Women Finally Given Shot At TV Sports Jobs

Early portions of their lives ran on parallel paths. Both played basketball in college in adjoining states. They graduated in 1983. Each earned a degree aimed toward a career in the television sports industry.

So did a lot of fellas.

But these were women. One was black, the other white. Yet color mattered no more than gender for a female seeking sanctuary in the virtually all-male world of TV sports.

Their first jobs were similar. Each landed sports-reporting duties at small-market TV stations. The parallels ended there.

One went on to national prominence. The other became discouraged by gender-based rejection and left TV. But she didn’t leave the passion of her life - sports - and her story is no less successful on a less-prominent stage.

The Women’s Sports Foundation Summit ‘95 this weekend brought both women to the Adolphus Hotel. Their careers illustrated how wide the world of sports has become for women, who once were shut out. It’s still not wide open, but there are now many breaches in once-impenetrable walls.

The third-leading all-time scorer at Southeastern Louisiana has proved the premise. Robin Roberts of ESPN made the noon keynote address on “The Future of Women’s Professional Sports.” Before she spoke, Roberts agreed to redirect the subject to opportunities for professional women in TV sports.

“They are vast,” she said. “I’m a prime example of someone who worked in local markets (Hattiesburg, Miss., Nashville, Tenn., Biloxi, Miss.) and was given great opportunities. Now what I do (“SportsCenter,” “NFL Primetime,” NCAA men’s and women’s Final Four, etc.) is akin to a versatile man.”

Once upon an unenlightened time, a woman even reading sports scores registered shock. No more, said Roberts.

“It’s much easier now than when I graduated from college. People are more accepting. They are willing to listen.

“My biggest obstacle I had to fight was credibility. But I was a bowling champion. I played tennis and basketball. People read about me. They knew my family. They knew I knew sports.”

But wasn’t it hard just to get started?

“As a black woman on TV in the South?” Roberts said, smiling. “No, I don’t have any hard-luck stories.”

Kelly Krauskopf does. She’s a former Texas A&M player from Robert E. Lee High School in Tyler, Texas, and member of the host committee for Summit ‘95. Broadcast was her first love. Also her first heartbreak.

Fresh from college, Krauskopf worked for a CBS affiliate in Bryan, Texas. Her goal was to advance to a larger market as a sports reporter. She applied around the state - Austin, Dallas, Houston and even hometown Tyler.

“They always asked if I was interested in news. Sports wasn’t an option. I knew it would be a battle because I didn’t see women sports reporters in Texas,” she said.

Nor do Dallas/Fort Worth audiences see many today. They see only one on a full-time basis, Susie Woodhams of WFAA-TV.

Krauskopf recalls the day her dream died. It was during a job interview with the news editor of an Austin station.

“When he told me in so many words he couldn’t afford to hire or wouldn’t hire a female sports reporter because he didn’t think the audience would take it very well … at that moment, it dawned on me: ‘You really don’t have a chance on that side of the camera.”’

Krauskopf admitted she may have quit trying too soon. Especially in view of what she sees on TV today.

“I see all these opportunities available now in front of the camera on networks as well as regional cable,” she said. “They’re seeking out more female personalities. I probably should have kept going.

“There are probably a million like me who tried, heard that ‘We don’t hire women in this area’ and went on to something else. Besides, who knows if I’d made it?”

Krauskopf instead made it in areas once the exclusive domain of males - athletic department and conference commissioner office. She became assistant athletic director for women’s sports at Texas A&M (1985-‘90) and then as an assistant commissioner, the second woman in the 80-year history of the Southwest Conference to sit in that chair.

With the SWC expiring, Krauskopf joined Holmes & Miller, an ad agency specializing in sports designs and graphics. Her lingering ambition?

“Believe it or not, back to TV, but not in front of the camera,” she said. “Perhaps with a women’s sports network. Seeking sponsors and programming rights.”

A network with Robin Roberts as anchor? Who knows, except to say that today, almost anything is possible for women in sports.