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Katie Frett (Dartmouth '05) |
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Bio
 What was your experience in youth athletics? Were there opportunities available to you?
My experience with youth athletics was diverse and constant growing up. I participated in the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) soccer leagues on co-ed teams, played basketball and volleyball in grade school, played in softball leagues. I was never, not participating in a sport or league. AYSO I think was the most impressive of the programs, its reach was massive and its organization even better. I was never restricted from participating in a sport or program and often times, at camps or in practice, I would play with the boys for some extra competition. For me, Title IX was in full-blown effect. I never struggled to participate, for equal opportunity.
How does an Ivy League experience affect your athletics pursuits?
I had never heard of Dartmouth until I received a letter from the basketball office. I read through it, and did some research on my own. From the start, Dartmouth was a place where I thought I would feel at home. I was also considering Harvard, DePaul, and Loyola-Chicago to play basketball. I had made a decision my junior year of high school to play basketball in college. It was a difficult decision, but in the end, basketball had always come so much more naturally to me— nothing made me feel quite as good as running a break down a basketball court. So, I went on unofficial and official visits to Dartmouth, and fell in love with this place. I can't imagine myself anywhere else.
I think for me it was never a matter of my academics affecting my athletic pursuits, but rather my athletic pursuits encroaching in on my academic priorities. For me, the Ivy League has meant a careful, but unique mingling of the two worlds. Academics can come first, but can also coexist with dedicated, intense athletic pursuits.
The Ivy League, I think, is really unique in that it offers so many different sports to so many different people and talents. Dartmouth has been such a unique experience for me in that women's athletics here are often times a step ahead of the men. Men's and women's athletics receive equal treatment, budgets, and fan base. Women's teams have made up for the socially engrained lack of interest about women's sports by simply being dominant, and successful. Women's athletics here is one of the aspects of the Dartmouth athletic department, and the college as a whole, in which I take the most pride.
What was the challenge is switching from basketball to volleyball?
Changing sports was both an incredibly difficult decision, and yet, an entirely easy transition. I have so much respect for both of the programs in which I have participated. The situation I was in on the basketball team was simply not a good fit for me, so I chose to leave it. When the opportunity to play volleyball arose, I took it with such enthusiasm. The opportunity to play again, to represent Dartmouth and the Ivy League brought me such joy. I adore Dartmouth and I have had the chance to represent it in two different arenas, acquire two different views of the Ivy League, and most importantly to me, interact with two different teams of Dartmouth athletes.
How has the national climate concerning women’s athletics changed since you were in school?
I think over my lifetime, there has been a lot of change, however, what I experienced was the success of those changes. Title IX had worked its magic by the time I reached grade school. I had opportunities offered to me in every sport I wanted to play. We had uniforms that were just as good as the guys. And by high school, the women's basketball games were more crowded then the men's. I grew up when Connecticut women's basketball was dominant and just gaining national attention. Nike was running ads encouraging women to be healthy, athletic, physically and emotionally strong. There was increased exposure to the problems of women's athletics— stereotyping, eating disorders, etc. What has occurred is a good change; a welcome change— and yet there is still room for improvement. Women's sports are still largely telecasted on cable, if at all.
What obstacles still stand to young women who want to participate in athletics?
I think stereotyping is still a huge deterrent for girls wanting to participate in athletics. Athletics are still viewed as a largely male endeavor— that muscles are not feminine. When the social constructions of what it means to be feminine include strength, leadership, coordination, health, determination, perseverance, muscles, performance— young women will have a much easier time exploring their own talents and ambitions in athletics.
What do you see in the future for women's athletics, will it continue to expand?
I don't think women's athletics has come close to reaching its pinnacle. Women's athletics will continue to grow as stereotypes are debunked and deconstructed. I think it will start with the expansion of national recognition and media exposure to women's sports. I believe it will continue on to pro leagues. The Ivy League fits into the growth in that Ivy League women athletes represent what is to me what is innately feminine— strength, brilliance, and the dynamic ability to be so many different things— to fulfill so many different potentials, athletics being an important one, but just one of many. I would certainly consider coaching for at least part of my career. I believe it is an opportunity to facilitate the growth of women's athletics, as well as to push young women to fulfill their own potential.
What has athletics done for young girls that choose to participate?
Athletics has been for me, as I think it is for so many women, an opportunity to challenge oneself in an arena that consistently provides challenges. I have gained some of my best friends through athletics. I have found myself in situations where my body, my determination, my mental strength has been pushed to what I thought was a limit— and I have conquered that limit, and in doing so, learned my about myself, and what I am capable of. Athletics provide an opportunity for greater self-awareness, self-confidence, and perhaps most importantly, a chance to have a lot of fun. |
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