Take a second and imagine life without sports. Pretty scary, huh?
"Don't even want to go there," said Teryn Ashley, a 1996 graduate of Brookline High School.
Well, not too long ago, that unthinkable sport-less life was reality for most women. The opportunities to partake in team athletics were few and far between, and media coverage of sports was overwhelmingly reserved for men.
"You had to watch the Olympics to see the players you wanted to watch," said Averrill Roberts, a 1989 graduate and current girls' basketball coach at Boston Latin School.
How drastically things have changed.
Much of the credit goes to Title IX, a 1972 federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in any educational program or activity at any institution that receives federal funds. Though Title IX was not aimed specifically at athletics, its most visible impact may be in the world of women's sports.
Since the law was passed, there has been a 456 percent increase in women participating in collegiate sports, and a 904 percent increase in high school sports, according to the Women in Sports Foundation, founded by Billie Jean King. When Title IX was passed, one of every 27 school-age girls played sports; now, more than one of every three girls is involved in athletics.
"It's amazing the opportunities that have arisen because of Title IX," Ashley said.
Roberts and Ashley are examples of a byproduct of the growing ranks of female athletes: more women being inducted into athletic halls of fame. And they are where they are today largely because of their athletic careers.
Roberts, who grew up in Hyde Park, was a Dual County League All-Star. She played basketball at Ohio State University under coach Nancy Darsch, who taught her more than just basketball.
"I liked what coach wanted her players to accomplish off the floor and after basketball," Roberts said.
On the floor Roberts was a star. She was Big Ten Rookie of the Year in 1990, made the All-Big Ten First Team in '90 and '93, led the Big Ten in steals her senior season, and was MVP of the '93 NCAA Final Four, at which Ohio State lost to Texas Tech in the final, 84-82.
She was drafted by the Portland Power in the first round (eighth overall) of the 1998 American Basketball League draft. She was inducted into Boston Latin's hall of fame in 1996.
Though her shooting touch landed her a full ride to Ohio State, she arrived with a strong educational ethic instilled by her parents.
Her determination off the court earned her a business management degree from Ohio State. She went on to receive a master's in science from James Madison University. She is a certified personal trainer; president of Women Evolving LLC, a fitness and wellness company; has been a sports and fitness consultant; and has held various positions in the public and private sector.
Athletics made her a star off the court, too.
"The discipline portion of athletics is amazing," Roberts said. "That competitive realm carries over to the real world. The opportunity to compete in sports day in and day out is the same as competing day in day out in whatever profession you're involved in. The best lesson athletics can teach a person is resiliency. There are going to be ups and downs in life."
Ashley, inducted into the Brookline High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007, is a second-year assistant women's tennis coach at the University of Michigan.
Ashley, 29, played on the Women's Tennis Association Tour from 2001 to 2006, capturing the doubles title at the 2003 ASB Bank Championships, four singles titles, and 13 doubles crowns on the International Tennis Federation circuit. She holds career records of 118-103 in singles and 145-68 in doubles, and was ranked as high as No. 95 in singles. She also competed in all four Grand Slam events, reaching the second round in singles at Wimbledon in 2004.
"That was the best experience of my life," said Ashley, who received a bachelor's degree in political science from Stanford University in 2001. She was a three-time Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American and four-time All-Pac-10 Conference selection during her career at Stanford University (1996-2000).
"I got to see the world, meet a lot of great people, and open my eyes up to a lot of cultures I didn't know about," she said.
Ashley said she enjoys watching tennis now. During her professional career, she could not fully appreciate the experience.
"I had to be disciplined," said Ashley. "I had to focus. I was my own manager, financial adviser, scheduler - I arranged everything."
It also prepared her for her coaching career.
"I was my own coach," Ashley said. "I had to analyze my own matches, which, in itself, taught me a lot about the game."
Roberts and Ashley say they are indebted to the generations of women before them who did not have the same opportunities. And they believe opportunities abound for current and future female athletes, on and off the court.
"I don't know where I'd be today without the role sports played in my life," Ashley said. "If you stay focused and work hard, anything is possible."
"Most people who played college ball were thinking about where they would play [professionally] overseas," Roberts said. "Am I going to be in Italy, Spain, or Israel? Am I going to see my family?
"This era of female athletes now think about the different cities in the United States they're going to play in. The dream is real to them. They can taste it. It makes them work harder in every aspect of life."
