By Taneen Lucinda
On October 16, the Women's Sports Foundation hosted the 27th Annual Salute to Women in Sports Awards Dinner at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City. It was a powerful evening aimed at honoring the astounding achievements of female athletes and those who have contributed to the landscape of women's sports. The ballroom was packed with 1,500 of our closest friends, family and supporters. The night began with a Grand March of Athletes – a parade of nearly 100 champions whose inspiration fueled the evening. Nine-time Grammy-award-winning songstress Sheryl Crow trailed the march by singing a raw, acoustic version of “All I Wanna Do” followed by “Life is a Winding Road.” Crow, an athlete in her own right, shared her sense of sports importance in the lives of women by saying, “Sport is crucial. It can really stretch our human spirit.”
An evening celebration of women's sports is incomplete without paying homage to Billie Jean King, founder of the Women's Sports Foundation and perhaps the most powerful advocate in women's sports' evolution. “She's just the most beautiful American I can think of,” said music icon and presenter Tony Bennett.
“If there was a such thing as a sports heaven, you'd see Billie Jean King, Donna Lopiano [CEO of the Foundation] and so many others there,” said C. Vivian Stringer, International Women's Sports Hall of Fame inductee in the Coach category.
An energetic highlight of the evening was the much-anticipated announcement of Sportswoman of the Year. The individual award went to drag racer Melanie Troxel. Her 2006 performance placed her in the top tier of auto racers, despite gender. Her record for fastest speed (331.04 mph) at the Atlanta Dragway made her the first female to be named Driver of the Year.
In the team category, beach volleyball duo Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor won Sportswoman of the Year for a second year, having won in 2004. May-Treanor and Walsh dominated eight of the 10 Association of Volleyball Professionals tournaments they competed in and finished the AVP tour on top, capturing the women's title.
In accepting the Sportswoman of the Year award, Misty May-Treanor, like so many other presenters and award winners, echoed the importance of King's impact as a social revolutionary. “Billie Jean King is the Queen Bee, we're just the worker bees,” she exclaimed.
The Wilma Rudolph Courage Award, which is presented to a female athlete who exhibits extraordinary courage in her athletic performance and demonstrates the ability to overcome adversity, was presented to Jean Driscoll, winner of eight Boston Marathons in the wheelchair division. “When I started using a wheelchair, it gave me a freedom I hadn't had before. I was able to fly. The Women's Sports Foundation provides women with the opportunity to fly. The events of my life have been a dream come true,” she said.
The late Dorothy G. Blaney, who had been Chair of the Board of Trustees, was honored with the Billie Jean King Contribution award in memory of her monumental influence on women's sports. The Billie Jean King Contribution Award is presented to an individual who has made significant contributions to the development and advancement of women's sports in general and to the Women's Sports Foundation specifically, and/or who has, through personal achievements or influence, inspired girls and women to become more responsible in their own health through sport, fitness or physical activity.
Historical honors were bestowed upon four women who were inducted into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame. The inductees were Shane Gould (Olympic swimmer), Diana Nyad (long-distance swimming), Nawal El Moutawakel (track and field) and legendary NCAA women's basketball coach, C. Vivian Stringer.
Diana Nyad, record holder for the longest open water swim in history (102 miles), professed, “When the day comes for me to leave this earth, I will close my eyes and say to myself, ‘Everything I did in my life, I did with great gusto.'” Her passion and drive exemplify the true athlete's spirit shared and admired by all those in attendance. Indeed a night to remember – a night of great gusto.