This morning, I will appear on a panel with three other Olympic family members in front of the Commission on Opportunity in Athletics in its meeting in Colorado Springs, Colo. The focus of the panel will be the Olympic movement. Those in my panel will include USOC President Marty Mankamyer, former USA Swimming President Carol Zaleski and USA Gymnastics Executive Director Bob Colarossi. We are allowed 10 minutes to speak, as well as to submit our written testimony to the Commission. I will post my written testimony here. Over the last week or so, I had to trim this speech by about one-third, so what I am saying today will be a condensed version of this. It is an honor and privilege to represent the wrestling community and the Olympic family at this hearing, and I hope that I do a good job on behalf of both. ---------------------------------- PANELIST REPORT TO THE COMMISSION ON OPPORTUNITY IN ATHLETICS Submitted by Gary Abbott, Director of Special Projects, USA Wrestling I have a journalist background, so I would like to read you two definitions from the Webster's Dictionary: Courage: "The quality of mind or character that makes a person able to face danger, pain or trouble without fear." Wisdom: "The quality of being wise; good judgement that comes from knowledge and experience in life." Please keep these two words in mind in your deliberations. My goal today is to inspire you, shock you and challenge you. OLYMPIC SPIRIT Welcome to Colorado Springs, the home of the Olympic family. This is where sports dreams come true. I have been working in the Olympic family since 1988, and it's an inspiring career. Think about it. What segment of the American sports scene has done the most for women's athletics, which has provided our greatest women sports heroes and moments? That's right. The Olympic Games. And this celebration of women's athletic achievements have been reached without a rigid federal gender quota. It has been achieved with the Olympic spirit. It has not been easy, but it has happened, and we can all be proud. Let me tell you about one of the greatest days in my career. In September 2001, I discovered on the internet that the International Olympic Committee had announced that women's wrestling had been added to the Olympic Games. This was one of my assigned projects. I had written the proposal given to the International Olympic Committee by our international federation requesting women's wrestling in the Olympic program. We had made it. And when women's wrestling received Olympic status, suddenly the doors were opened. New opportunities and support were available that were never there before. There was a new awareness. There was a new special status for our athletes. It was the same people, the same sport as before, but something was much different. We were in the Olympics. What does this have to do with Title IX? It has everything to do with Title IX. The Olympic movement proves that women's sports can grow without harming men's sports. We can build the world's greatest Olympic women's soccer team without shortchanging our successful Olympic men's wrestling team. We are all pulling together as a family for one thing - the United States of America. The hardest job at an Olympic Games belongs to the press officer. I've done it four times starting in Seoul, Korea in 1988. You are the first to show up and the last to leave. Late each night, when everybody else is finished, you are still filing stories. You sit in the Press Center with your peers, and you watch the day's highlights. You cheer for the Americans. You don't care if they are women or men, black or white or Hispanic. You don't care what sport it is. You applaud our American heroes. If you can't get inspired by the Olympics, you should not be involved in sports. DISCRIMINATION TODAY I understand that commission has heard about the problems with Title IX and wants to work on solutions. Before I get to my solutions, I want to make sure that this commission has been listing closely to the common people who have testified in the public forums. Thirty years ago, when Title IX was passed, there was a group of individuals in sports who had been down way too long. They had been ignored, treated poorly, ridiculed and just not given much opportunity. Change was needed. We are talking about women athletes. Thirty years later, when Title IX is being reviewed, there is a new class of sports individuals who have been down too long. They have had their rosters capped, and in way too many cases, their teams eliminated. The new class of victims are the athletes from the men's Olympic sports. You have heard both of their stories. You must have the courage to stand strong for both of these groups. Let's talk about Title IX. This law is not the Equal Rights Amendment, as many people would like it to be. It is simply a law which bans discrimination in education. It does not guarantee equal outcomes; it provides fair opportunity. And how you measure discrimination is the most important thing that you can do. I'd like to share some of the new discrimination going on right now in college athletics: * It is discrimination when the NCAA has decided that women athletes are allowed more scholarships than men in the same sport. In gymnastics, men get 6.3 scholarships, but women get 12. In volleyball, men get 4.5 scholarships, but women get 12. In swimming, men get 9.9 scholarships and women get 14. This happens in every sport that have men and women except one. This is built-in discrimination against men. * It is discrimination when there are many more women's teams total in the NCAA than men's teams. In 2001, there were 582 more women's teams in the NCAA than men. In almost every sport, there are more women's teams than men in the same sport. Consider these examples: Basketball, 28 more women's teams than men's teams... Bowling, 22 more women's teams Cross Country, 57 more women's teams Equestrian, 32 more women's teams Fencing, 11 more women's teams Gymnastics, 65 more women's teams Lacrosse, 27 more women's teams Rowing, 84 more women's teams Soccer, 114 more women's teams Swimming/Diving, 84 more women's teams Tennis, 109 more women's teams Indoor Track, 39 more women's teams Outdoor Track, 35 more women's teams Volleyball, 874 more women's teams * It's discrimination when a college kicks the men out of the pool, like at the Univ. of Nebraska, and the men off the track, like at Bowling Green University, while the women's team remains. You already have the coaches, facilities and resources for both teams, but the men are eliminated just to reach a quota. They are cut because they are men. * It is discrimination when you cut a men's track team and eliminate opportunity for so many African American men and other minority student-athletes. * It's discrimination when you axe a wrestling team, a sport which offers the most opportunity of all because it accommodates people of all sizes and weights. Because smaller people are included, it is a sport with many people of diverse heritage, including Hispanic-American and Asian-American and Native American ancestry. * It is truly discrimination when you cut these men's opportunities without even creating a new opportunity for women athletes, just to meet a mathematical quota by "leveling down" men's sports. WHAT ABOUT FOOTBALL? I know. You want to discuss football. One of the positions of those attempting to resist change is to blame football. I am holding a copy of the October 7 issue of Sports Illustrated, America's top sports magazine. SI has rated all the Div. I college sports programs, based upon their entire sports offerings. Congratulations to co-chairperson Leland, as Stanford Univ. made the magazine cover and received a No. 2 ranking. Many believe it is No. 1. If you go through the top 100 sports programs, only four do not have a football team. The first without football is No. 50 Pepperdine University, followed by No. 73 Denver, No. 76 Boston University; and No. 100 Wichita State. It's sad that my alma mater Boston Universi