Portland State Magazine Winter 1991

• • • became a bi g part of my college life, and coaching was a natural progression. " I've always wanted to coach, but it has meant maki ng compromi ses," adds Neuberger, who has two children aged six and nine. "First off, I was lucky to marry someone who loves women 's sports as much as I do; and secondly, I had great support from my school administration." During a season, Terri Neuberger said she would be gone every weekend for almost two months. When she had her first child, she asked for and was granted ·permi ss ion to take the baby along on road trips for games. "It made for some interesting times, especially with a nursing baby," Neuberger admits. "The team was great about helping out." Pam Grahn has two children as well. She has relied on support from her family and "being very organized" to get her through the tough coaching schedules. "With my husband in coaching, too, I decided to limit my coaching duties to only one sport a year. Luckily, our sports don ' t usuall y overlap," says Grahn, who is becoming more involved with promoting health programs in the community and school districts. B oth women have seen tremendous changes in women 's sports in the last I0 years. "With exposure to sports beginning in elementary school, high school girls are more prepared and experienced athletes," says Neuberger. "When they go on to colleges or universities they expect to have the best coaches and be challenged by quality women' s programs. " "They take things for granted that we didn ' t have," adds Grahn. "Women' s sports were just beginning to take off when I was at PSU. I can remember havi ng onl y an 85-cent allowance for meals when we traveled. And when we won the regionals in 1972, we all prayed there would be money to go to the national playoffs. " Another area for improvement that might entice more women into coaching is stabl e funding for athletic programs. In Oregon, money for all the state university athletic programs is dictated by the Legislature, notes Mariani. Scoreboard on Women in Coaching • In 1972, 90 percent of all collegiate women 's athletic programs in America were governed by women administrators; today that proportion is 16 percent. • Less than 44 percent of al I women's collegiate teams are coached by women, compared to 90 percent in 1972. • Currently 85 percent of women 's intercollegiate athletic programs are under the leadership of male athletic directors. • Only 7 percent of the voting representa– tives on the National Collegiate Athletic Association' s governing organization are women. (from a study conducted by Northeastern University Center for the Study ofSport and Society, Boston, Mass.) " It 's a real struggle to keep top-notch programs going when you don ' t have a secure operating base," she says. " Every penny for our operations, supplies and admini stration comes from incidental student fees. It' s a lot like going to the voters every year with a voluntary tax. NC?t everyone agrees that the programs should receive funding. " / "With exposure to sports beginning in elementary school, high school girls are more prepared and experienced athletes," says Neuberger. When the budget for PSU ath letic programs is decided, the money is split almost equall y among women's and men 's sports. For example, last year $264,000 went towards operating the six women's programs: basketball , cross country, softball , track, tenni s and volleyball. Another $ 186,000 went to five men 's sports: baseball, cross country, golf, track and wrestling. Football , which is the only self-supporting program currentl y at PSU, had a separate 1990 budget of $825,000. "The administration at Portland State has always given strong support to athlet ics," says Roy Love, ass istant to the president for athletics. " In the beg inning, the biggest hurdle with women 's sports was getting the public to accept them as trul y competiti ve programs. We finally got past that stage, and we ' re fortunate to have a number of outstanding educators and coaches who built our women ' s sports into nationall y recogni zed athletic programs. Women like Oma Blankenship, Marlene Piper, Linda Nek lason, Margaret Dobson and Betty Rankin were ahead of their time when it came to building and promoting top programs for women." Today, PSU athletics continue strong, notes Love. "Teri Mariani and all the other coaches have carried on the proud tradition," he says. "Under their guidance, Portland State teams have earned many trips to the regional and national playoffs and brought home National Intercollegiate College Associat ion titles." And the role of athletics at Portl and State remains a multipl e one, accordi ng to Love. "Obviously, winning teams help bolster the athletic programs. They attract good athletes and bring fans to the stad ium and gyms. But more importantly, strong athletic programs are part of a well-rounded extracurricular offering that also draws talented students to other academic areas of the campus." And what about drawing more women coaches? "We ' ll keep on look ing for the best," says Mariani . D PSU19