With forty years under its belt, Title IX is rightfully lauded for having not just leveled, but transformed the playing field for women and girls. Title IX, passed as part of the Education Amendments of 1972, provides that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” Simply put, Title IX bans sex discrimination by educational institutions that take federal money.

Congress's aim in passing Title IX was to provide women and girls with equal opportunity in education in an era when they were blatantly discriminated against in terms of admission, especially to professional schools; had their enrollment numbers capped; or were admitted but were subjected to entirely different (and worse) treatment.

Title IX indeed has changed the face of education. It has been invoked to protect students against sexual harassment by teachers and peers, to ensure fair treatment of pregnant and parenting students, to remove obstacles to women's education in nontraditional fields like science and math, and to curtail the use of single-sex education that was rooted in stereotype. But Title IX is most known for its impact on athletics, even though that was probably the furthest thing from the legislators’ minds when they enacted it. (The legislative history suggests little more than some chuckling over the prospect of coed football and coed locker rooms.)

Title IX's transformative effect on women's sports is undeniable. One year before Title IX's passage, there were fewer than 300,000 female high school athletes. Today, there are more than 3 million. A girl's likelihood of playing high school sports has gone from one in twenty-seven to nearly one in two. Female college sports have seen dramatic growth as well – from 32,000 women playing in 1971 to more than 200,000 playing today.

There is no question that sports have changed women. Female sports participation has proven positive effects that are related to academic achievement; job success; positive self-esteem; reduced incidence of self-destructive behaviors like smoking, drugs, sex at a young age, and teen pregnancy; and physical and mental health benefits. By and large, sports have been empowering and have even changed, in fundamental ways, what it means to be a woman.