Darby Bourdon, Transylvania volleyball assistant coach, looks onward as Dave Doolin, Transylvania swimming and diving coach, speaks about what traits he seeks in athletes. The coaches were a part of a panel joined together inside Barren County High’s auditorium on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022.
(BRENNAN CRAIN/WCLU NEWS)
BY BRENNAN D. CRAIN, WCLU News
GLASGOW — Female athletes from Barren County, Glasgow Independent and Caverna Independent Schools spent most of the day Monday working together and learning during a female empowerment day held at Barren County High School.
The effort was coordinated at the heel of the new school year, which begins this month for students. April Russell and Mica Pence organized the event with athletic staff of Lexington-based Transylvania University.
“Having a group of females that we could have the safe space to talk about some of those things – and to just build each other up with confidence – was very important to me,” Pence said. “That’s something I’m very passionate about.”
Athletes participated in activities ranging from skill development exercises to leadership development and mental health discussions. The 50th anniversary of Title IX’s passage was also commemorated. Title IX was passed in 1972 as an addition to the Education Amendments. It prohibited sex discrimination in any education program or activity receiving federal assistance.
Tammie Isenberg, a Barren County High alumna, spoke to the crowd of over 50 girls. She offered encouragement to the athletes through her story, which consisted of a trial-and-error discovery process during her years as a college athlete.
“When you play sports, and you try to be successful at school, you’re going to struggle,” she said. “And that’s OK.”
Dr. Holly Sheilley now serves as Transylvania’s director of athletics and vice president of athletics. She ranks as the highest athletic official at Transylvania University and boasts the legacy of the third female athletic director in state history.
Though she boasts an expansive resume, there was even a time when success seemed out of reach because of her gender. She related those experiences during her keynote address Monday.
“I didn’t have opportunities either,” she said. “We didn’t have very many sports. We only had a handful that I could even play. Before I was in high school – when I was in middle school and elementary – there were no girls anything.”
She said she was able to tag along to her twin brother’s sporting events and eventually played alongside his male teammates. But many females never gained those chances before Title IX. Before its passage, there were no buses allotted for girls’ sports, no uniforms, locker rooms, female coaches, and often no female teams at all.
Over 10 coaches traveled from Lexington to the Empowering Female Athletes Day, too. They engaged the students with questions and answers before the group dismissed.
“It’s important for these girls to hear that kind of thing,” Russell said.