Establishing the Future of Women's Athletics
June 23, 2012
Celebrating 40 Years of Title IX
When it became law 40 years ago today, on June 23, 1972, Title IX changed the landscape of collegiate athletics forever. The impact of Title IX over the last 40 years has been profound from coast-to-coast, but perhaps it has been most noticeable at UCLA. The university community quickly saw the value in successful women's athletics, began competing in the AIAW during the 1973-74 school year under the direction of Women's Athletic Director Dr. Judith Holland, and immediately established its teams among the nation's elite - first in the AIAW and later the NCAA.
Some of the women's teams UCLA has fielded through the years are considered among the best of all time. Many of the individuals who have worn a Bruin jersey are synonymous with excellence in women's athletics.
With that success in mind, UCLABruins.com today continues its Title IX retrospective with a look back at many of the people who built this rich history at UCLA - players, coaches and administrators alike. Four coaches and four administrators, one from each of four decades (1970s, 80s, 90s and 2000s), that have made UCLA such an amazing place for women's athletics are profiled below. In addition, starting next Tuesday, we will profile two athletes per week (for 20 weeks) who have also made a profound impact at UCLA.
In addition, UCLA will celebrate these 48 very special people and its entire women's sports program at a celebration of Title IX on Saturday, November 10 at New Pauley Pavilion, coinciding with the women's basketball team's 2012-13 season opener against San Diego State.
1970s
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Coach of the Decade - Billie Moore, Women's Basketball
Billie Moore was the first coach to lead two schools to the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) national basketball championships. In her second season at UCLA in 1978, she led the Bruins to the AIAW crown, eight years after guiding Cal State Fullerton to the championship in 1970.
Moore was UCLA's head coach for 16 years (1977-93) and compiled a 296-181 (.621) record with the Bruins and an overall record of 436-196 over a 24-year head coaching career. Moore coached some of the greatest players in UCLA history, including three Bruins who helped lead UCLA to the 1978 AIAW championship - Ann Meyers Drysdale, Denise Curry and Anita Ortega.
At the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Moore coached the first U.S. women's basketball team to a silver medal with a roster that included women's basketball greats Meyers, Nancy Lieberman and Pat Head (Summitt).
Moore has been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball (1999), Women's Basketball (1999/charter member) and the UCLA Athletics (2000) Halls of Fame.
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Administrator of the Decade - Chancellor Charles E. Young
Dr. Charles E. Young served as UCLA's Chancellor for 29 years (1968-1997). Just 36 years old when he became Chancellor, he was, at the time, the youngest person directing any major university.
Under Chancellor Young's leadership, UCLA grew to become nationally known as one of the nation's Top 10 research universities. When he took office in 1968, UCLA had an operating budget of $170 million. By the 1990s, UCLA's operating expenses approached $2 billion. Young presided over a complex organization that is one of the largest employers in Southern California. He directed the rapid growth of UCLA, which educates more students than any other California college, toward its present distinction as one of the country's most comprehensive and dynamic university campuses.
Young was always a strong supporter of UCLA and intercollegiate athletics, and during his tenure as Chancellor, UCLA won a record 61 NCAA women's and men's team championships in 14 different sports, along with nine AIAW titles and four Rose Bowls. UCLA's men's athletics program was recognized 11 times as the best in the nation, and the UCLA women's sports program received the same honor on 10 occasions.
Serving as UCLA Vice Chancellor for Administration before becoming Chancellor, Young helped oversee the building of several current UCLA Athletics facilities, including Pauley Pavilion, Drake Stadium, Los Angeles Tennis Center, J.D. Morgan Center, Acosta Center and the John Wooden Center.
A long-time member of the NCAA Presidents Commission, Chancellor Young drew the national spotlight as a leading proponent of intercollegiate athletics reform. He was active in the movement to raise academic eligibility standards for student-athletes and curb recruiting abuses.
In 1997, Chancellor Young was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame.
1980s
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Coach of the Decade - Sharron Backus, Softball
For 22 seasons (1975-96) as head coach, Sharron Backus built the Bruins into the No. 1 collegiate softball program in the nation.
Backus, who was co-head coach with Sue Enquist from 1989-96, led UCLA to eight national championships (seven NCAA, one AIAW), including three in a row from 1988-1990, and 10 conference titles. Her UCLA teams played in the College World Series 16 times and, after the Bruins joined the NCAA in 1982, UCLA made the College World Series every year they made the NCAA Tournament. Backus' UCLA career coaching record was 854-173-3 (.831), including 111-32 (.776) in postseason play.
Most noted for her ability to teach the fundamentals of the game, Backus coached 53 Bruin All-Americans, 24 U.S. National Team members and nine Olympians. She mentored eight UCLA Honda Award winners (most outstanding collegiate softball player), and in 1993, UCLA pitcher Lisa Fernandez became the first softball player in history to win the Honda-Broderick Cup as the most outstanding female athlete in all of intercollegiate sports.
A two-time Diamond and Western Collegiate Athletic Association National Coach of the Year and four-time (1990-92-93-95) Pac-10 Coach of the Year, Backus has been enshrined into the Amateur Softball Association (1985), National Fastpitch Coaches Association (1992), Women's Sports Foundation (1993) and UCLA Athletics (2001) Halls of Fame.
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Administrator of the Decade - Dr. Judith R. Holland
Throughout her 20-plus years at UCLA, Dr. Judith R. Holland was regarded as the nation's foremost women's athletics administrator. She came to UCLA as the Bruin Women's Athletic Director in 1974 and later became the Senior Associate Athletic Director when the UCLA women's and men's departments merged in 1980, with major responsibilities for both women's and men's sports.
In 1980, Dr. Holland was the driving force behind the merger of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) and the NCAA, leading to the popularity and achievement of women's collegiate athletics. Under her guidance, UCLA won the top national women's program award a record 10 times and finished no lower than second in the award's 17-year history. During that time period, the Bruins won a total of 37 national championships.
While at UCLA, Holland was the chair of the NCAA Women's Basketball Committee (1989-93), chair of the Olympic Liaison Committee, vice-president of the Pac-10 Conference and chair of the Pac-10 Gender Equity and Compliance Review committees. She also served as Competition Director for the 1984 Olympic Games basketball venue in Los Angeles and was a member of the USA Basketball Board of Directors. Dr. Holland was the impetus behind UCLA hosting an NCAA record six championships in 1984.
Dr. Holland also founded and served as chair of the Honda Awards program that each year honors the nation's top female collegiate athletes.
In 1990, she received the university's highest service award when she was honored by the UCLA Alumni Association, and in 2010, she was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame.
1990s
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Coach of the Decade - Andy Banachowski, Women's Volleyball
When Andy Banachowski retired from UCLA on June 30, 2010, he had served as the women's volleyball coach for 43 seasons and was the winningest coach in that sport's history, with a career mark of 1,106-301 (.786). Banachowski and UCLA women's volleyball were synonymous from the program's inception in 1965 to his retirement. He directed the Bruins for all but two of those seasons, the 1968-69 and 1969-70 campaigns, which came immediately after his UCLA graduation.
Under Banachowski, the Bruin women won six national championships, including the 1972 Division of Girls and Women's Sports (DGWS) and the 1974/1975 Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) championships. Beginning in 1981, when the NCAA began sponsoring women's sports, the Bruins, under Banachowski, appeared in 11 Final Fours, winning championships in 1984, 1990 and 1991, with runner-up finishes in 1981, 1983, 1992 and 1994.
Banachowski coached Bruin players to 42 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America honors and coached five Pac-10 Players of the Year and a National Player of the Year (Natalie Williams, 1992). Williams also won two Honda Awards under Banachowski's tutelage in 1992 and 1993, and Liz Mazakayan earned the honor in 1985.
He was involved with the U.S. Olympic team as a coach many times and was an advisor to the national teams at many competitions, including the 1990 Goodwill Games; the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain; the 1995 Pan-American Games; and the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. A total of 22 Bruins trained with the U.S. National team following their UCLA careers under Banachowski.
In 1997, Banachowski became the first women's volleyball coach in history to be inducted into the National Volleyball Hall of Fame. In May 2000, he was presented with USA Volleyball's highest honor, the All-Time Great Coach Award. Banachowski was inaugurated into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2009, and in 2010 he was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame.
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Administrator of the Decade - Betsy Stephenson
For nearly eight years (1996-2004) Betsy Stephenson was UCLA's Associate Athletic Director and Senior Women's Administrator. As Associate Athletics Director, she supervised Bruin head coaches, academic services, recruiting and student services and marketing and promotions. In 2002, before Dan Guerrero was hired as the UCLA Athletics Director, Stephenson was one of the four finalists for the position.
During her UCLA career, the Bruins won 16 NCAA Division I national team titles, including 11 in women's sports - five in gymnastics, two each in softball and water polo, and one apiece in indoor and outdoor track.
Stephenson left UCLA to become the Director of Athletics and Recreation at Emory University (Atlanta), where she worked for three years (2004-2007). From 2007-2010, she returned to Los Angeles as the Assistant Vice President for Foundation Giving at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, and she currently is the Director of Development at the Los Angeles Marlborough School.
Before coming to UCLA, Stephenson spent four years (1992-96) as Associate Athletics Director and Senior Women's Administrator at her alma mater, University of Kansas. From 1984-92, she had worked at the NCAA and, during her final three years with the NCAA, Stephenson was the Director of Division I Men's Basketball Operations.
During her collegiate administrative career, she served on the NCAA Division I Management Council, the highest ranking governing body in college athletics for administrators, and on the NCAA Division I women's volleyball committee and numerous Pac-10 Conference committees.
2000s
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Coach of the Decade - Valorie Kondos Field, Gymnastics
During her 22 years (1991-present) as the UCLA women's gymnastics head coach, Valorie Kondos Field has elevated the Bruins to one of the premier programs in collegiate gymnastics.
The Bruins won their first NCAA Championship in 1997 under Kondos Field and twice won in back-to-back seasons in both 2000-01 and 2003-04. In 2010, UCLA won its sixth NCAA title, and under her direction, the team has won 12 Pac-12/Pac-10 Conference titles, to go along with 16 NCAA Regional crowns.
Recognized as one of the top beam and floor choreographers in the sport, Kondos Field emphasizes a team concept, but her UCLA student-athletes have also found individual success, winning 25 NCAA individual titles, including 22 in the last 14 years. A great recruiter, Kondos Field has landed top talent, including Olympians Samantha Peszek, Mohini Bhardwaj, Kate Richardson, Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, Tasha Schwikert, Kristen Maloney, Jamie Dantzscher, Yvonne Tousek, Stella Umeh and Luisa Portocarrero.
Kondos Field's coaching philosophy stresses balance and integrity. What gives her most satisfaction is seeing her Bruin student-athletes succeed in all facets of life. Academics is a big part of that equation, and Kondos Field's UCLA teams regularly place members on the conference All-Academic teams and Scholastic All-American squads and annually contend for the school's team grade-point-average honor.
In her career, she has compiled a record of 422-96-2. A four-time National and Conference Coach of the Year, Kondos Field was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010.
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Administrator of the Decade - Petrina Long
Petrina Long joined the UCLA staff in June of 2004 as Senior Associate Athletic Director/Senior Women's Administrator. Long has oversight responsibility for several sports, including women's basketball, women's volleyball, softball and gymnastics, as well as several administrative areas, among them academic services, compliance, equity issues, and governmental relations.
In her eight years as a Bruin, UCLA has won 14 NCAA team championships, including 10 in women's sports, led by water polo's five consecutive national titles from 2005-09.
In addition to her UCLA commitments, Long is also extensively involved in a number of areas relating to intercollegiate athletics. She currently serves as chair of the new NCAA Recruiting Cabinet after serving for three years as chair of the NCAA Academics and Eligibility Cabinet (AEC) Subcommittee on Recruiting. Long also serves on the NCAA Men's Volleyball Committee.
On the conference level, Long is an administrative liaison to several sports, including women's volleyball, cross-country, track & field, and men's soccer (MPSF). She is also a past chair of the Senior Women's Administrative Committee (SWAC) and is currently a member of the Women's Basketball Tournament Committee.
Long came to UCLA from UC Irvine (UCI), where she served as senior associate athletic director/senior women's administrator since 1993, working closely with then UCI athletic director Dan Guerrero. Long also served as interim UCI athletic director following Guerrero's departure to UCLA.
During her 11 years at UCI, Long supervised several of the university's 23 sports teams, as well as academic and student support, compliance and sports medicine. In addition, she was active in numerous groups on campus and in the community. She also served on the Executive Committee of both the Big West Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
Prior to her tenure at UCI, Long spent nine years at Columbia University, serving in both the associate and assistant athletics director positions. She was the Assistant Athletics Director for Academic Affairs at Southern Methodist University from 1982-84 and was an advisor for student-athletes at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1979-82.