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UMass Lowell Athletics

THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF UMASS LOWELL ATHLETICS

Title IX Banner FINAL
No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."
Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972
Updated Timeline IX
A timeline of key events in UMass Lowell's history from the enactment of Title IX to the present day

Now, 50 years after the passing of Title IX and sparking educational equality across the United States, UMass Lowell reflects on the impact of this law and the incredible feats River Hawks have achieved at the 

university because of it.

 

History Title IX Banner
Full Female HoF Class '21
River Hawks Hall of Fame Class of 2022, including Barbara Ryder Brennan ('76), Amber Gagnon Chouinard ('03), and the 2010 National Champion Field Hockey team

PAVING THE WAY FOR WOMEN'S SPORTS

In the fall of 2021, UMass Lowell held a ceremony for the annual induction of former athletes, coaches, and other athletics personnel to be admitted to the River Hawk Hall of Fame.

 

Inductees are honored with a blue jacket to commemorate their accomplishments. Often, the ceremony requires just a few blue blazers. However, this presentation was different.

 

2021 marked the first all-female Hall of Fame class in UMass Lowell's storied history. Among those honored were former basketball player Barbara Brennan, former softball player Amber Chouinard, and the entire 2010 National Championship Field Hockey Team.

 

 

History

In the early 1900s, women sought to bring a more competitive atmosphere to the sports and recreational activities they had been previously playing. Tennis, croquet, archery and bowling were common means of physical activity that were allowed for women to participate in at the time. Prior to Title IX, games between female teams were never intercollegiate, but rather intramural, staying between club teams formed among the student body.

Attention turned to the freedoms of women through the suffrage movement of the 1920s, eventually enabling women the right to vote. The ambitions of these women helped crack open the doors of possibility for females in the U.S., but efforts in athletics were suppressed due to the demands created through the Great Depression and World War II.

During this time, the status quo of responsibilities for women offered very little value in recreation for them, thus, hindering the ability to initiate change in athletics for females. For nearly 50 years, little was done to generate positive influence for women participating in sport.

 

Through the push for civil activism in the 1960s, new life for this cause came to the forefront of conversation. In 1963, the Division for Girls and Women in Sport (DGWS) stated that they desired intercollegiate competition for women’s sports programs that already existed. By 1967, they appointed the Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (CIAW), which looked to replicate an organized schedule of events similar to men’s organizations. By 1972, National Championships had been created, including sports such as gymnastics, track and field, swimming, basketball, badminton and volleyball.

Aug. 23, 1981 - The Sunday Sun explains that even years after Title IX had been put into effect, scrutiny of women's sports still remained. Lawsuits threatened pushback on NCAA practices. Michael Sullivan, former Merrimack Valley Conference President stated, "I'm afraid we'll return to the days when girls stayed in the kitchen with mommy learning to cook."
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Title IX at Lowell

Upon the passing of Title IX, the AIAW created a women’s sports committee to oversee competition and formation for female collegiate teams. In the years that followed, interest in women’s sports surged and proved to doubters that athletics for girls could succeed on a grand scale.

At Lowell State, the leadership and organization of Claire Chamberlain and Denise Legault later gave rise to a women's athletic program at the University of Lowell. Five sports teams were founded and they joined the Massachusetts Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women.

In many cases I had to get permission from the parents, asking them 'May your daughter please be out of the house for an 8-10 practice?'
Claire Chamberlain, River Hawk Hall of Fame Class of 2010
1986 ULowell Softball Team

While it was comprised of separate campuses at the time, this generated vast opportunities for UMass Lowell. As games began to be played, seats were filled, and budgets grew. Lowell State saw immediate success with their softball teams, finishing with a 16-0 record in 1975 and 22-7 in 1983 to clinch the EIAW East Regional Championship. Later, they would clinch the NEC Championship in 1986 and go on to participate in the newly founded NCAA Women’s Tournament. 

Over time, women’s programs at UMass Lowell would grow and find successes at numerous levels of competition, creating All-Americans and sending some on to competitive U.S. National teams. In 2005, the university earned its first national championship in a women’s sport, taking home the DII field hockey crown before later replicating this feat in 2010. 

1981 Women's Basketball
2000 Women's Soccer
1987 Field Hockey

Today, UMass Lowell is a Division I program with storied history among the seven female sports it offers. Each team displays pride and passion whenever they compete, grateful for their opportunities that many fought for half a century ago. In 2020, the cross country team earned the River Hawks their first conference title in a women's sport at the Division I level. Many years prior, such a goal would not have been possible.

XC at NCAA Northeast Regional
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Rachel Hill at AE Champs

With the arrival of 2022, we celebrate the history, stories, education and honors brought about thanks to Title IX, and anxiously await what will unfold in the years to come.