Donna Douglas’ love for sports outdates Title IX’s 50 years of existence. Growing up as a young athlete herself, the opportunities she had to participate in organized sports were limited to the Girls Athletic Association, an after-school club for girls to compete against their classmates and, in some cases, select other schools, and gymnastics.
But when she helped start sports at Manteno High School, along with Pam Phillips, after Title IX’s inception, young women were given the opportunity to play sports just like their boys counterparts.
While Douglas is aware that some schools and areas were slower to pick up on athletic gender equality, that wasn’t the case at Manteno, where she said the girls were quickly shown the same backing the boys had.
“The girls were happy about it, and we just drifted right in and fit in,” Douglas said. “... The girls were all in once they had the opportunity and I feel like everyone really supported it.”
Douglas, who served as a coach at some level in volleyball, basketball, softball and track and field, went to Bishop McNamara in 1980, a place she can still be found during sporting events after a career coaching primarily volleyball and serving several teaching and administrative roles.
After moving to McNamara Douglas said that, much like at Manteno, McNamara was a school that was plenty of supportive of girls athletics during early times into Title IX when some opposition was still levied to the notion of girls and boys having equal opportunity on the playing field.
“They were all so supportive,” Douglas said. “They never tried to fight against it and were all about opportunities for the girls to do whatever they could.”
As Bishop McNamara celebrates its 100th year this school year, its deep athletic roots will surely be relived by those commemorating the year. And while it didn’t begin to have the impact on girls as it did boys for decades later, the increased importance of the bonds athletics provide at a private school like McNamara is something she has cherished seeing through the years.
“When kids come into a school like McNamara, where they come in from all different places, when they come in as part of a team they fit some place too,” Dogulas said. “They’ve developed friends and lifelong relationships and understood how to lead through sports.”
Mason Schweizer is an award-winning reporter who has been with the Daily Journal since 2017 and sports editor since 2019. Save for time at the University of Illinois and Wayne State College, Mason is a lifelong area resident.
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