On the 50th Anniversary of Title IX, we had the good fortune to speak with two amazing women who played a roll in the creation and implementation of this important milestone in education and a move toward furthering opportunities for women.

Title IX: Leading Women

Do you ever think about those leaders in your life who profoundly impacted you and wonder, “do they know what their example meant to me?” In this podcast, I get to share with you a leader who meant so much to me.

2022 marks the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) which prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance. Title IX states “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance[.]”

Fremd HS Girls’ Team showing their ball handling routine

In 1972 I was a freshman at William Fremd High School in Palatine, IL.I was not fully aware of the impact of Title IX at the time.All I knew was that as a girl who liked to play sports, I was now able to participate on teams where we competed against other schools whereas my older sisters only had “sports play days.”On this podcast, we are privileged to hear from Coach Carol Plodzien, considered one of the best and most successful coaches of Girls Basketball in Illinois. As a Hall of Fame Girls Basketball Coach, she battled for equity for female athletes starting in the early days of Title IX and continues to this day.I know her respectfully and lovingly as “Coach Plod.”I was privileged to play on her basketball and softball teams.As I told my son, I was not a “super star” but was a “super sub!”I loved playing, learning and being part of a team.I have carried many of the leadership lessons learned through Coach Plod to what I do today.I wanted to be a coach because of her.While not a sports coach, as an executive coach I get to share many leadership lessons learned on the basketball court with the leaders I work with today.I hope you enjoy this episode of News From the Peak.

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Coach Plodzien won the Herrins Award in 2022 and below is her speech which is quite profound:

HERRINS SPEECH - 2022

I thank the IBCA for this honor and for the opportunity to reflect on my career. Here’s how it started:

LET ME PLAY…was my thought as I sat along the fence in the playground watching the boys’ play. The game of basketball had captured me. I learned more about the game as I entered high school. The Girls Athletic Association, known as GAA, had playdays, and I was a Rover, the player who was allowed to play full court, in the 6man game, that was played then. My skill development, and natural talent as a player, allowed me to play at Northern Illinois University in the 5man game. There were no scholarships. We played in the back gym on wooden backboards. On the long road trips, we were given $1.25, in cash, for lunch. The competition demanded my best effort in all that I did in order to become successful. None of that mattered, because I was playing basketball, and loved it. While at Northern, I also joined the women and organizations who were fighting for Title IX. I felt the pain of inequity.

In 1971 my teaching career began at Wm. Fremd H.S. in Physical Education, and as a sponsor of GAA and intramural sports. For basketball we were allowed to practice 2 nights a week. The boys were finishing their practice as we stood in the corner of the gym waiting to take the floor. As I looked at my girls faces, once again I heard the cry of LET ME PLAY. It was then that my double career began. I continued to work with Senators and on committees for the passage of Title IX, and now I became the first girls’ basketball coach at Fremd H.S. I read books, watched videos and games, and attended clinics to become the best coach I could be. My coaching career opened opportunities to mentor players, develop lifetime relationships and have fun with kids. I loved it. I have met many coaches, officials and people throughout Illinois, and have developed many friendships. I am thankful to God for my successes, gifts, talents, and blessings.

Title IX did pass 50 years ago, and we still hear the cry of LET ME PLAY. In many schools and universities, such things as facilities, weight rooms, practice times and salaries are not equal for all coaches and athletes. Today, we have more people pushing for equality. The IBCA has been open to the idea of helping the girls’ game with support for coaches, games and tournaments. People like Governor Christy Noem, from South Dakota, many college and professional players and coaches, Teri Rogers form New Trier and Cara Doyle from St. Ignatius, who started a girls and women’s only tournament called GROW THE GAME, and coaches like Jim Russo, Mike Small, and many others, are giving support to the need for Equity in the girls’ game. There are officials like Tim Dwyer and Bob Reczek who work to recruit and develop more women officials.

Inequity goes much farther when we see that, after 25 years, the Top Player in the WNBA only makes $280,000.00 a season. The highest paid coach in the WNBA makes $2.2 million. First One - First Time. And in high schools and colleges many improvements are still in demand.

Title IX has always been challenged, especially as some limits were placed on the men’s and boys’ programs to accommodate the female athletes. Currently the new challenge comes from the Transgender Community. So, what do we do now? We stand up to State Legislation, School Boards and others who are content to let someone else do the work of fighting for equity. Let’s stand up together and lift our girls to their dreams. If you care, you will.

I have coached and fought for equity in the girls and women’s game for 51 years. I’m getting a little tired. Over the years we have worked so hard to develop their abilities into capabilities. Look at how they play the game today. It has brought success, entertainment and self-fulfillment for those involved. The fight to maintain Title IX will never end.

Stand up and be strong, and, LET The Girls Play.

Coach Plodzien Bio: from the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Banquet program.

One of the foremost determinants and influences in the battles for development of girls’ sports programs and coaching, legendary Coach Carol Plodzien has been a leader and pioneer for the rights and opportunities for women and girls in sports and much else.

Considered one of the best and most successful coaches in girls’ basketball, Carol Plodzien grew up in Chicago where she competed in volleyball, softball, track & field, and speed skating programs for women and girls. As a high school student at Alvenrnia and then at Arlington Heights, H.S., she had her first introduction to girls’ basketball and then played for Northern Illinois University (NIU).

Upon graduation with a BS in Physical Education (NIU, 1971) Plodzien accepted a teaching position at William Fremd H.S. in Palatine, IL, where she taught for 37 years and contributed in and out of the classroom in varied and significant ways. It included serving as Athletic Coordinator for 36 years and the girls basketball coach, the first ever, for 34 years. In her remarkable career, she served as the head coach for Archery and Softball (11 years) for several of her championship teams.

Before basketball was recognized by the IHSA as a girls’ sport in 1972, Plodzien served as a sponsor of girls’ teams in the Girls Athletic Association (GAA). It was at that time she served statewide to fight for a law that would guarantee girls the same rights as makes and basic opportunities to participate and compete in sports. That “game changing” law, commonly known as Title IX, was passed in May of 1972.

With the doors opened by Title IX, Coach Plodzien seized the opportunities to compete it provided to girls basketball by going on to coach the Fremd girls team, winning 50 consecutive games (1972 – 1977), 12 Conference championships, winning four in a row twice, 16 Regional Championships, 5 Sectional Championships and in the Finals of the IHSA state championship reaching the “sweet 16” 5 times, the elite 8 in 1990 and winning 3rd place in the first ever IHSA Girls State Championship in 1977.

Plodzien was selected a 7-time Mid Suburban League Conference Coach of the Year, 5-time Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) District Coach of the Year and 4- time recipient of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Victory Club Award.

In 2017, having completed her 44th year of coaching basketball, Coach Plodzien made numerous exceptional contributions, on and off the court. She has an enviable career coaching record of 563 wins, and 335 losses, developed and coached 23 pf her players who became Division 1 college players, and earned countless recognition and awards, including induction to the Hall of Fame of the IBCA in 1995, Hall of Fame of the Illinois Girls Coaches Association in 1996, Wall of Honor at Fremd H.S in 2012, and Girls Basketball Coach of the Year National Award (Midwest Region) from the National High School Athletic Coaches Association (1995).

Besides all that she has accomplished on and off the basketball court, Coach Carol Plodzien’s incomparable career has also embodied numerous other significant abilities and contributions including being a co-author of “Excelling in Sports Through Thinking Straight” with the forward written by DePaul’s Ray Meyer (1988). As a writer, she contributed a number of articles to various publications including “A Multi-Sensory Approach to Winning” (National Federation Magazine, 1984) and “Motivating Positive Thinking” (Athletic Journal, 1985). As an educator, she holds a Master’s in Environmental Education and a Master’s in Education Administration. Plodzien somehow still found time to contribute to such diversified activities as the oral history of girls’ basketball in Illinois for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library.

Coach Carol Plodzien was instrumental in serving on the IHSA Advisory Board and Ad Hoc committee. Being a panel member with the Associated Press Sports Editors, she promoted ideas to improve media coverage for girls’ high school athletics. As a radio color commentator for WWMM Arlington Heights for local games and the State tournament, Coach Plodzien would also coach and lecture at basketball camps and clinics. She was the motivating force bringing television coverage to the girls’ state tournament.

Plodzien has headed the committee selecting IBCA Hall of Fame inductees and worked on the All-State selection committee. Promoting girls’ basketball through her efforts, Coach Carol Plodzien was the first woman to be selected to the Board of Directors of the IBCA and has served since the late 1990s. Coach Plodzien continues on in all of this through her significant contributions to what she considers “the greatest game on earth”.

Podcast Episode - An interview with Coach Carol Plodzien - Part 1 of Our Two-part Series on Title IX