The panel discussion, entitled “Leveling the Playing Field: Women’s Experience in Sports,” was moderated by Brittani Sahm, assistant professor of media studies, who competed in track as an undergraduate.

The panelists were former UConn basketball player Batouly Camara, founder of the nonprofit Women and Kids Empowerment (WAKE); Nicole Gartner, MS ’16, a senior manager of content revenue strategy at Yahoo Sports; Ajhanai Keaton, a former basketball player at Colorado State University who’s now an assistant professor of sport management at UMass-Amherst; and Nicole Matuska, global director of the nonprofit Women Win.

Among those in attendance were students from nearby Hamden High, Wilbur Cross High and Hillhouse High. Each panelist brought a unique perspective on the challenges women face in the industry and, in some cases, offered candid insights from their time as competitors.

Whether discussing their work in sports media, the academic world or their various charitable endeavors, a unifying theme emerged: the power of sports as a force for change in society and the many avenues one can take in forging a meaningful role.

“I just feel really lucky to be sitting here right now,” Gartner said. “I think the point of today is to show how sports careers for women used to mean one thing but a lot of barriers have been broken. It used to mean you could be an athletic trainer or you could go work for the team in some capacity or you could work in [public relations]. And I think the four of us really represent that there are so many different paths you can take now.”

Noting that she was the seventh person hired at ESPN in a full-time social media capacity, Gartner expressed her love of the “nerdy” side of sports. She also gave an impassioned defense of television networks that would prioritize growth and engagement over ratings and revenue by programming an emerging women’s sport.

“You have to be willing to say we are going to get the story out because it is important, even if it is not going to make us as much money as something else,” Gartner said. “It’s worth the financial sacrifice because we can grow the game.”

Camara, the daughter of Guinean immigrants, spoke about her experiences as an athlete from a country where girls are not encouraged to pursue sports. Her athletic gifts weren’t exactly celebrated at home as she progressed through the ranks of high school and college basketball. It wasn’t until her mom witnessed the warm reception from UConn fans on Senior Night at Gampel Pavilion that basketball’s positive role in her daughter’s life began to resonate.

“It was the first time she saw me play,” Camara recalled. “There are like 10,000 people there and she just kind of gripped my hand and said, ‘you do this every night?’ … Everything felt worth it at that moment. I’ll never forget that, the way she was embraced by my coach and my teammates. It was so difficult for her to feel rewarded and honored in that sense, so it was amazing.”

Feeling shut out of a male-dominated field was a recurring topic, as were the issues of misogyny, underrepresentation and discrimination.

“Yes, sport is fun. Yes, sport can bring us together. But I like to think of the ways that sport can be used to disenfranchise us as a society,” said Keaton, who, at 5-foot-2, was one of the shortest players in Division I women’s basketball during her playing career. To this day, she feels as though other options weren’t available to her.

“Why didn’t I think to play tennis?” Keaton said. “Why didn't I play golf? When I reflect on being a Black girl and feeling somewhat pushed into basketball — I consider the access I had to certain sports and how it influenced my journey as a basketball player, even though I love it. So, truly grappling with how our identities manifest in sports is one of my interests.”

The panelists agreed that some progress has been made. But Gartner offered a stark assessment of how far we still have to go.

“One thing that I've had to learn the hard way in the past 12 years is that not every woman in this business wants you to succeed with them,” Gartner said. “And that is a hard pill to swallow. It is competitive. It is cutthroat. And there is misogyny from both men and women when you’re working in sports because we have always been conditioned to believe that there is not enough room for all of us at the table. Build your own table, surround yourself with women who will build with you, and you will never run out of space.”

The event was co-sponsored by the M&T Bank Center for Women & Business, the Office of Inclusive Excellence, the School of Business, the College of Arts & Sciences, the School of Communications and Quinnipiac Athletics. 

Hillary Haldane, professor of anthropology; Don McAulay, assistant professor of management; Tuvana Rua, associate professor of management, and Brittani Sahm, assistant professor of media studies; organized the event.