I sat with my friend Jenny Huse last weekend to watch Title IX in action at the women’s NCAA water polo championships. Jenny played for UC Santa Barbara and I played for UC San Diego in the 70s. Back then Title IX was new and women’s college water polo was just beginning to be a club sport. We were lucky to find volunteer coaches and some free pool time. Now thanks to Title IX, women’s water polo is a full scholarship sport played thoughout the country, supported by the NCAA. The championship game was even on TV!

Jenny stayed involved in water polo and coached with the Commerce, CA club team. Commerce is a working class Latina community in East Los Angeles that has a rich water polo legacy. This year, eight girls from Commerce played on four of the eight teams in the NCAA championships, by far the most from any club team in the country. Eight girls who are now in college because of the water polo scholarship opportunities that would not exist without Title IX.

Jenny’s daughter is a freshman on the USC women’s water polo team and my niece is a freshman playing for UCLA. When UCLA beat USC by a goal, Jenny had tears in her eyes. Not because USC lost, but in celebration of all the women playing NCAA water polo last weekend and how far we have come.