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26 CAVALIER CORNER BY MELISSA DUDEK A s Virginia celebrates 50 years of female students, former women's basketball head coach Debbie Ryan and cur- rent women's lacrosse head coach Julie Myers offer their thoughts on the evolution of women's sports. The pair are two of the longest-tenured coaches Virginia has had. Ryan coached at UVA for 34 years, and Myers is in her 26th year of coaching and was a student-athlete at Virginia. They both look back on what the beginning of their careers looked like and how they have seen women's athletics change over the course of their careers. How have women's athletics changed and evolved through your eyes? Myers: "The obvious answer is that it has really GROWN! When I came to UVA in 1986, I think we had field hockey, wom- en's lacrosse, women's swimming, wom- en's tennis, women's basketball, volleyball, women's track and field, and softball and women's soccer were just starting. "Many of us played two sports, which kept our overall female numbers pretty low. I would say we had fewer than 120 women student-athletes and we all shared two locker rooms. Women's basketball had its own, the rest all shared one. In the begin- ning, many of the women's teams were only partially funded with scholarships, which allowed for student-athletes to double up in sports without causing much of an issue. "When the NCAA started sponsoring postseason tournaments for women's sports in general, the competition, focus and drive took off. The opportunity to play soon be- came the opportunity to play for a national title — a huge step. The NCAA games were a highlight and became the beacon of pos- sibilities." Ryan: "Women's athletics have changed exponentially over the years. The athletes themselves are bigger, faster and stronger. Training is so much better now and the women have much better access to strength coaches, nutrition education and better overall training. "Coaches are better prepared for the is- sues that women athletes face on a daily basis. Mental health is a priority, and this is critical to the success of women athletes. "Facilities are so much better now and there is equity for the most part for women." Was there a time in your career that you started to see a change in women's ath- letics, and what were some of the first changes/evolutions? Ryan: "We started to get scholarships in the late '70s and early '80s. That was huge because we were way behind the better teams in the conference. We would get a few each year, but initially a couple ath- letes had to share a scholarship. "Val Ackerman, who is now the commis- sioner of the Big East Conference, shared a scholarship with Dori Gam- ble Tenuta. Our staff started to grow, and we began to earn some respect as we began to win. Our athletes com- peted with the best and proved that they belonged. We actually began to upset some of the better teams in the ACC and made the AIAW Tourna- ment, which was the women's version of the NCAA. "Then in the early '80s the NCAA started to offer championships for women. Things took off from there. Many of UVA's women's sports ex- celled. Field hockey, lacrosse, tennis and others were added over the years and found success early. UVA was ac- tually a front-runner in Title IX once they decided to get into the fray." Myers: "I think the change started to come when we added women's soc- cer in the late '80s. We hired a great coach, Lauren Gregg, that had won a national title and played on the U.S. National Team. That addition and optimism, along with Debbie Ryan championing the cause for her THE EVOLUTION OF THE EVOLUTION OF WOMEN'S ATHLETICS WOMEN'S ATHLETICS A Q&A With Virginia's Debbie Ryan And Julie Myers "The support and notori- ety that comes with rising to the top is so much more common and valued. I believe our players come in as young women and see examples of all they can become every- where around them. The sky is the limit and women are able to do it all — dominate on a field, excel in the class- room and get a great job." MYERS Myers played both lacrosse and field hockey at UVA, and was part of the 1991 national champion- ship women's lacrosse team. Now in her 26th year as the head coach of the program, she became the first woman at the Division I level to win lacrosse national titles as both a player and coach (2004). PHOTO COURTESY UVA YEARS OF WOMEN AT UVA