More than 300 people involved in women's sports, includingathletes and business leaders, will gather today at the CrystalGateway Marriott in Arlington for the start of a three-day conferenceon challenges facing women in sports and the progress they have madein the industry.
The conference, called Summit '99, is sponsored by the Women'sSports Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes sports forgirls and women and supports gender equality in sports.
Donna Lopiano, the foundation's executive director, said theconference 'contributes to the understanding of that chessboard ofwomen's sports in this country. Where it is going? And why? Andhow fast?'Lopiano said there have been significant advancements in women'ssports over the last 25 years, including the mass participation ofwomen in sports. For example, she said, one out of every three girlsin high school today play varsity sports compared with one in 27 in1974, when the foundation was established. Lopiano said the WNBA,which will starts its third season this summer if it can solve itslabor dispute, is an important development in promoting femaleathletes.Although women have benefited from improvements in sportsprograms, Lopiano said they still lag behind men's programs. Forinstance, she said, college female athletes now receive more than$160 million annually in athletic scholarships after getting'virtually none' in 1974. But, she said, college male athletesreceive about $340 million per year in athletic scholarship money.Among the scheduled speakers for the conference are NBC SportsChairman Dick Ebersol, who oversees the network's coverage of theOlympic Games; U.S. Olympic Hall of Famer Donna de Varona, a foundingmember of the Women's Sports Foundation; and WNBA President ValAckerman.
