[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 13 (Wednesday, February 5, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E175-E176]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 NATIONAL GIRLS AND WOMEN IN SPORTS DAY

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                        of district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 5, 1997

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow we will recognize the achievements 
of women and girls in an important area that has been traditionally 
dominated by men: sports. As part of the 11th Annual National Girls and 
Women in Sports Day, many women, athletes and members of Congress will 
be celebrating the athletic accomplishments of women.
  As cochair of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues, I am proud 
to have the opportunity to spotlight women's activity in an area where 
they have often been overlooked. The majority of media coverage 
focusing on sports coverage goes to men's sports. While a recent study 
found that 94 percent of local television news sports coverage goes to 
men's sports, women's sports get 5 percent of the coverage.
  Unfortunately, one of the results of this low level of media coverage 
is insufficient financial support of women's sports in universities 
across the United States. Less than 24 percent of college sport 
operating budgets and less than 18 percent of athletic recruiting 
dollars are allocated to women's sports. This is despite the fact that 
women are as athletic and as talented in sports as men, and that women 
and girls involved in sports have greater self-esteem and do better in 
school than those who do not participate in sports.
  By participating in sports, women and girls learn how to work as a 
team and to strive to achieve a desired goal, skills vital to 
succeeding in any career. Many women also choose sports as a career, 
including returning to high school or universities to coach young 
athletes. Yet even here women are not equal to men. According to a 
recent survey of head coaches of Division I basketball teams, head 
coaches of women basketball teams average only 59

[[Page E176]]

percent of the base salary of head coaches of men's basketball.
  This disparity in women's pay in many fields is the reason I 
introduced the Fair Pay Act that would prohibit discrimination in the 
payment of wages on account of sex, race or national origin. While this 
law will help prevent discrimination in the pay of the women working in 
sports, it will not get them the recognition women athletes deserve. As 
an accomplished women's basketball coach has said in a recent 
interview, ``It is really frustrating to have a championship team and 
get two-inch stories in the paper while some average men's team gets 
pages written about them.'' This is slowly--too slowly--changing. It is 
my hope that tomorrow's events commemorating National Girls and Women 
in Sports Day will, by its own recognition, help women gain equality in 
sports.

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