pension,' said Diane Cushman, director of Minnesota's Legislative Commission on the Economic Status of Women.

'I know 30 years sounds like a long time, and I am tired,' said Kathleen Ahrens, the local NOW conference organizer. 'But a lot has happened.'

Still, for those whose aim is equality, there's a long way to go.

Census data show women earned 73 cents to every $1 a man earned in 2000, up from 60 cents in 1980 but barely moved from 72 cents in 1990. At the same time, the research agency Catalyst, of New York, reported that the number of Fortune 500 companies where women were at least one-fourth of the corporate officers doubled in just five years. Still, that came to only 10 percent of the firms.

In politics, the Interparliamentary Union ranks the United States 55th among 180 nations based on the number of women in their lower houses of government - that is the House of Representatives in the United States or the House of Commons in nations with parliamentary systems, for example. The U.S. House is 14 percent women, tied with Slovakia.

Two other issues show how NOW is running just to stay in place.

Almost 30 years after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion, NOW is fighting to keep access to abortion clinics open by restraining demonstrators accused of attacking clients. That lawsuit, against Joe Scheidler and Operation Rescue, is before the Supreme Court.

And 30 years after Title IX mandated equal access to education - including sports - for girls, NOW is fighting new efforts by advocates of public girls or boys schools to loosen the law - remembering the historical problems with separate-but-equal education.

What's ahead

Nationally, NOW has more than a half-million members, Gandy said, and about 150,000 of those are active members and the rest supporters and contributors. Ten to 15 percent are men.

There's a dip in the '30-somethings' membership, she said, but the '20-somethings' picked up again.

Even so, Kristin Ahles of Minneapolis, 26 and a member of Minnesota NOW, said she thinks many young women take for granted the achievements of feminists through the 1960s and '70s.

It's a common problem with social movements over time, said Robin Gerber, a senior fellow at the University of Maryland Academy of Leadership in College Park. 'The labor movement is a perfect example,' she said. 'People think everybody always had pensions and health care.'

University of Minnesota sophomore Laurel McEvers, fresh from an 'Images of Women in Literature' course, said that to her, the word feminist means 'being for the empowerment of women.' But she said many her age would define it as 'a lesbian and someone who hates men.'

Gandy blames conservatives for tainting the word: 'It's like they worked on the word `liberal,' and now all liberals call themselves progressives.'

NOW's critics say it's more than that.

'The level of alienation between adult men and women is bringing about a gradual and slow death of our culture,' said Patrick Fagan, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. That undermines marriage, and that hurts children, he said.

But Ann Crittenden, author of 'The Price of Motherhood,' said she has found some NOW chapters open to her appeal to support mothers at home.

'Mothers' economic status is the big unfinished business of the women's movement,' she said. 'The economic bifurcation is not between men and women, but between mothers and others.'

NOW has always supported women at home, Gandy said. In any case, she said, their needs fit in the big tent of issues NOW sees as concerns to women - health, education, elder care, safety and equal opportunity.

'And there will be other things we haven't even thought of yet,' she said.

Staff librarian Roberta Hovde contributed to this report.

- H.J. Cummins is at hcummins@startribune.com.

2002 National NOW Conference

Schedule: Friday through Sunday. Speakers include Rep. Patsy Mink, D-Hawaii, Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal and Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn.

Site: Radisson Riverfront Hotel, 11 East Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul.

Admission: Standard fees: $110 for three days or $35 for a single day. Also, sliding scale fee for NOW members.

THE WORK OF THESE PIONEERS IS NOT FINISHED.(Sports) - Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore

One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done.

- Marie Curie, 1894

The California Interscholastic Federation honored the pioneers of girls' and women's sports over the last quarter century in Irvine on Friday, recognizing 22 courageous women for their profound impact on girls' athletics in California.

Yet, as much as has been done, we only see what remains to be done.

Two weeks ago, the city of Los Angeles settled a lawsuit with the West Valley Softball League by agreeing to pay $100,000 for the construction of four softball fields.

Basically, while boys play at pristine facilities, girls of the same age are playing on substandard fields and were told that's the way it goes.

The settlement provides the league with a five-year lease and a 10-year renewal option at Hughes Middle School, and includes parking spaces and the right to build a concession stand. The city also will provide $50,000 worth of labor to construct fences and renovate restrooms at the Hughes location.

Thankfully, West Valley finally has a home to call its own. But the manner in which the league won the right brings up this disappointing reminder:

The fact is, 27 years after the passage of the Education Amendments Act, specifically Title IX, which banned sex discrimination in public and private education, girls often struggle to get the same treatment as boys when it comes to municipally run little leagues, parks and recreation departments and other city-sponsored programs.

Which is why West Valley's victory is so significant.

``This settlement is a powerful tool to begin to remedy the injustice done to countless girls in Los Angeles who have been denied equal access to participate in city-sponsored programs,'' said Paula Pearlman of the California Women's Law Center, which was counsel to the league.

``We have also taken giant steps toward expanding the principles of gender equity to other public facilities and institutions.''

The parents and players of West Valley Softball have something in common with the women celebrated by the CIF on Friday. Both groups fought bitter, often brutal battles for the advancement of girls' sports.

The honorees on Friday achieved quiet victories through the years, most confined to behind-the-scene skirmishes that rarely registered a blip. But sometimes the greatest wins seem ordinary at the time.

Over the years, their subtle achievements have had major implications, clearing the path for the growth and popularity of girls' and women's sports in California.

More than anything, their heroics helped to ensure equal opportunity, recognition and respect for young women participating in high school sports. Prior to their crusades, organized sports for girls was nearly nonexistent, their activities limited to once-a-week competitions featuring archaic games like six-person basketball, with three players restricted to one-half of a court and two dribbles per person.

Today, more than 220,000 girls will participate in 18 sanctioned sports statewide.

Their names might not be recognizable, but the accomplishments of women like Pat Harvey, Patricia Mack and Jan McCreery, among many others, are every bit as emphatic as anything Mia Ham, Lisa Leslie and Marion Jones perform today.

Mack, who served as athletic director at Glendale High from 1973-74, was instrumental, along with fellow honorees McCreery and Campbell, in organizing a strike and lawsuit against the Glendale Unified School District to provide equitable funding for girls' teams in 1952. Her bravery in bringing suit against the district was the highlight of a distinguished career that spanned more than 40 years.

``I am proudest of being able to teach girls and boys skills which brought them joy and enabled them to participate in an activity with confidence and a feeling of pride,'' Mack said.

Harvey is considered the driving force in girls' athletics in the Los Angeles City School District, starting the section's athletic program in 1971. McCreery and Campbell helped Mack bring suit against the Glendale School District, and Campbell fought for the implementation of Title IX in her district.

``I am proud of the fight,'' said Campbell.

She also takes pride in that fact that young women in high school and college today have no idea how limited girls' athletics once were. More than anything else, that shows the magnitude of the pioneers' accomplishments.

Much like the honorees, West Valley Softball should be considered a trailblazer. Its recent victory prompted the city's Department of Recreation and Parks to implement a new program called ``Raise the Bar,'' which it hopes will draw more girls to its programs. The goal is to raise female participation in city sports by 10 percent this year and 25 percent next year.

In addition, a softball league in Riverside contacted Pearlman after West Valley's victory, seeking assistance in improving its own situation. It's one of many calls Pearlman recently received from girls' athletic organizations all over the country.

Sharp-shooter: for nearly three decades, Texas Tech's Marsha Sharp has helped revolutionize Women's Basketball.(PERSON TO PERSON)(Interview) - Coach and Athletic Director

COACH: Where did it all begin for you?

SHARP: I was born on Whitby Island, WA, where my father was stationed in the U.S. Navy, but grew up in Tulia, TX. Tulia High offered only three sports for girls and I played all of them--guard in the days of three-on-three girls basketball, tennis, and track.

Tulia was a small town with a population of about 12,000. The larger schools in Texas didn't have sports teams for girls, so Tulia was considered ahead of its time back in the 1960's. I graduated high school in 1970, right before the era of Title IX.

COACH: Prior to accepting the head coaching position at Texas Tech, you spend six years as the head coach at Lockney (TX) H.S. You led the Lady Longhorns to a 126-63 record and three district titles (1976, '77, '79). What did you learn about yourself as a coach on the scholastic level?

SHARP: First of all, I really loved molding a group of players into a team. I also learned how valuable athletics could be in handling adversity, perseverance, the building of self-esteem, and being part of something special--whatever your role on the team.

All of us had a lot of pride in what we were doing to establish tradition and instill various qualities that would help us in later life.

Lockney was a terrific place in which to coach. Everyone treated me great. I was 22 years old, just out of college, and already a head coach! I couldn't have asked for a better way to start my coaching career.

COACH: We understand that you got your start in coaching while attending Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, TX. You directed the JV team during your junior and senior years and also served as a graduate assistant coach during the 1974-75 season.

SHARP: There is no question that was the most important thing that ever happened to me. Wayland Baptist was only one of the few colleges that had a women's basketball team. Many of the greatest female high school players would go to the smaller colleges like Delta State and Immaculata. I wasn't a great player, but I really learned about coaching in that environment.

For a time, I was devastated by the fact that I wasn't good enough to play for the varsity. But in retrospect, it was probably the best thing that could have happened to me. I was able to start coaching the JV team when I was a junior.

Harley Redin, now in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, was the coach at that time and he gave me my opportunity. I discovered that you could learn a lot more by teaching than you could by playing. Certainly, I learned a lot of things under very watchful eyes.

Coach Redin retired after my junior year and Dean Weese, who is also in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, came to Wayland. He continued to help me learn how to teach the fundamentals. I was caught up in an unbelievable tradition in women's basketball. Wayland had winning streaks of 80, 90, and 100 games. That kind of winning environment taught me how to maintain a program at a certain level for a long period of time.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

COACH: What kind of collegiate player were you?

SHARP: Determined, but not very talented. I was short, not a good jumper, and not real fast. I call it the white girl's disease. But I absolutely loved the game. I wrote a book about it titled, Tall Enough to Coach. I was only 5-foot-4, but I was always a student of the game.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

COACH: Who else has been a major force in your coaching career, professionally and personally?

SHARP: Probably the person that helped me most at Texas Tech, who really launched my career and helped me fight Title IX battles, and make basketball a big deal in Lubbock, was a lady by the name of Jeannine McHaney. She was the women's athletic director who hired me. She passed away in 1994 after a 10-year battle with cancer.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

But during my first 12 years at Texas Tech, she really helped me understand what battles to pick and which ones to leave alone. She fought a lot of wars with me off the floor to help build a program.

I learned a lot from her. Not necessarily in the world of coaching, but how to handle collegiate athletics and understand all the different processes that make things work on the college level.

I also learned a lot from watching and reading books by people like John Wooden and Dean Smith, and exchanging ideas with a lot of my contemporaries and coaching friends like Jody Conradt at Texas, Pat Summitt at Tennessee, Geno Auriemma at Connecticut, and Tara VanDerveer at Stanford.

COACH: How did you decide to go into coaching?

SHARP: When I first went to Wayland, I really thought I was going to be a lawyer. But I was around so many people who were passionate about basketball. Two things drew me to coaching. One, I really loved the sport and had a great time studying and watching it and becoming part of it. Second, I felt that there was a great opportunity in the early 70's, when I was going to college, to participate in the revolution of women's athletics.

I've been fortunate to not only do something I love every day, but to create opportunities for women to better themselves. I've also watched a lot of kids who have come to Tech and really needed an education to change their circumstances and become productive citizens. Athletics was the only venue they had to do that. It has been the most incredible experience I have had.

COACH: You place great emphasis on academics. Your program boasts a 97 percent graduation rate for student-athletes who have exhausted their four-year eligibility. You have also taken a personal interest in education with your generous donation to establish the on-campus Marsha Sharp Center for Student-Athletes, which opened in January 2004.

SHARP: There's no substitute for education. Every player that I've recruited to Texas Tech over the last 23 years has been told that if they come play for me and we win a national championship but they leave without earning a degree, I would probably feel that I used them a little bit.

Obviously I want to create those great experiences for them athletically, but our purpose here is to educate people and I want them to leave with a degree so they can do whatever they want to with their lives.

I really view basketball as a means to an end, not an end in itself. Student-athletes should be using basketball to put themselves in a position to go out and be a productive citizen.

That is something I am very passionate about and I think it's the best thing we do. The academic center is my way to give something back to the university. I was drawn to that idea because every athlete at Tech, not just women's basketball players, can benefit from it.

COACH: What kind of offensive and defensive systems do you employ at Tech?

SHARP: I hope I'm flexible. For instance, we won a national championship playing a match-up zone defense. The last seven or eight years, we've probably played very little match-up zone because the players we've had were better defensively in man-to-man. This year we've gone back to the zone a little bit and are playing a bit of both.

Offensively, I feel the same way. There are years where we're more of a fastbreak, up-and-down the floor type team. When we have players who are better in a halfcourt set, we may try to run a particular offense and get some really good looks for a particular kid.

COACH: What kind of player do you recruit at Tech?

SHARP: We certainly try to recruit the best athletes we can. I don't think there's any question that success at the Division I level is completely tied into recruiting. It's the biggest job I have. We always attempt to recruit players that we think are good enough to compete in the Big 12 Conference.

Academically, they have to maintain a certain level. If you recruit a kid who can't hang in there academically, that's what you could be left with. I want players who will be able to make that commitment to me: play throughout their career.

I would gladly give up a little bit of athleticism to ensure a commitment, a passion for team, and a quality student.

COACH: What was it like coaching Sheryl Swoopes, the cornerstone of your 1993 National Championship team, who has been called the female Michael Jordan?

SHARP: She was the best. I know I am partial, but I think she could be considered the best player of her generation. She's taken every team she has played on to a championship.

She had a lot of humility when she played for us. She understood it was a team sport. She allowed her teammates to take her to a different level and she took them there, too. Coaching her was the greatest coaching experience of my life.

COACH: What do you think are your greatest coaching attributes?

SHARP: Being flexible--one of the most vital principles in coaching. At the same time, you can never compromise your principles. I try to see the big picture and not to get so focused on any aspect of it that it will induce me to take things out of context.

I hope I am a good X's and O's person. I think I understand the game. But I will tell you: After you recruit your players, the biggest thing becomes motivation. I try to motivate well and I try to put people around me who motivate well. I have a great staff. When you do things as a group you can usually have a pretty big impact.

COACH: What is the key to being a not only a good teacher for your players, but also a good listener?

SHARP: You have to make yourself listen and sometimes that's hard when you're in a leadership role. Your first thought is to give advice or direction or try to leave them a perspective of a dictatorship. I don't think that's always the best. I think in a lot of ways that your best leaders are your best listeners.

COACH: You have guided the Lady Raiders to a national championship, eight conference championships, 17 NCAA appearances, including 15 straight, have won nearly 600 games, and been honored twice as the national Coach of the Year. What has been the secret of your success?

SHARP: You have to be committed to your principles and to longevity. There's a big difference between building a program and building a successful team one year at a time. You have to make some decisions along the way that may not be good for a particular team, but will be best in the long run. So you have to be flexible enough to change with the times.

Rising Retail, Marketing Efforts Parallel Growth of Women's Soccer. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Jun. 20 -- The three-week-long Women's World Cup soccer tournament is underway across the country this weekend, including two games in Foxborough today, providing women who play team sports with a huge and rare opportunity to capture the public's attention.

Corporate sponsors and licensed manufacturers, through marketing and retail campaigns, will play key roles in determining whether women will now reap some of the popular acclaim and commercial success long enjoyed by men's professional sports. So far, businesses like what they see in the emerging image of women in the plucky, demanding sport of soccer, and they are promoting the cause.

'I think there's no question that an event that's strictly women athletes, that's sold over a half-million tickets, and which 1 billion viewers will watch on television worldwide, has the potential to set a new standard for women's sports,' said Dean Stoyer, who helped design Nike's multimillion-dollar marketing campaign that features Mia Hamm, the star of the US team.

While individual women competing in golf, tennis, and figure skating have struggled for years to claim some of the spotlight from men, only the Women's National Basketball Association and the playing of the Women's World Cup in the United States have provided significant financial opportunities in the team sports.

'For years, women athletes had been almost untouchables when it came to things like endorsing products,' said Bob Williams, president of the Burns Celebrity Sports Service, a Chicago-based company that links advertisers and athletes. 'In the mid-'90s there was an explosion, but it was figure skaters like Nancy Kerrigan or tennis stars like Martina Hingis and the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena. Only now are we getting any action for team sport players, like Cheryl Swoopes in basketball and, now, in a very large way, Mia Hamm in soccer.'

Soccer has endured growing pains, striving to become a major sport in this country. But observers say it might be different for the women. For one thing, unlike the men's national team, the women win. They took the first Women's World Cup in 1991, the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and they are favored to win the World Cup this year, on their home turf. (Seats are available for today's games at the Foxborough Stadium box office; TV coverage is at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN and 4 p.m. on ESPN2.)

'America likes winners and big events -- and we like being identified with them as a company,' said Bruce Hudson, director of international sports marketing for Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. 'We were the first out of the box with a commercial during the men's World Cup last year that had lots of action footage, and helped create an image for a group of women players who clearly have become more and more popular with a lot of people.'

The image is becoming so popular that Mattel is selling Women's World Cup Barbie dolls at prominent store displays around the country. Gillette Co. has clamored to position its stadium signs in prominent spots for the international television exposure. And the Allstate Insurance Co. decided to be an official sponsor of the tournament, the first time in the 67-year history of the company that it has sponsored athletics.

'We're excited about it because it clearly helps us with a target audience of younger women with families,' said Raleigh Ford, a marketing spokesman for Allstate.

Observers say the intersection of two significant demographic trends makes the current Women's World Cup attractive to corporations: Women and girls are participating in team sports in greater numbers than ever, with big increases in this decade, and women continue to be the preeminent decision makers on retail purchases.

'What you have is what you might call the children of the Title IX generation causing a huge leap in participation levels by women and girls in sports that were long the preserve of male athletes. The question becomes, will that translate in the next generation, the grandchildren of Title IX, to popularity among spectators and television viewers?' said Robert Madrigal, of the University of Oregon's Warsaw Sports Marketing Center. Passed into law in 1972, Title IX mandated equitable opportunities to play sports for girls attending schools that receive federal funds.

'This Women's World Cup could be a hugely important development -- especially if the US women do well -- and if the companies that were smart enough to get involved are smart with their marketing,' Madrigal said.

One measure of the importance of a sports event is whether Adidas and Nike fight over sponsorship -- and they are fighting over the Women's World Cup. Adidas, the largest manufacturer of soccer shoes and equipment in the world, has joined 10 other companies in paying $6 million to be an official sponsor. Adidas is using the trademarks of the tournament in its advertising, along with pictures of members of the US women's team, like Kristine Lilly.

However, Nike has refused to be eclipsed, embracing the event by financing a national tour of the US team that began last year. Nike also has launched the sort of marketing campaign featuring Hamm that it once used to make Michael Jordan a national icon, even using Jordan in some of the spots with Hamm.

In one TV commercial, Hamm and Jordan challenge each other in a variety of sports from sprinting to fencing while a woman's voice sings, 'Anything you can do, I can do better. ...'

'We have always sold casual footwear well to women and girls, but this is a battle for the performance footwear market, which is really growing among female consumers,' Nike's Stoyer said. 'From 1991 to 1998, there's been an 86 percent growth rate in the number of girls participating in soccer at the high school level and a 120 percent increase in college. We want those new customers.

'We've worked with Mia since 1994, and I can tell you that if Mia Hamm wants to wear it, you can be pretty sure that a lot of 14-year-old girls are going to want to wear it, too,' Stoyer said. 'Once, they wanted to be like Mike. Now, they want to be like Mia.'

Hamm now appears as a spokeswoman for at least 15 companies.

Other women players on the US soccer team who have garnered endorsement contracts with various companies include Briana Scurry, Brandi Chastain, Tiffeny Milbrett and Tisha Venturini.

As Nike's Jordan commercials proved, such marketing not only benefits the company, but it helps create the image and mythology of the sport. Basketball was still in recovery from the drug scandals of the 1970s and early 1980s when the Jordan commercials began to air, and they helped revitalize the NBA.

Fans of women's sports are hoping for something of the same for women's soccer.

'What's new is the sense that this has never happened for women in team sports,' said Lucy Danzinger, editor of Women's Sports & Fitness. 'This girl gang of passionate soccer players is being allowed to compete in a way that only men have competed before. And, well, it's about time. We're thrilled!'