Female Lettermen’s Association Board Members Take Pride in Giving Back and TItle IX
Their days of donning the garnet and black on the discipline or on the courts may well be in excess of, but a handful of former female South Carolina scholar-athletes usually are not performed producing a variance for the Gamecocks. Cindy Bradshaw (tennis, 1972-74), Ashley Bruner (basketball, 2009-2013), Rhody Williams Edwards (track and field, 1993-1997) Sisi Routh (softball, 1975), and Shannon (Williams) Orth (seaside volleyball, 2016-2019) serve on the board of the University of South Carolina Affiliation of Lettermen, a dues-shelling out membership group for previous college student-athletes. Every single has their personal rationale for wanting to be associated.

“It is really excellent way to remain concerned with all the teams and my college that I love,” said Routh, who serves as treasurer for the group and worked in banking most of her lifetime. “I graduated in ’77, but it was a couple of yrs later I obtained a letter inquiring me to sign up for the Lettermen’s Association, so I did. In the mid-1990s, I was asked to be on the board, and then I was elected Treasurer soon after that. I’ve been Treasurer for all around 20 a long time now. I appreciate athletics.”
“We treatment a good deal about the College and Athletics and its’s a fantastic way to stay included, and to be included with the community,” mentioned Orth, who gained a degree in risk administration and coverage and functions in assets administration in Columbia for a business she and her husband, previous South Carolina football pupil-athlete Perry Orth, began. “I enable out with the social media. The a lot more that we check out to join former athletes, it is a fantastic way to retain the lifestyle and the community alive. You arrive to the school for 4 years, and it is normally a element of you. We want to develop a neighborhood that is prolonged-lasting, regardless of whether it really is generating events for individuals to occur back to or recognizing geographical spots where there are tons of previous lettermen, you test to create things there.”
“I think it is really a good way to hold the alumna involved,” mentioned Bruner, who graduated with a diploma in theater before playing skillfully in Europe for 7 many years and is now coaching superior faculty basketball. “We enjoy our alma mater. And to know that we can reach again and aid our latest scholar-athletes is unquestionably a fantastic emotion.”
“For the past 18 many years, I’ve been a mother and a spouse, so that’s been my id,” mentioned Edwards, who acquired a diploma in criminal justice and is a federal contractor and does qualifications checks for security clearances. “I considered I really should phase out of my comfort zone a tiny bit. I dropped a minimal little bit of the connection to the University, so as my children started out finding more mature, I am seeking to bridge that gap with Carolina and get back again out there. I’m attempting to expand myself.”
“When they in the beginning contacted me about finding associated, I did not have time for the reason that of my job and loved ones lifestyle,” mentioned Bradshaw, who is now the president-elect. “I was even now actively playing aggressive tennis, and I was educating and coaching. Following I retired from instructing, I had far more time on my fingers. I turned additional energetic as the a long time progressed. It is been brilliant to go again to the place you graduated from and be capable to give my time and monetary assistance. It truly is extremely worthwhile.”
As South Carolina Athletics celebrates the 50th anniversary of Title IX, every single is happy for the possibilities they’ve experienced and glimpse ahead to ongoing development of women of all ages in activity at their alma mater and nationally.


“Legal guidelines are fantastic, but they do not actually necessarily mean as significantly right up until the hearts and minds of men and women are improved.”

– Rhody Williams Edwards

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“I was here when they passed Title IX, and it took a whilst for us to catch on,” Bradshaw mentioned. “When I performed tennis at Carolina, we experienced a physical schooling graduate assistant who was performing on her master’s diploma, who was our mentor. I saw women’s sporting activities go from that to fulltime coaches. It went from that to it getting absolutely funded with scholarships and vacation and almost everything else. You look at the women’s basketball crew finding to participate in in the Carolina Coliseum for the initially time in the 1980s. You seem now and they are total for all the online games at Colonial Lifestyle Arena. I go to the Indoor Tennis Heart now, and our stands are comprehensive there. Our enthusiasts are supporting the men and the females. We are growing just about every day. 1 thing that goes via all the decades for all the athletics is the camaraderie, the integrity, and the desire to win in sleek manner.”

“Title ix suggests the globe to me and millions of women like me,” Bruner explained. “The fact that we desired Title IX is bogus simply because absolutely everyone need to have the exact same chances without the need of rules. But my total lifetime trajectory would have been fully unique if I did not have basketball to get me all above the world. I am not guaranteed what lifestyle would glance like for me.”
“We nonetheless have a ways to go, but it truly is gotten so much better,” stated Edwards. “It usually means the world to me to see the South Carolina women’s groups getting so considerably success. It indicates I stood on ladies’ shoulders, and they stood on ours and mine. It’s incredible. Laws are terrific, but they really don’t definitely mean as much until finally the hearts and minds of men and women are altered. It is remarkable to discuss to male athletes now, and they have such a recognition of the women’s sports activities and how great they are. The hearts and minds of folks are changing now.”
“In my time actively playing, I by no means noticed a time where I did not have any prospects,” Orth said. “As a lady, I think it indicates a large amount that not only can women of all ages enjoy a activity in college, but sports activities are continuing to create for gals. I think I got in this article in the 3rd 12 months of beach front volleyball becoming a collegiate sport. I feel grateful that sports continue to evolve and keep on to give women of all ages options engage in at the best amount feasible.”
“I loved my four years there. I in no way felt less valued. All the trainers and coaches listed here give us the excellent chance to be thriving. The University values the women’s sports and give us access to trainers and energy and conditioning coaches and tries to give us the best expertise feasible.”
“When I performed, we did not enjoy a 50-activity routine,” Routh said. “We performed close to 20 video games and performed primarily in-state groups. A person of my ideal memories was having to vacation to Mississippi to perform a tournament. It was a truly good bonding time. We drove in two little vans. Not as lavish as they have it now! One particular of my teammates, Nona Kerr, was 1 of the first feminine scholarship recipients.”
With the motto of “Athletes Encouraging Athletes,” the Association of Lettermen not only connects existing and former Gamecocks by events and fundraisers, but also presents the option for networking and passing along advice between all of people generations 


“Not every person is going to perform professionally, but you can even now be wonderful in daily life,” Bruner explained. “A person working day at a time. Some people today never know just what they want to do or what they’re very good at but rely on your procedure. Greatness will come in the midst of challenging operate. Be the best you that you can be and enjoy how a lot of doors open for you.”
“My determination is to the scholar-athletes simply because when I graduated, we didn’t have that outreach that we have right now,” Edwards reported. “We didn’t have a whole lot of folks telling us to appear again and retaining us engaged. I think the University advantages when we maintain in call with the athletes. We need to permit them know that Carolina continue to appreciates the determination and sacrifice to the University, any time it was. I want to provide back again the college student-athletes and maintain them engaged.
“I want to be a mentor. When I graduated, I was a fish out of water. I didn’t know what to do when I was applying for work.”
“I love the College and athletics and the opportunity I had to enjoy,” said Routh, who graduated with a degree in early childhood instruction. “I’d like to be fairly of mentor to them if they want anyone with an more mature point of view. Our mission with the Lettermen’s Affiliation is athletes assisting athletes. We do what we can to assist them out.”
“What tends to make me most happy is the acceptance of men to aid us,” Bradshaw stated. “If they did not aid us, we would not be in which we are now. Athletics Director Ray Tanner realizes the importance of female student-athletes. He sees how important it is. I’m very pleased of how Carolina has embraced it and are very pleased to do it. We are rising in our diversity, and which is what is essential to me. We are accepting the lifestyle of all men and women.
“It unites us as just one. It really is extremely much the ‘we’ spirit.”
