I have been a Tennessee fan for as long as I can remember. I credit so many people in my life for fostering a love for women's sports including Tennessee women's basketball. I obviously grew up post-Title IX and I feel fortunate to have been empowered by so many female athletes in my 29 years. I vividly remember Tennessee's "Cinderella Season" in 1996-97 and I quickly loved everything about head coach Pat Summitt. During college I did an internship with the Washington Freedom of the now defunct Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) and one of my supervisors had attended Tennessee. After graduation I took a job with the WUSA, but when it fell apart I started looking at graduate schools more seriously.
I spend a lot of time educating college students on grad school partially because I had no idea what I was doing and didn't feel like I had a lot of direction. I didn't have a clue about graduate assistantships or how to go about getting one but I knew I liked Tennessee and I knew someone who went there and she turned out okay. I also knew as a student I would have free tickets to all of the women's basketball games. The friends I made at Tennessee were through our shared love for sports. One of my classmates was the manager for the women's soccer team and she shared her women's basketball tickets with me. I took a sport psychology class and convinced my partner to do our project on Pat Summitt. I went to tons of practices and just tried to soak up everything Pat Summitt said and did. I knew if I was only going to have a chance to live in Knoxville for a year, I had to make the most of it.
I still love Tennessee women's basketball and I'm still inspired by Pat Summitt. In 37 seasons at the helm she has built the Lady Vols from the ground up. That's not to take away from her assistants or the hundreds of players who have come through the program but it is hard to deny the influence Pat Summitt has had on Tennessee basketball, women's basketball and women's sports.
Summitt announced this week she has been diagnosed with early-onset dementia. I cried. Some people will think that's crazy... to cry over someone who really has no idea who I am. But when you have grown up watching someone make a difference... and when you have seen the effects of dementia... it's heartbreaking. My grandmother struggled with dementia for at least the last five years of her life. My family chose to laugh about it to keep from crying. Dementia is such a cruel disease... it tries to steal everything that is good about a person... everything that makes a person who they are.
I take comfort in knowing Summitt has been and always will be a fighter. I refuse to let dementia steal the monumental difference she has made for the people in her life and the people she has never met. I am grateful for the attention she will bring to the disease in hopes someone will find a cure. And I will be routing for the Tennessee Lady Vols more than ever.
Summitt's friend Sally Jenkin's piece for the Washington Post
ESPN.com coverage
I spend a lot of time educating college students on grad school partially because I had no idea what I was doing and didn't feel like I had a lot of direction. I didn't have a clue about graduate assistantships or how to go about getting one but I knew I liked Tennessee and I knew someone who went there and she turned out okay. I also knew as a student I would have free tickets to all of the women's basketball games. The friends I made at Tennessee were through our shared love for sports. One of my classmates was the manager for the women's soccer team and she shared her women's basketball tickets with me. I took a sport psychology class and convinced my partner to do our project on Pat Summitt. I went to tons of practices and just tried to soak up everything Pat Summitt said and did. I knew if I was only going to have a chance to live in Knoxville for a year, I had to make the most of it.
I still love Tennessee women's basketball and I'm still inspired by Pat Summitt. In 37 seasons at the helm she has built the Lady Vols from the ground up. That's not to take away from her assistants or the hundreds of players who have come through the program but it is hard to deny the influence Pat Summitt has had on Tennessee basketball, women's basketball and women's sports.
Summitt announced this week she has been diagnosed with early-onset dementia. I cried. Some people will think that's crazy... to cry over someone who really has no idea who I am. But when you have grown up watching someone make a difference... and when you have seen the effects of dementia... it's heartbreaking. My grandmother struggled with dementia for at least the last five years of her life. My family chose to laugh about it to keep from crying. Dementia is such a cruel disease... it tries to steal everything that is good about a person... everything that makes a person who they are.
I take comfort in knowing Summitt has been and always will be a fighter. I refuse to let dementia steal the monumental difference she has made for the people in her life and the people she has never met. I am grateful for the attention she will bring to the disease in hopes someone will find a cure. And I will be routing for the Tennessee Lady Vols more than ever.
Summitt's friend Sally Jenkin's piece for the Washington Post
ESPN.com coverage
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