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I have a challenge, a plea, for all women alumni: Give.Back.

Yesterday I returned from my former homeland of five years (La Crosse, Wisconsin) where I participated in the women’s track and field alumni indoor meet. Since I had started at UW-La Crosse in 2005 I had no knowledge of any such track meet taking place. That’s because it didn’t. This year was a rebirth of the alumni track representation that was lost many many years ago because of a lack of participation from former teammates. Thankfully, a bold and amazing woman, Katie Wager, the assistant coach of the cross country and track and field team at UW-L, convinced the head coach that this type of meet was needed.

After the competition, the alumni and current athletes gathered in the room that we had done so often for pump up talks and team meetings to introduce ourselves. It was a great experience to get to revisit our past, meet others that had been there before us, and be introduced to those that were experiencing the fun and trials of being part of this team right now. At the end of the meeting, one of the alumni spoke about how great it was to have the alumni come back for this special event. She complimented us on our ability to translate our experiences into life past athletes, something that the women’s programs have always been proud of. Then at the end, she casually mentioned that she is taking donations for the team and that we could see her afterwards if we wanted to give financially.

That got me thinking. As an alumnus it is my duty to give back. I think about how wonderful it would have been if during my time with the program if we would have been more financially sound. The Division 3 story is much different than the Division 1 story. My favorite example of this is trip to Mount Sac. I had to research the race. I had to ask my coach if I could go. I had to talk to the athletic director to get permission. I had to pay for my flight to and from California. I had to sign myself up for the race. I had to book my hotel. I had to figure out how I was going to get to the race. I had to go there alone. I had heard that the men’s program had taken an athlete (and coach!) to Mount Sac in the past, and were thinking about doing it more recently. As I wrote to the A.D. to ask permission to go I could not help but think that the men’s team would not have to go through such measures in order to go, but that they had enough money to allow a talented athlete and coach to go (making the coach able to figure out all the details so the athlete could focus on the race).

Although there were other things to deal with besides racing, it was a great experience which taught me how to be independent, make connections, and be in uncomfortable situations, but it wasn’t until I got there and Ann explained to me how her experience at Nebraska (Division 1) was much different than mine. Her team had the financial stability to send their athletes there no problem; they fed them, flew them, and made sure they did not have to worry about transportation. The only thing they had to worry about was running fast. If the UW-L program had the money, my experience would have been much different and my story is not unlike many other athletes.

During my first year at UW-L we had to give 5 names of family and friends that we though would help our program by giving a small donation. After a year/two doing that, we decided that just taking $20 out of our own pockets was easier than asking others to help. We did think it was pretty lame that we had to pay to be on the team basically but we wanted to compete. Now that I look back on it, and heard the request from the alum at our team meeting, casually mentioning that we could donate I have come up with a few conclusions as to why the women’s programs (generally) have less money then the men’s programs.

1. We don’t like to ask for donations-I cannot quite put my finger on the reason for this. I have a few assumptions. The first, some people feel bad asking others for money in this economy. I can understand how uncomfortable it is to approach someone and pitch them your cause, then be rejected. My second theory is a big one. We have always been told that we as female student athletes are student’s first, athletes second. We are told that we have “other things” besides our sports that define us and that we should be proud of that. Although that is true, it somewhat forces female athletes in this type of setting to not define themselves by their sport or seek to be the best (as all athletics should do!). If we do not believe 100% in ourselves, or our program, why would we ask someone to help us?
2. We may not hold the check book- A friend of mine, and fellow team member worked for the Alumni Association, making calls to former students/athletes to collect donations. She told several stories where she would receive or make a call to someone who agreed to donate to the “men’s cross country team”. She would respond “Oh! Okay, I’ll put you down for $50 for the cross country team” and they would respond, “No, men’s cross country”. And so she wrote that three letter word on the slip and sent it off. She tried. It might be a different day in age than in the past, where the man was always the head of the household, but I still believe that in marriages many times the man is the one in control of the checkbook. Think about this, if a man gets a call from his Alumni Association and they ask for a donation, he knows exactly what his bank account is looking like and can throw out an appropriate dollar amount. A woman, who is not in control of the family banking, would probably have to ask her husband what the deal is/how much she could give. Jumping through more hoops than needed leads to forgetfulness and a lack of donation. If she knew what her family was able to give right then and there she probably would donate, but that seems to not be the case.

Both of these conclusions bother me because we have to ask for money, and we have to give it in order to keep our programs kicking! It is almost National Girls and Women’s in Sports Day (February 2nd) and it could not be a better time to challenge to all women alumni. Take a second to think about how different your life would be without the sport that you played, the teammates that you met, and the coaches who guided you would have been. Sport has always been a challenge, but a challenge that has developed us into strong women. Without the continuation of these programs the women who decide to go to the school you once called yours will be without this valuable experience.

I’ve decided to be pushy for the sake of all female athletes by saying THESE PROGRAMS NEED YOUR HELP. Take out the middle man, open up the check book, and repeat each year.

**If you aren’t a woman or are one who didn’t play collegiate sports but want to support a program anyway, take look at some of the schools in your area. All schools can use the help but when in doubt go D3. Division 3 schools provide no scholarship for their athletes, which makes finances for travel, meet entry, lodging, and food tight. If you still don’t know, send a check over to my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Whichever program you pick, be sure to write “Women’s Soccer/Track & Field/Basketball/Softball” so they know exactly where to send that money!**

Feel the passion.

Use the passion.

~Stephanie

View Original Post at stephanieperleberg.com | View stephaniemp's Full Profile

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• Filed Under:  
• Track & Field, Sports, SportsPLUS, College, Student-Athlete

There is 1 comment on this post. Join the discussion!

julie_jahn says:

Stephanie. This ROCKS. It speaks of passion, of equality, of empowerment, and of a change of the social norm. Keep kicking ass, speaking your mind, running for the love of it. I know I'll be doing the same.
Julie Jahn
(UW-La Crosse Track and Field Alum, 2001-2004)

Friday, January 21, 2011 at 11:51am EST