The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women’s athletics in the United States and to administer national championships. It evolved out of the Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics (founded in 1967). The association was one of the biggest stepping stones for women’s athletics on the collegiate level. After conflicts with the NCAA in the early 1980s the AIAW discontinued operation and most member schools continued their women's athletics programs under the governance of the NCAA.

See AIAW Champions

History

During the late 1950s and 1960s, many colleges around the country had started women's sports teams that competed with other schools in their respective geographic area. Several small organizations like the DGWS and the CIAW already administered tournaments and championships but the field was still lacking organized national championship tournaments. In 1971, over 280 schools founded the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). At that point the NCAA had no interest in women's athletics and administrators of the AIAW had no interest in the NCAA either. The NCAA was seen as being commercially driven and neglecting the meaning of the 'Student Athlete' . There were distinct differences between the two associations early on. For example, students playing in AIAW were allowed to transfer freely between schools and programs were initially forbidden to offer scholarships and recruit off-campus to prevent unfair advantages. The AIAW was not without criticism either though, as many outsiders and some individual members continuously complained that the association devoted too much of time, efforts, and funds securing distinction and independence from the NCAA. The annual Basketball and Softball national tournaments received the most publicity and drew the biggest crowds, however the association organized championships in various other sports. They included mainstream sports like volleyball and tennis but were as far reaching as bowling and fencing. Aside from national championships, individual schools worked together to stage annual state championships.

The 1973 Basketball Tournament was the first sign that women's sports could be financially successful. Over 3,000 fans watched the final game between Que ens and Immaculata and the tournament earned over $4,500 in profits. In 1975 these two teams met again, this time in Madison Square Garden. The first women's basketball game to be played in the arena drew a crowd of more than 12,000 spectators. The AIAW started to take advantage of corporate sponsorships and television payouts not unlike its male counterpart, just on a smaller scale.

In 1972, the Congress of the United States passed Title IX, which was laid out to require colleges to provide equal opportunities for both genders in collegiate athletics. Any school receiving federal funds was required to provide gender equality by the 1978-79 school year. In 1974 colleges started giving scholarships to female student athletes. That year, Ann Meyers became the first female to receive a full scholarship by committing to play for UCLA. Title IX is credited with the vast improvement in funding for women's athletics. By 1980, the average university spent over 16% of their athletics budget on women's sports. In the early '70s that number was less than 1%.

AIAW vs. NCAA

In its peak, the AIAW had almost 1,000 member schools. In the late seventies however, schools began to realize that women’s athletics could be profitable and the NCAA decided to offer women’s championships. The NCAA’s Divisions II and III offered championships early on, but Division I members failed to gain a majority vote on this issue until the 1982 season. For several years schools were able to compete in either the NCAA or the AIAW championships. There were even incidents where a school participated in both tournaments in the same year (Florida Gymnastics, 1982).

The battle of members had started, as schools whose men’s teams were already participating in the NCAA started to integrate their women’s teams. In 1982 the first Division I NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament was held. The NCAA was able to offer incentives such as transportation cost to participating members, something the AIAW was not able to do. Since former AIAW powerhouses like Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, and Old Dominion decided to participate in the NCAA tournament, the AIAW tournament lost a lot of its appeal and popularity. NBC canceled its TV contract with the association. The remaining members decided to sue the NCAA to remain independent but they lost their case and after 1982 the AIAW had stopped operations.

Under NCAA governance scholarships increased and joint athletics departments were able to provide bigger travel and recruiting budgets. However several problems the NCAA was facing then, and still is, affected women’s intercollegiate athletics. Examples of these are dropping graduation rates and an increased turnover in coaching positions.

Sources

• Joanne Lannin A History of Basketball for Girls and Women. Lerner Publications Company. Minneapolis, 2000

External links

• A fight to the death: NCAA vs. AIAW
• Women's sports enter NCAA arena
• The Lawsuit that Ruined Women’s Control of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women?

This category includes articles about Intercollgiate Athletics in the United States.