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Game Changers Conference: Colleges Facing New Challenges In Shaping Young Adults

The role of colleges in shaping young adults was a driving theme at a panel discussion on women’s collegiate sports during the '14 Game Changers Conference in N.Y. “We’re working with other people’s children,” said Univ. of Texas Women's AD and Senior Associate AD/Men's & Women's Athletics External Services Chris Plonsky. “We put a lot of emphasis on … life-learning lessons with our student-athlete population, particularly with our freshmen. The college setting is our bastion to change and to make people better -- to go out and be productive and be good citizens.” Considering the continuing storylines of domestic violence and the NFL, Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman noted how the subject spans beyond sports, adding that several conferences have been asked to help promote a forthcoming White House initiative addressing campus sexual violence. “We have to get to the students, because they are the actors here,” she said. “It’s not just sports. It could be in a fraternity house. It could be at some place other than involving an athlete, but when it happens to athletes, the attention gets blown out.” Added NCAA VP/Women's Basketball Championships Anucha Browne, “It’s much larger than [the NFL]. It is a deep societal issue that has no color lines, no social boundaries. It is global when you think about the treatment of women around the world.” 

SCHEDULING ISSUES: The subject of exposure for women’s sports was also discussed, considering scheduling among other touch points. Ackerman praised women’s hockey but noted the conflict of the Women’s Frozen Four with the start of the college basketball tournaments, and how that hurts the visibility of the event. This led to talk about the Final Four and the women’s event relative to the men’s event. Ackerman drew applause when suggesting that the two events should be in the same city, playing on alternate nights, instead of being on the same weekend in different sites as they are now. She said a consolidation would prevent sponsor and media resources from being divided, and she pointed to the WTA having events in conjunction with the ATP as an example of where pairings can work. "I think women’s sports do need to think big, think broadly," she said. "The things that have worked for many years may not be the things that will work going forward."

QUICK HITS
* ESPN VP/College Sports Programming Rosalyn Durant, on the development of the Big Five conferences: "However this plays out, our desire is to continue to show more women's sports, not less women’s sports."

* Browne, on the importance of women in leadership in college sports: "A lot of this speaks to strong male leadership that is willing to hire women who are strong minded or forward-thinking or who are outspoken. It's also that much more important for women to surround each other with support."

* Browne, on getting more women to watch women’s sports: "We've got to engage women, and challenge women, to consume women’s sports. We can’t rely on our corporate sponsors to do this for us. These are businesses."

* Plonsky referenced the No. 2-ranked UT women's volleyball team when talking about the role of women’s sports in today’s shifting college landscape and said, "Those young women believe what they’re doing is every bit as difficult, rewarding and significant as their male counterparts."

* Plonsky, on the potential changes facing all college sports: "If sports are professionalized at the college level, I don’t want to see the day where our [Olympic sport athletes] don’t have a place to train and get an education at the same time."

* Ackerman, on the continuing effects of Title IX: "In the college space, we’re starting to see how the participation and the business sides are coming together."

See our On The Ground blog for more Game Changers coverage.

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