Sharon
Austerman
Recipient of the
YWCA's
2001 Tribute to Women Award
Category: Sports Leader
Ten outstanding women in Maricopa County were named honorees in the YWCA’s Tribute to Women 2001 Awards. The annual awards recognize women whose lives and accomplishments reflect the YWCA’s mission to empower women and eliminate racism.
In the category of Sports Leader, the honoree is Sharon Austerman. Sharon Austerman is a retired teacher and coach from Cortez High School in Phoenix. During her 31-year career, Sharon positively influenced the lives of more than 7,000 young women. Prior to the passing of Title IX in 1972, there was no equality for girls’ athletics. High school girls were faced with substandard equipment, no uniforms and an antiquated view of how "active" girls should be in sports. Sharon broke down the barriers of this "good old boy" system and founded the school’s first varsity girls volleyball program. But she didn’t stop there—six years later she formed Cortez High School’s first varsity girls track team, and four years after that, its first varsity girls basketball team. Sharon realized that although Title IX had been voted into law, sometimes it’s a long, laborious process until change actually happens. She chose not to sit back and wait, but rather, to move forward to make things happen for the young girls under her tutelage. Because of her persistence, young women discovered the valuable lessons that can be learned through sports—how to be a team player, how to win and lose graciously, how to perform under pressure, how to practice and work hard to improve yourself, and how to be fair and ethical—all lessons they took with them as they went out into the real world. Sharon instilled these values in the girls whose lives she touched through sports. In later years, Sharon was named Cortez High School’s Physical Education Department Chair and served on many school and district committees, and on numerous local, state and national professional organizations—each one with the goal of empowering young women. In the mid-1970s, Sharon and two of her colleagues put their jobs on the line, threatening a Title IX lawsuit because school improvements and remodels did not include girls facilities—and they won. Sharon’s ongoing efforts throughout her teaching and coaching career resulted in improved conditions for women’s athletics. Sharon is a Glendale resident.
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to YWCA's 2001 Tribute to Women
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