Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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sports jet By RONNIE HUTCHINS Asst. Sports Editor With another large budget increase planned for the 1977-78 academic year, USC's fast-growing women's athletic-* program will become one of the most extensively funded programs in the South, USC Assistant Athletic Director and business mnnnoor Inhn ?-J ...Mtmgva uUllll iUVAil C 5UIU. The women's athletic program, which was not financed during the 1974-75 year, received $68,000 in 1975^76 and $102,000 this year. The proposed women's budget for 1977-78 includes a fund increase of between $175,000 and $220,000. "I CAN'T GIVE an exact amount right now, but our women's budget will be somewhere between $175,000 and $220,000," Moore said. "That's pretty good considering the 1974 budget-nothing. "J Gmron C/?IIAA1O - 41 ? Al 1 ., ./v>v? ANUU13 in uie vxjuin 10 see what they were spending on their women's programs," Moore said. "And of all the schools I talked to, we'll have a better financial situation than any of them next year." The schools Moore polled were North Carolina, N.C. State, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Furman and Appalachian State. The spending increase will come from the total athletic budget, which includes rt^eipui irom me revenue sports and the Gamecock Club, which helps provide scholarships. One change the increased spending will provide for is full-time personnel in the women's athletic department. This year, as in the past, coaches and the assistant director in the women's program have come from the College of Health and Physical Education faculty or graduate assistants. "I'm very enthusiastic about our women's program. It's growing and the growth is visible. We expect for our women's teams to compete against anybody." --John Moore J- *. ? , ' \ ' v \v.- "; y - . >' . { . M | i The arrangement has been for the college to release the teacher from a fourth of her time spent teaching to coach. The athletic ' Uv|hi>uiii;ih uien paia a fourth of the teacher's annual salary. NEXT YEAR a full-time employe will administer the women's program. Pam Parsons recently was named head basketball coach and Assistant Director of Women's Athletics. Molly Maguire, who is the women's athletic trainer while working her master's degree in physical education at USC, will coach softball along with being trainer next year. She succeeds Elaine Taylor, a graduate assistant, as softball coach. Alan Gentry will continue coaching the women's swimming team and Kathy Graham, a physical education teacher, will coach volleyball. Graham coached volleyball and tennis this year. Jeff Kefalos will coach women's tennis next year, but a gymnastics coach has not been named. "The other two positions (gymnastics and tennis) won't really be what you'd call parttime jobs," Moore said. "The gymnastics coach will be teaching at a gymnastics school in her off-season and the tennis coach At- - ... win wuriv ai me new city tennis complex." ATHLETIC DIRECTOR Jim Carlen said the cross-over to the athletic department was too demanding for teachers in physical education. There was too much of a time conflict. "The women's coaches for all six sports will be provided through the Athletic Dept." Carlen said. "The only crossover (from the physical education department) will be Kathy Graham. And then, the semester she'll be coaching volleyball, she won't have any classes to interfere." The numler of scholarships given to women will also be increased. Next year, all six wnmpn'c cnA?-?n ...111 u ? ? * * ~ o,w. 10 win uc guaranteed one full scholarship and seven partial scholarships. The full scholarship will include tuition, fees, room and board while the partial covers tuition and fees. Moore says the number of full scholarships could increase from 12 to 14 next year. THIS YEAR, four partial scholarships were given to each of the six sports. At the 1977 national meeting of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), a proposal was approved to limit women's scholarships to tuition and fees only. The ruling becomes effective August 1978, and Moore says USC plans to provide room and board for the upcoming year. "I feel like that if we're going to go with a women's program, we've got to give the teams a chance to compete. I feel like that if we're going .to have something, we ought to finance it." I ?jim ^arien "I'm very enthusiastic about our women's program," Moore said. "It's growing, and the growth is visible. We expect for our women's teams to compete against anybody. If a sport can't do that, I don't see any sense in having it." The increase of scholarships will draw more women athletes to the school, but recruiting in women's athletics is strictly limited. The AIAW prohibits women's programs from paying for prospective athlete's visits to its campus and coach's visits to recruit athletes. "JUST ABOUT ALL we can do is send lots of letters," Graham said. "I can send letters to the girls and their coaches but we can't finance any tripe to see them. But they are allowed to make visits to the campus on meir own." Helen Timmermans, assistant director of women's athletics, said the level of the USC program was as high as most of the schools the Chicks competed against this year. The basketball team (8-18) and the gymnastics team (6-8) have been the only women's teams with losing records this year. However, the gymnastics team won the South Carolina AIAW title. "I think our program is ahead of most itting money ? USC's men's llafin piugram schools now," Timmermans said. "I remember reading in The State newspaper earlier in the fall about the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) schools' women's programs and how much money was spent on them. According to those figures, the only school spending more than us was North Carolina State." THE INITIATIVE for building the women's program was taken by the athletic deDartment hut not ? , ^..v* ..wwoaiilj IU CUIIIpiy with Title IX, Carlen said. Title IX's guidelines for equal opportunity at a federally-funded institution, including collegiate women's athletics, must be implemented by 1978. "I wanted to build the program. Title IX didn't have anything to do with it," Carlen said. "I feel like that if we're going to go with a women's program, we've got to give the teams a chance to compete. I feel like that if we're going to have something, we ought to fund it. "Thf? SflH norf ? .? - v ouuui me women's program is that the students won't come out to see the events," Carlen said. "Last year, the women's softball team was the best athletic team on this campus, but I'd go out to see them play sometimes and nobody else would be there." CARLEN SAID the guidelines of Title IX "are vague and left almost totally up to interpretation." William Wesson, vice president of instruction for the university, agrees with Carlen that the school's women's athletic budget goes beyond the unclear specifications of Title IX. "I'm sure much of the spending could be to COmnlv with TUlo iv ?? - .rv - .v.v- w* mxttube inavs wnat practically every school in the country is trying to do now," Wesson said. "But I think I the university is going beyond what they're required to do in helping the women's athletics. "Personally, I like to see support for those sports that have more of an amateur turn to them-like most of the women's sports do. We're still not to the point yet that an amateur women basketball player will be approached by 200 schools to sign a grant-inaid."