Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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to learn how to game plan for new rules like having only five players on the court at one time, and being able to dribble more than three times before getting rid of the ball. Petro's biggest obstacle was, of course, money. She drove the basketball team to its games across Indiana in an old van. She kept an eye on the icy winter roads through the windshield and through the hole in the floorboards just below the pedals. When she had time between games and teaching phys- ical education classes, Petro prepped her tennis team for the spring on the slippery brown floor next to the Joyce Center's hockey rink. vival mode. I was just trying to win games and take care of my kids," she said. "I didn't have time to worry about the future." The future took care of itself. She won enough games to be named the National Coach of the Year during her last season in 1985 when her team finished second in the country. The foundation she laid in South Bend led to the addition of 13 fully funded women's sports in 24 years. Now, as a sports psychology consultant with her own business, "Head Coaching," Petro has more time to think about the fu- ture of women's sports. There is plenty to contemplate. "It was sur- TRYING TO WIN GAMES AND TAKE CARE OF MY KIDS," SHE SAID. "I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO WORRY ABOUT THE FUTURE." SHARON PETRO "IT WAS SURVIVAL MODE. I WAS JUST male athletes for her doctorate dissertation at the University of Virginia. She said the skin-tight uniforms some women's sports teams wear create body image issues that most coaches aren't equipped to handle. Nutrition and training programs for wom- en's sports have to be tailored to specific needs instead of carbon copies of the men's sports. Studies have shown that because of differences in anatomy women are two to eight times more likely to tear an ACL dur- ing their career. Colleges are still catching up on how to help prevent and recover from knee injuries. Concussions cause similar problems. Researchers in 2010 found that female Petro studied eating disorders among fe- athletes show different symptoms for head trauma that could easily lead to a missed diagnosis. It's safe to say four decades later that women are given equal opportunity to par- ticipate in college sports. Equal treatment, though, doesn't mean identical treatment. Female athletes face problems that aren't is- sues on the men's side. Addressing them is the next step for Title IX. These types of problems need to be stud- ied and offset by training facilities, increased staff and better awareness in many college athletic departments. The cost of all those things fall under the "laundry list" leg of the tripod that makes up Title IX athletics legislation. They provide plenty of ways for equality in sports to grow in the future. In the past 40 years, the NCAA and its members have made great strides in view- ing men and women in sports as the same. Now it's time to start seeing them as differ- ent. ✦ Dan Murphy has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since August 2011. He can be reached at dmurphy@blueandgold.com JUNE/JULY 2012 10