Skyline Freshman Betsy Cordoba is the varsity women’s soccer point guard, and one of this year All Conference picks-it’s a good thing for her it’s 2003 and not the early 70s-there wouldn’t have been a women’s team for her to play on.
     In 1972 College and High school Women’s Sports was given it’s due-some would say its true start, when Title IX passed into law, prohibiting discrimination based on gender-in other words what is good for the boys in sports is good for the girls. Title IX is a complex mix of budget equality and equal ratios in sports program offerings.
     “We can do anything the guys can do,” Cordoba said. “We can go to war, we can become doctors, and we can become professional athletes. Especially with Title IX coming in, there are no boundaries for us at all.”
     It is in the last ten years that the enforcement and true application of this historic Act has taken place, said Andreas Wolf, Division Dean/Athletic Director at Skyline College. Wolf works hard to build the women’s side of slate at Skyline.
     “First and foremost is the moral issue [of Title IX) – as an athletic director, morally I think it’s the right thing to do,” he said. “And so, when I give $100 on the men’s side, I give a $100 on the women’s side. Women’s soccer has been offered for the last five years at Skyline. It makes total sense to start a (women’s) program. It was a positive move for the college and for the division.”
     Jan Forsberg, Skyline’s woman’s varsity volleyball and badminton coach, was a student at Skyline in the early 80s playing volleyball.
     “As a student I had a great time, they had the opportunity for us to compete, volleyball, softball, basketball, track and cross country,” she said. “At the time title IX was pretty new, there wasn’t as much knowledge about it, as much persistence in enforcing it-we were pretty secondary as to facilities, we got it after the guys were done with it.”
     Today, the situation is different. With Title IX in force, a school must consider the monetary equality in the athletic budget and look at the enrollment of men and women in athletic sport programs. The athletic enrollment must reflect the reality of the student population.
     The ratio of men and women students at Skyline is 50-50. When Director Wolf took on his position 2 years ago as Athletic Dean the ratio in Skyline’s sport program was 70-30, men to women.
     “Now we are about at 60-40, men to women, If not a little better that that,” Wolf said. “So we are approaching where we need to approach.”
     Coach Kevin Corsiglia trained high school women’s soccer before coming to Skyline. Skyline College has always had a men’s soccer program, coached by Andreas Wolf for ten years, and the decision was made to start a women’s team. However, the team struggled in the beginning.
     “We had to figure if the demand was out there,” Corsiglia said. I got the job in July 2000 and we started in August. I had two girls signed up on the roster. Last year (2002-2003) we had 22 girls, .Corsiglia attributes the growth of Skyline’s women’s soccer to a change in the department’s direction, “A lot of it has to do with when Andreas came on board-a shift that we need to provide better facilities, and we need to prove the opportunity for the women’s program to flourish-our facilities got upgraded with our brand new soccer field.”
     Compliance with Title IX and the result on men and women’s sport program on college campuses around the United States are not always smooth as at Skyline College.
     A recent lawsuit by the National Wrestling Coaches Association in recent years charges that Title IX has led to a cutting of 350 college men’s minor sport programs-in swimming, track and field, wrestling, and gymnastics across the United States. Apparently some schools find it easier to cut from the men’s side rather than add to the women’s. Money seems to be always tight at schools.
     “My focus has been on increasing numbers on the women’s side,” Wolf said. “We want to continually promote our women’s athletic programs so we can get closer compliance with Title IX.”
     Wolf explains that Title IX compliance is definitely on the forefront when making athletic department decisions.
     “Our focus is on our student athletes that matriculate on to four year schools. We are looking at what we do to allow our student athletes to springboard to the next level.” He said.
     Cordoba is dressed as usual in her Skyline team jacket-she takes great pride in her school. When not practicing or studying-she has a 3.75 grade point average- she can be found announcing for the Skyline’s Men’s baseball games.
     “I have a really good friendship with the male soccer players here,” Cordoba said. I am lucky to have all these guys helping and pushing me, teaching me mental soccer-stuff I didn’t even know.”
     Skyline College is currently providing the opportunity in sports programs for men and women athletes. In the future for Skyline is a major athletic facilities renovation.
     “The things we are firm about maintaining are a softball field, adequate number of tennis courts and a track,” Wolf said. We keep pushing our women’s sports out in the community. The 40% (women’s side) will get larger. I don’t want to be where we can’t add something; if we eliminate a softball field we will never be able to add that program. We now have four men’s programs and three women’s programs.”
     Because of budgetary cuts and low participation in numbers, both the men’s and women’s cross country programs were recently dropped. Part of the problem is that Skyline doesn’t have a track program and the two sports go together. A new track will help a restart of the program in the future.
     “In the whole issue of Title IX, I think it is a great thing,” Wolf said. “I have a young daughter, I want her one day to walk into a program if she so desires, and have an equal opportunity as any male. And so from that perspective, to make somebody else’s daughter have the same opportunity as somebody else’s son-that’s our driving force.”