Director's Letter
September 12, 2007
Dear Friends,
September includes the anniversaries of Billie Jean King defeating male chauvinist, Bobbie Riggs, on the tennis court in 1973 and Sandra Day O’Conner being sworn in as the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court eight years later. Both are significant historic moments in challenging long held assumptions about the abilities of women and expanding the sense of possibility for girls, and women.
The first weeks of September also include the play-offs for the WNBA. It is a joyful time for me since my two great passions are women’s history and women’s basketball. Both inspire me to overcome any sense of female limitations. When I was growing up, I was only allowed to play half-court basketball. For the many of you who were spared the humility of half-court basketball, let me explain the assumptions of the time. Girls/women were considered too weak to dribble all the way across the court. Instead, we were allowed to dribble three times and then we had to pass the ball to our teammate who was waiting on the other half of the court with the same limitations.
Today, I stand up and cheer when I see the grace, athleticism, determination, and strength of women who are playing professional sports. Attending a professional women’s basketball game with a crowd that includes very young girls and boys and not so young women and men is always an exhilarating experience for me. Seeing young men wearing basketball jerseys with their favorite female basketball player’s number and name is something I didn’t think I’d see in my lifetime.
My nieces and nephews, who obviously came of age in a different historic period, indulge my enthusiasm for women’s basketball, although they don’t understand it. What is a glorious triumph for me is not such a big deal for them. Their reaction provides me with an opportunity and a reminder. As I use the opportunity to listen to them, I am reminded that the limitations of the past do not define the possibilities of the future. For example, my niece, Jayda who is twelve, is confident that she will be able to hit more home runs than Barry Bonds.
Someday, she will understand that it was the determination and courage of the women who came before her that paved the way for her unfettered expectations. For today, I celebrate both her sky’s the limit attitude and the actions of the amazing women who have expanded the sense of possibility for Jayda and for girls and women throughout the world.
Appreciating the work of the women who have moved history forward
Molly Murphy MacGregor
Executive Director