Sports Daly provides model for women By, Terry McCarthy There is nothing new about women collegiate athletes. Every year, colleges award millions of dollars in athletic scholarships to women in sports ranging from tennis to archery. What is an un common sight is see a woman participate on a team that had traditionally been all male. Deb Daly is one of those rare women who has the courage to cross the sexual boundary of male athletics. Deb, who has just com pleted her first year as a right wing -on the Condors soccer team, claims that being the only girl on the team was not such an awkward situation. "At first I felt a little strange, but some of the guys gave me encouragement right away. They (the team) were always `busting my horns' but they also gave me plenty of en couragement." According to Deb, chivalry is not dead with the young men on the soccer team. It paid off being the only girl. "They mostly treated me like one of the guys, but if I was carrying the medicine kit, one of them would usually walk up to me and ask if I needed any help." Some people did not take the situation as well as Deb and the team. "A few , ,of the opponents asked to be taken out of the game because they didn't want to play against a girl. They were afraid to play as hard as normal and there was also a lot of pressure not to be `burned' by a girl." Deb also was put under pressure by other women. Deb stated, "Many of the women who attended the games walked INNPAA Let us explain... LEATHER SNEAKERS The Collegian wishes to explain why there has been a delay in the r ~,......,, HIGH TOP publication of our' first SAW LOW CUT issue. The stories and ... .. . 1 $11195 ,t. t ._ l i no 111111 1444 4 Z/ 4 :7 , t , ..$319.4113 31 $0 photographs were assigned,written and turned in on time, but problems with our ....' - r.- -, z-;=.--- ° -` -'', 1 1. 7, " i recently - purchased ___ 0 0, - typesetter and other .400 0 technical difficulties beyond our control caused the Collegian's production to come to a I disappointing halt. , GENRD T B B IL O L Vi IA LSUPPLY, R M O O & However, these 1140. i problems have snce A been resolved, and we TROPHIES AND AWARDS hope to publish our 124 N. WYOMING ST., HAZLETON 455-5872 second issue soon. Open Daily To 5 PM Wed. & Fri. 'Til 9 PM Women in sports up to me and congratulated me, and said I was doing a great thing, but there were others who would walk up to me and accused me of only joining to meet guys and show off." One player who has respect for Deb as a player is "At first I felt a little strange, but some of the guys gave me encouragement right away." Sophomore Steven Bunn, a second year man on the team. When asked what he thought of having a girl on the squad Bunn stated, "It was really no problem. We just treated her as if she was another player. It was good in some Ways to have her on the team because she tried harder than some of the guys and she always showed up for practice. She also isn't a bad soccer player." Deb is no stranger to the rigors of soccer. Back in her hometown, Locust Valley in Long Island, Deb played for four years and in her senior year led her team with 35 assists and was third in scoring with 15 goals. Locust Valley High School did not even have a girls' soccer team until Deb and a few of her friends got together enough interested girls and received permission from the school board to organize a varsity team. By her senior year, Deb's team had a record of 12-2, defeating teams that had been organized for twelve years. Deb's role has changed from high school to college in terms of her participation. "I am used to playing every game from start to finish, but now I must accept my role of coming off the bench," stated Deb. "I also used to be very aggressive in high school. Now I have to be careful because some of these guys out weigh me by forty or fifty pounds." She still managed to knock over an opponent in an effort to head a ball they were both fighting for. Hazleton campus is not the place for female athletes according to Deb. "I think this is a. male-oriented campus. Hazleton only has volleyball and tennis for women. Part of the problem is the girls, too. Most of them are too content to sit back and let things happen for them which is not the way it should be. At other schools, girls go out and do things. Here all they do is keep , the books. A lot of girls played soccer in high school. They are afraid to do things for women." Deb Daly is a person that all women can look to for an example of a person who has the courage to leap over the boundary line of six, not only in sports, but in all aspects of life. Women need assertiveness By Diedre Jago Women students at our campus and throughout our society face a very real problem that most male students and the majority of male professors tend to ignore. It is subtle, yet pervasive attitude that the women in general are in ferior, less intelligent, weaker, and lack the necessary stamina demanded of them in their chosen careers. This un derlying attitude creates a wide range of,responses in our women students. Some women become very hostile. These girls do everything in their power to show that they are equal, if not superior, in intellect, strength and stamina. Most men become highly defensive in their presence. On the other hand, some girls remain passive. They sit back and let the world revolve around them, thus perpetuating this per vasive attitude of inferiority. Male students usually flirt with these girls and play the game to the hilt. These are the same girls who get trapped into doing the laundry, cooking meals, and Support one another as you strive for common goals; stick to the values that you feel are right, and keep your mind and body strong. handing over carefully prepared class notes. Perhaps the best way to recognize the problem is to look at some specific examples of what some of the girls at our campus have been doing to break this barrier. For instance, in intramural volleyball con tests (and even in some class settings) it has been . a common occurrance for a male player to jump in front of a female player just as the ball is coming to the girl. How are the men ever going to know whether or not the girl can handle the ball if the girl never has a chalice to even touch the ball? Give her the opportunity to play and she will soon show that she has the ability. Some girls have already begun to verbalize their dissatisfaction with the "ball hogs" and the situation has quickly changed. This assertiveness must be learned, but once learned the girl realizes a decrease in the amount of stress that had previously been internalized. Another specific example of how a female intruded the male dompin at the Hazleton Campus was that a girl played on the men's soccer team this fall. She was not the first girl to have played soccer at our campus and she will probably not be the last, but many insinuations were made by individuals who do not understand females can Page 8 and do enjoy participation and competition in strenuous sports. is it not sufficient to say that a person plays a sport for the joy of par ticipation and the exercise and not necessarily for the novelty or attention that is bestowed just because the player is a member of the opposite sex? Females have been known to possess higher levels of skills than their male counterparts in sports such as tennis. Remember back a few years ago when Billie Jean King. beat Bobby. Riggs in the well publicized "Battle of the Sexes". We presently have a female tennis player on campus who has beaten some of the members of the men's team. Why is it that the male students feel that they have to tease the guys who have lost to a girl? Why not admit that she has attained a higher level of skill than her opponents? Sports are but one aspect of the problem on our predominantly male-oriented campus. Some colleges' have very few females enrolled 'compared to the relatively high numbers of male students. Engineering specifically is a college in which the female student population is rather small. Girls in engineering have to be strong willed, determined, • bright and willing to prove that they can make it through all the rough times. Finding role models for our female engineering majors is a hard task. We have no female engineering professors and most of the female engineering majors do not even know any other female engineers who are already working. These girls usually have to wait until they either graduate or transfer to University Park to meet other females with similar interests. It is only then that they can find a role model in the form of an up perclassman or a colleague. The male engineers have a much easier time identifying a role model and this alone can ease some of the stress associated with obtaining that much sought after degree. Life at the Hazleton Campus can be rewarding, happy experience for most of the students. To insure your success on the sports field and in the classroom, set realistic goals, develop an awareness of yourself, support one another as you strive for common goals, stick to the values that you feel are right, and keep your mind and body strong.
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