NCAC champion in advancing gender equity in athletics

For years, the NCAC has been issuing weekly press releases chock full of scores and standings. But this year, when NCAC Executive Director Dennis Collins looked at the release, he was befuddled. Collins wasn't sure where to put the softball standings.

"We're making space for softball," Collins said. "We've got to take a page from baseball, but hey, that's what you've got to do."

Softball is the most recent addition to the list of NCAC sanctioned sports. The NCAC now offers 11 women's sports, putting the NCAC fourth among 100 athletic conferences nationwide.

The NCAC has traditionally been very concerned with achieving gender equity. According to Collins, the conference has been a leader in the field.

The passage of Title IX in 1972 did not abolish gender discrimination in athletics. Sanctioned women's sports remained a rarity; all male conferences persisted into the 1980's.

"It was a different ball game," Collins said. "Our motivation for being a conference was the old conferences were dragging their feet."

The NCAC was established in 1983. It immediately drew criticism for allowing women to play.

"It wasn't a very popular thing to do at the time," Collins said.

Before long, the success of the NCAC quieted its critics. Detractors stopped calling. Collins started getting calls from the Ivy League wanting to know how to stage a media event for both men and women.

"We were the first in the country to debut men's and women's b-ball together," Collins said.

"It's been a remarkable road," Collins said. "We feel we were pioneers."

-Hanna Miller