DeKALB – In front of a sizable crowd of a variety of NIU’s female student athletes, NIU Athletics hosted its annual discussion panel Wednesday to commemorate National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
The panel, moderated by Executive Associate Athletic Director, Sports Administration and Senior Woman Administrator Courtney Vinson, discussed the development of women’s athletics and offered advice to the upcoming generation of female athletes.
“The first part is understanding why they’re (the female student athletes in attendance) in these seats today, but can be on that panel tomorrow,” Vinson said. “I hope what they took away from this is that there’s going to be peaks and valleys, but there will be good on the other side.”
Along with speaking about women’s athletics itself, the panel also offered advice to the student athletes in the crowd regarding life after collegiate athletics.
Among the panel were three former NIU athletes: former gymnast Cindy (Hemstad) Tucker, former volleyball player Kristin Hoffman and former women’s basketball player Kristen Brown.
“We don’t know where our (NIU’s) young people are going to go, but representation does matter,” Vinson said. “So to have such a diverse group of just a few women, it’s important that they see that.”
The panel featured a diverse array of perspectives, as Tucker is the Director of Rehabilitation Services at Northwestern Medicine, Brown is the University of Nebraska’s deputy athletic director and Hoffman practices law.
Hoffman, a member of NIU Athletics’ Hall of Fame and the 2011 NIU volleyball team which competed in the 2011 NCAA tournament, shared her thoughts on the panel.
“It’s really incredible, it feels really special to be here, particularly on a day like this,” Hoffman said. “Being here to share stories and hopefully inspire the next generation is truly incredible.”
While the development of women’s sports has come a long way, there are still issues that remain to be confronted. Tucker spoke about what can be done to further the development of women’s sports.
“I think acknowledging that disparity that inequality exists is the first step and then figuring out how we can decrease and have that parity between both men’s and women’s sports,” Tucker said. “Events like this really help celebrate where we’re at and acknowledging that there’s still a long way to go.”
Furthermore, Brown – a former NIU point guard – weighed in on what she believes can be done to drive the development of women’s sports.
“It’s just access to opportunities, and whether that is the actual providing of opportunities whether that’s television opportunities because that provides exposure for people who aren’t in DeKalb to watch a game,” Brown said. “It’s really about having those opportunities that help move women’s athletics forward.”
After running for nearly an hour, the panel closed by allowing audience members to ask questions of their own. The audience posed a handful of questions, mainly directed at receiving life advice, the panelist’s current jobs and the former athletes’ favorite moments at NIU.
