Step it up, UMASS

You’ve come a long way, baby! Or maybe not.

It’s been 42 years since President Richard Nixon signed Title IX into law. While the legislation was enacted to ban gender discrimination in educational programs, over time it became a game changer for school-based athletic programs.

School girls and young college women seized the opportunity to abandon the sidelines and join the game like never before. According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, in 1972 only 1 in 27 girls participated in high school sports compared to 2 out of 5 today. Female participation in college sports also grew markedly, increasing by 500%.

Athletic excellence became a core value for women across the country. In 1972, the top female runner completed the Boston Marathon at a pace of 3 hours and 10 minutes, 54 minutes behind the top male. By 2013, the top female closed the gap to just 16 minutes.

Women now excel in traditional men’s sports like hockey and soccer, and girls aren’t waiting until middle or high school to take up a sport. Many begin soccer programs by kindergarten and don hockey skates by age four. ESPN referred to a study that showed 47% of girls participating in team sports by age six.

Those playing traditional female sports like softball and field hockey do so with a much greater intensity – and with high-quality uniforms, just like the boys.

Given such advances, we wanted to take a look at the salary gaps between state university coaches of sports played by both men and women. Using Pioneer’s transparency tool MassOpenBooks.org, here’s what we found:

Year	Employee Name	Department	Job Title	Earnings
2013	Cannella, Gregory J	UMASS Amherst	Athletic Coach Men’s Lacrosse	$121,241
2013	McMahon, Angela Anne	UMASS Amherst	Athletic Coach Women’s Lacrosse	$99,631
			Higher (lower)	$21,610
			% higher (lower)	22%
2012	Koch, Samuel C	UMASS Amherst	Athletic Coach Men’s Soccer	$93,631
2012	Matz, Ed	UMASS Amherst	Athletic Coach Women’s Soccer	$95,253
			Higher (lower)	($1,622)
			% higher (lower)	-2%
2013	Yarworth, Russell W	UMASS Amherst	Athletic Coach Men’s Swim & Diving	$113,316
2013	Newcomb, Robert S.	UMASS Amherst	Athletic Coach Women’s Swim & Diving	$83,793
			Higher (lower)	$29,524
			% higher (lower)	35%
2013	Kellogg, Derek W	UMASS Amherst	Head Coach Men’s Basketball	$719,664
2013	Dawley, Sharon M	UMASS Amherst	Head Coach Women’s Basketball	$234,493
			Higher (lower)	$485,171
			% higher (lower)	207%
2013	Duquette, Patrick	UMASS Lowell	Head Coach – Men’s Basketball*	$172,975
2013	McGahan, Sarah	UMASS Lowell	Head Coach – Women’s Basketball	$91,613
			Higher (lower)	$81,362
			% higher (lower)	89%
2013	Obrien, Kenneth L.	UMASS Amherst	Head Coach Men’s Track	$119,184
2013	Lafreniere, Julia A	UMASS Amherst	Head Coach Women’s Track	$91,730
			Higher (lower)	$27,454
			% higher (lower)	30%
2013	Figueroa, Christian	UMASS Lowell	Head Coach – Men’s Soccer	$50,291
2013	Monteiro, Elie T	UMASS Lowell	Head Coach – Women’s Soccer	$65,884
			Higher (lower)	($15,593)
			% higher (lower)	-24%
2013	Belisle, Peter M.	UMASS Boston	Head Coach Men’s Hockey	$63,647
2013	Harris, Colleen Marie	UMASS Boston	Head Coach Women’s Ice Hockey	$55,831
			Higher (lower)	$7,816
			% higher (lower)	14%
2014	Beverlin, Jake	UMASS Boston	Head Coach Men’s Soccer	$46,805
2014	Zombeck, Amy L	UMASS Boston	Head Coach Women’s Soccer	$61,022
			Higher (lower)	($14,217)
			% higher (lower)	-23%
*Annual rate (started in May 2013)

Of the nine sports teams we looked at within the UMASS system, coaches of the men’s teams earned more in six instances. In most cases, those earnings were substantially more than of those coaching women’s teams. Disparities were greatest at the flagship school, UMASS Amherst.

Coaches’ salaries reflect their program’s value to the school. While there may be sound reasons for the wage gap between coaches of men’s and women’s teams, the trend at UMASS implies a message that’s inconsistent with equal athletic opportunity.

Time to step it up!