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Former Olympian Nancy Hogshead encouraged young women to defend the opportunities created by Title IX during a lecture at Walters State Community College, telling students that protecting women’s rights in sports often requires perseverance and, at times, legal action.

Hogshead spoke in the college’s International Lyceum, where she addressed issues surrounding equity in athletics, mentorship and the ongoing responsibility to uphold federal protections for female athletes. Now the leader of the nonprofit organization Champion Women, Hogshead, a civil rights attorney, focuses her work on advocating for fairness and equal opportunity in sports.

Champion Women works to ensure that schools and institutions receiving federal funding comply with Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and athletics. The organization provides research, advocacy, and legal support aimed at protecting opportunities for girls and women in sports.

During her talk, Hogshead emphasized that being a champion often involves overcoming obstacles that others may not see.

She compared the process to Olympic training. While swimmers may swim hundreds of laps each day in a controlled environment, she said the true test comes when they leave the pool and swim in open water against the current. In that setting, swimmers face resistance from moving water, silt, wildlife and other unexpected challenges.

“That is what fighting for fairness can feel like,” she explained, describing the effort required to push forward despite opposition.

Hogshead also spoke about the importance of mentors and the idea of getting into what she called “good trouble,” a phrase often associated with the late Congressman John Lewis whom she was privileged to meet. She noted that many of the rights women have today exist because people were willing to challenge the status quo.

Women still face significant gaps in athletic opportunities, she said, citing research showing that female athletes have roughly 72 percent fewer opportunities to participate in sports compared with their male counterparts.

At the same time, participation in sports can have a lasting impact on young women’s lives. Girls who play sports are about 20 percent more likely to graduate from high school and about 20 percent more likely to attend college, according to statistics she shared.

“When people want to weaken a group, the first thing they often take away is sports,” Hogshead said. “Anything that makes people feel strong and able to fight back is taken.”

She also stressed that financial donations cannot be used as an excuse for unequal treatment in athletics at institutions that receive federal funding. Even if donors give money specifically to a single program, she said, schools must still ensure that overall opportunities and resources remain equitable.

Audience members asked several questions during and after the presentation, including whether Title IX applies when girls want to compete in sports traditionally dominated by boys.

Hogshead said the law does apply when federally funded schools do not offer a comparable girls’ team. In those cases, female athletes must be given the opportunity to try out for the boys’ team.

She noted that the situation is different in professional sports leagues, such as the NFL, because those organizations are not federally funded.

The conversation also touched on broader debates involving transgender athletes and the interpretation of Title IX. Hogshead shared her perspective on the issue and spoke about the historical struggles women faced in gaining access to basic facilities and resources, including restrooms in public and professional spaces.

Throughout the lecture, Hogshead returned to a theme she encouraged students to carry with them beyond the event.

“Find your noble purpose,” she told the audience. “Once you know what you stand for, you can fight for it.”