Sidelined No Longer: The Untold Story of Women's College Sports by Karen S. Rudolph
While today's women athletes fill stadiums and arenas and sign multimillion-dollar contracts, the architects of their opportunity remain largely unknown. Sidelined No Longer reveals the battle waged by eleven women administrators in the late 1970s who recognized that the very organizations meant to advance women's athletics were sometimes holding them back.At the story's center is Jean Cerra, the University of Missouri's women's athletic director. Cerra and her allies at major universities challenged the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women's limiting vision. Cerra, herself, fought for a pragmatic approach that would truly deliver on Title IX's promise of equality.Karen Rudolph masterfully connects these groundbreaking "hidden figures" to today's explosion in women's sports—from Nebraska's 92,000 volleyball fans to the first privately financed women's soccer stadium. This essential history illuminates how yesterday's unsung heroes paved the way for women to compete, lead, and inspire based on competence "from the neck up" rather than gender.
About the Author
Get to know Karen Rudolph, the author of "Sidelined No Longer: the Untold Story of Women's College Sports:
"Karen Rudolph returns to her first love of writing after a career spanning sports journalism and education. A University of Missouri graduate who played on the school's first women's basketball and softball teams, Karen experienced Title IX's impact firsthand as one of Missouri's initial femalescholarship athletes. Her sports media career includes writing for the Columbia Daily Tribune andserving as managing editor of Sports Spectrum Magazine, where she authored "Grace and Glory: Profiles of Faith and Courage in the Lives of Top Women Athletes."
After twenty years coaching high school basketball and softball in California, Karen now lives in Auburn with her partner and therapy dog Lucy.
Product Specifications
Published by Streamline Books, 2025. Paperback, 306 pages.
