The University of Idaho Argonaut

It was standing room only at the Women’s Center Tuesday afternoon as the University of Idaho Athletic Department and the Women’s Center celebrated National Student-Athlete Day.
National Student-Athlete Day was utilized to help recognize female athletes and their accomplishments on campus. There were five female student-athletes on hand to discuss their careers at Idaho, share stories about competing and their education and answer any questions from the crowd.

Britta Rustad from the soccer team, Kate Tribley, from the volleyball team, Allix Lee-Painter, from the cross country team, JoJo Miller from the swimming team and Katie Schlotthauer from the basketball team shared their experiences with the crowd in the Women’s Center lounge. They talked about experiences competing at a Division I level, challenges they have faced with teammates, balancing school and athletics and their motivation to continue to compete.

Miller and Schlotthauer are graduating in May, so their reflection focused on their career at Idaho as a whole. Schlotthauer said her team traveled a lot so keeping up with her studies as a math and education major was challenging.
“We missed so much class,” Schlotthauer said. “But the opportunities for athletes and the programs (offered by the athletic department) really helped.”
The discussion started by asking the women if they thought female student-athletes faced any disadvantages in the collegiate setting. Title IX was passed in 1972 and attempted to make participation numbers equal for each sport. Miller came on campus in 2004 after swimming was reinstated to help equal out opportunities.

All teams participate in off-season workouts and Miller said there is no “off-season” for swimming. Tribley was proud to see many female teams in early morning weight room sessions this spring.
“Soccer, volleyball and swimming all open the weight room,” Tribley said.
She said those teams are the first there some mornings and it is cool to see each team doing their workouts at such an early hour.
Lee-Painter said her sport, which is sometimes viewed as an individual sport, doesn’t make her feel like an individual athlete when she is participating. The cross country team won the Western Athletic Conterence Championship last fall and Lee-Painter said the runners worked together throughout the race, vying for positions.

“I never really see it that way,” Lee-Painter said of the classification of cross country as an individual sport.
The student-athletes answered a question about their experience having a male coach as a female athlete. Basketball, soccer, swimming and track and field all have male coaches who oversee the sport. Maureen Taylor-Regan, the senior women’s administrator in the athletic department said Idaho is very unique in that there are several female coaches who coach male athletes.
Julie Taylor coaches nationally renowned male throwers on Idaho’s track and field team. Lisa Johnson-Wasinger coaches both the men’s and women’s golf teams.

Tribley, who had male volleyball coaches growing up until she came to Idaho, said she relates better to Debbie Buchanan, her current coach, than she did to male coaches in the past. She said she has noticed she performs more consistently under her setting coach, who is a male. Rustad echoed similar thoughts about male soccer coaches.
“It’s easier to accept,” Rustad said about instruction from a male coach. “It shouldn’t be, but I make direction more.”
The women also discussed body image issues which are sometimes prevalent in female athletics.
Many of the women said body image issues are discussed in their locker rooms or among teammates.

Rustad said the focus on body image is just maintained by activity which is drawing attention to their bodies. They are athletes so they are in situations where people come to watch them, how their bodies move and the image of them playing.
“Everything revolves around body and image,” Rustad said.
The discussion at the Women’s Center was the only activity at UI to celebrate National Student-Athlete Day, which the NCAA designated as April 6.