Ohio State Department of Athletics hosted a block party between the Covelli Center and Jesse Owens Stadium to honor the 50th Anniversary of Title IX Friday. Credit: Casey Smith | Lantern TV Sports Producer
Ahead of Ohio State’s women’s soccer and volleyball matches against No. 9 BYU and No. 2 Texas, respectively, the Department of Athletics hosted a block party to honor the 50th anniversary of Title IX Friday.
The event, which was held between the Covelli Center and Jesse Owens Stadium, was to support women’s sports and encourage fans to attend the two premier matchups, an Ohio State spokesperson said. Title IX was signed in 1972 to prevent discrimination based on sex under any “academic, extracurricular, research, occupational training, or other education program,” according to the U.S. Health & Human Services.
Ohio State men’s basketball associate head coach Jake Diebler said he attended the event for two reasons: to support the two athletics programs and because of his two daughters, Jaymes and Jessa.
“Being able to bring the family here for my daughter to be able to see — who is a die-hard Ohio State fan at the age of 4 by the way — to be able to see our women’s soccer team and volleyball team will be fun for her too,” Diebler said.
The event featured different food vendors, various football and soccer games, an inflatable bounce house, a face-painting station and a DJ.
Diebler said he and his family took advantage of the attractions the event had to offer.
“Really cool that they were able to put this together for us,” Diebler said. “My girls have had a blast in the bounce house. We kicked the soccer balls, we got balloons, we got our arms painted, we got it all.”
With Ohio State women’s soccer kicking off its season on the pitch and the same for the women’s volleyball team on the hardwood, Johnny Maccarone, a first-year in construction systems management, said the event was a great way to bring attention to women’s sports.
“Everything they’re doing just brings so much more attention to women’s sports,” Maccarone said. “You get to eat good food and then you get to watch the women Buckeyes play. So, I think everything they’re doing, it’s just revolving around those women and getting people here to watch.”
Elizabeth Feeney, a first-year in history, said she heard about the block party at the Buckeye Kickoff event held at Ohio Stadium Thursday and wanted to begin her weekend “on a good foot” and attend the games.
Diebler said the event was special to him seeing where his daughters “could potentially be someday” playing sports at Ohio State.
Feeney said the event was beneficial to “push women’s sports further” at the collegiate level.
“Men’s sports, I feel like are always probably going to get it, just, you know, the amount of broadcasting they’ll get,” Feeney said. “But just trying to push women’s sports as hard as you can, it’s really great to see at a university.”
