Front Porch: You go, girl! Cheers for women on the court

When I was young, lots of girls played jump rope, rode bikes and roller skated, but as we moved into our pre-teen years and beyond only a small number of us stayed with athletic things.

That was before it was cool to be fit and competitive in an arena largely reserved for boys, back when the usual thing to do was to move to the sidelines to cheer for the guys as we readied ourselves for dances, home economics and wifedom. And before Title IX addressed gender equity in sports.

I wasn’t particularly conscious of the social convention of the times; I just wanted to play. I played on a girls softball team, was on my high school swim team, had fun with recreational beach volleyball and played intramural basketball in college. I loved it. I had forgotten how much until I attended a Gonzaga University women’s basketball game last month.

Back when I was playing intramural basketball, there were six on a team, with only three allowed to cross half court. The forwards couldn’t dribble more than three times before having to pass or take a shot. I was lousy at shooting, so I was a guard, one of those who stayed in the back court, but I was decent enough blocking opponents’ shots – mainly I think because I was one of the tallest players at 5-foot-9.

Stop laughing. That was tall back in the 1960s. Today, not so much. One of the things that made my little intramural basketball team do reasonably well – beside the fact that nearly everyone was a physical education major – was that height thing. No one on our team was under 5-foot-5-inches tall, and we pretty much towered over everyone we played.

I got a little glimpse of how much Title IX has done for women and how women have embraced those opportunities when I attended a few volleyball games at Eastern Washington University several years ago and noticed the competitiveness of the play, the athleticism of the players. And then basketball a few weeks ago at McCarthey Athletic Center– wow.

No more sissy rules. No more demure play. Full-court press. Passion. Strong women. Big league strategy. But still – sportsmanship, acknowledgement of the fans and camaraderie.

I especially enjoyed watching Gonzaga point guard Georgia Stirton, wearing No. 5, take the ball down court. Man, she can move. As her teammates were setting up she was barreling toward them, sometimes with some elbow room and sometimes with hard-charging Pacific player Kristina Johnson, in jersey No. 3, all over her. The two of them were magnificent in their fluid battle, and I was mesmerized – even though Gonzaga lost.

We attended as guests of a season ticket holder. As we walked around the McCarthey Athletic Center before the game, we visited with some of the gang of regulars he sees there. They talked about the game, the upcoming tournament (it begins today in Las Vegas) and I learned up close and personal about Zags Madness. “It’s our reason not to go south for the winter,” our host said.

Back in my day – granted, a long time ago – other than family members and maybe some friends, nobody much cared, no less showed up for women’s sports. I know Spokane backs the men’s team, but I didn’t realize the degree to which they support the women as well – until I saw it myself.

Seeing clips on the evening news of high school sports, the State B Basketball Tournament and other venues where girls are featured – it has been obvious for years that things turned a corner a long time ago in terms of the level of play. But being in the arena, any arena, seeing it live – well, that’s a whole other thing – and shame on me for not being present sooner.

Athletics at Gonzaga are at an elite level, of course, but those women trained, competed and got mentored along the way. Hooray for that, for all the girls in all the rural schools, city schools and everywhere, who like to run fast, jump high, throw hard and push themselves physically to just have fun with it or to see how far they can go, to see how well they can do.

You go, girl!