The law reads, "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."

Kleinfelder's main coaching goal is to develop a "winning attitude and pride in accomplishment," she says. This year, she adds, the field hockey team "set everyone straight, showing they could win. Believing in yourself is contagious: everyone's starting to believe now."

Loss-Less

So far this season, the Radcliffe cagers sport a 2-0 record, having beaten Emmanuel College and Boston University.

Kleinfelder says she would not be surprised to see a professional women's basketball team in five years. "Women's basketball wasn't exciting five years ago," she recalls, but "olympic women's basketball and Title IX have helped make women's basketball more exciting by developing players' skills."

Kleinfelder says successful women players are now finding good positions as coaches for women's college basketball teams. However, she adds, "this may not last because men are moving in to coach women's teams."

In team sports, she says, it helps to have a woman coach a women's team because "70 per cent of the coaching is done off the floor," and men can't go into the locker rooms to talk to the players.