Recently retired Case Western Reserve University James C. Wyant Director of Athletics Amy Backus was taught early in life that girls and boys should have the same opportunities. “I was a competitive sailor in a family of all girls. We were fortunate to be able to sail our own boats, while a lot of girls had to crew for the boys across the street,” she recalled. “My father was a true believer in equity and encouraged us in a male-dominated sport where there were not separate events. We competed against the boys.”
Backus also played basketball and was the first of three girls in the family to have the chance to play at the varsity level. “There just weren’t varsity girls’ teams at our school before my time there. I know there were more opportunities in other parts of the country that we didn’t have in Ohio. My grandmother grew up in New Jersey and shared stories about her playing days.”
At the time, Backus didn’t think about the disparity or inequities between the boys’ and girls’ competition, including playing six-on-six basketball through the sixth grade. “I remember specifically being thrilled to get the old warmups from the boys for the girls. Looking back on it, I also recall wondering, ‘Why are we getting hand-me downs?’ Other than that, I never contemplated that we weren’t getting the same playing opportunities or bus rides. I just wanted to play.”
A Fortuitous College Choice
Girls were not being recruited to play basketball in those days, but the college choice she made could not have worked out better for her. “I was really fortunate to have randomly chosen to attend Central Michigan. We were about 10 years ahead of a lot of programs in the country in terms of women’s collegiate athletics,” she commented. “Fran Koenig, who was president of the AIAW (Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women), then the governing board of women’s collegiate athletics, was our women’s director of athletics. A graduate of Brown, she was very progressive and had an assertive agenda to provide opportunities for women athletes. I was a recipient of that thinking.”
Even in a state that included Big 10 schools, Central Michigan was the first university in the state to offer scholarships for women athletes. Backus received one of those first scholarships her sophomore season for $250. She recalls the plan was to double that amount the following year and then become full tuition for all recipients.
Becoming a Coach in the Early Days of Title IX
“Title IX was at such an early stage during my playing days and first coaching job that I was just kind of along for the ride. I wasn’t in a decision-making role. Right after finishing graduate school in 1980, I found myself coaching at a very difficult transition time for women’s college athletics,” she described. Once only an oversight body for men’s collegiate sports, the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) would soon begin oversight of women’s sports with the first NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship taking place in 1982.
Backus was hired to coach the women’s basketball program at Otterbein College (now Otterbein University). “Both the volleyball coach and I had been Division I players coming into a Division III school. Our AD was pretty old-school and wanted more of a play day mentality,” she recollected. “The men’s teams were getting shoes. We felt we should be getting shoes for our programs, which became a major point of contention that we had to navigate. While we were trying to figure out what would be equitable, we received pushback from our own administrators to not be so competitive.”
Her 26-year coaching career included tenures at strong academic institutions Middlebury College, Northwestern University, and Yale University, where she served as the senior associate athletic director before coming to CWRU.
Addressing Inequities and Advocating for Women Student-Athletes
“As a coach, I had the opportunity to ensure our women’s players were getting the same things as the men from shoes to new uniforms, making sure we were traveling in the same way as the men’s teams,” Backus stated. “It is important to stress that beyond putting a great product on the floor, we also have the responsibility to empower women not to play second fiddle. We can educate others, empowering in a positive way, about what the right thing is to do, to talk about what women deserve rather than ineffective whining and complaining.”
She acknowledges that though things have improved dramatically for women’s student-athletes, there are still inequities which need to be addressed. “It shouldn’t have taken women’s basketball players posting on Twitter (in 2021) to highlight the wide chasm of inequity between workout spaces at the NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball championships. I don’t know what went wrong that there was such a lack of oversight,” she shared. “The NCAA was blind about the support they were providing or not providing, in terms of staffing, accountability, and communication. It was beyond comprehension when it was the same organization running both championships with such glaring disparity.”
Backus valued her administrative positions that gave her a wider perspective of issues in college athletics. “It is extremely important as an administrator to have that broad scope. Coaches have blinders on, but administrators have to view the impact of decisions and ensuring that there is equity in opportunities across sports and genders,” she remarked. “Some men’s sports are supported more heavily financially, which requires creativity to enhance the women’s sports. It is critical to be cognizant of what other efforts and support they may need to proceed.”
Having spent so many years at institutions that prioritize academics, coming to the UAA was a natural fit for her. “The UAA, in my opinion, is the absolute leader in raising the voices of women’s administrators and making sure they are in decision-making positions. The UAA has always had that philosophy and I was fortunate to be in a conference that believes so strongly in that,” she articulated. “Overall, the dial has moved somewhat in Division III, though not the (Division I) Power Five. D3 has the most athletic directors who are women, voices that were not heard for many years.”
Moving Forward
She firmly believes that equity includes more women and people of color in administrative roles across the board in the NCAA. “Women administrators do a really good job of finding the balance of providing for both men’s and women’s sports. It is encouraging to see how many women athletic directors there are now. I don’t think real change will happen until women and people of color lead Division I major programs, where most decisions are made. Everything is so skewed when people are making so much money,” Backus expressed.
Although the example of the inequity between the NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball championships in 2021 was disheartening, Backus was encouraged by the way the story became public. “If not for the student-athletes posting it on Twitter, we wouldn’t know about it. We never knew these things before, but the student-athletes have found their voice and are not afraid to use it,” she pointed out. “That is how social justice works. Between cell phone photos and videos, someone documenting injustice brings it to the nation’s consciousness.”
“I had an absolutely wonderful and fulfilling career,” concluded Backus. Though she has no regrets about her time in collegiate athletics, she does worry about how time-consuming the profession is. “Other people say, ‘Have a good weekend’ and are going home at 5 p.m. on Friday. Meanwhile, an AD may have swimming all day, tennis matches, and basketball games in the same weekend. It is particularly tough for women because of the added responsibilities that often fall more heavily on them like baby care and elder care. I don’t know how people do it and I see more men opting out to be able to see their kids grow up. There has to be a better balance, a way to show support for your teams without taking away so much time from your family. We need to do things to keep men and women in the profession.”