By Laken Litman
FOX Sports Writer
Editor’s Note: This story is part of FOX Sports’ series commemorating the 50th anniversary of Title IX, which was enacted into law June 23, 1972. The series tells the stories of significant women in sports today, both celebrating the progress that has been made and recognizing the barriers that still remain.
Tara VanDerveer was finding it difficult to explain to 100 8-year-old girls at a Stanford basketball camp why she never went to basketball camp at their age.
The all-time winningest coach in women’s college basketball tried to choose her words wisely.
“When I was 8 years old, there were no basketball camps,” VanDerveer recalled telling the kids. “There were no teams to play on, no clubs to play basketball with, no junior high team or junior varsity team or freshman team or varsity team. There were no scholarships, no women’s basketball on television, no professional basketball, no Olympic basketball, no coaches.”
VanDerveer looked around the gym to see if anyone understood what she was saying. “They looked at me like I had two heads,” she said. Then one kid raised her hand and asked the million-dollar question: “Why?”
“And I’m like, I don’t really know how to explain this to 8-year-olds,” VanDerveer said. “So I go, ‘Can anyone else…
