The Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table brought together hundreds of local female student-athletes on Monday for the annual Women in Sports Luncheon at Earl Warren Showgrounds in celebration of National Women in Sports Day, which is Wednesday.
This year’s luncheon featured a discussion with Santa Barbara locals and high-level athletes Adrienne Binder Brown and Katie Spieler, mediated by UCSB Athletic Director Kelly Barsky.
“This is a really amazing community of athletics, women athletes and everyone who supports that community across the various cities,” Brown said. “We’re really, really lucky to live here, grow up here and be back here now.”
Brown is a San Marcos High graduate who etched her name in the swimming record books and later went on to compete for Auburn University. She swam long-distance events during her time in the pool and won three national championships with the Tigers.
Spieler graduated from Dos Pueblos and has shined on the brightest of stages throughout her beach volleyball career. She played her college years at the University of Hawaii and competed at the professional level on the AVP Tour around the world.
Before Brown and Spieler took the stage, former SBART president Alison Bernal introduced the event by highlighting the passage of Title IX and its impact on the world of sports.
It has now been 53 years since the passage of Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government.
Spieler was directly impacted by Title IX during her career with the introduction of women’s beach volleyball to the NCAA landscape.
“It just worked out perfectly with my timing going to college,” Spieler said. “I got super lucky and have so much gratitude for Title IX because that paved the way to let me play my favorite sport in college and after college as well.”
The duo of Brown and Spieler shared their personal journeys as women in sports and instilled some words of wisdom in the next generation of student-athletes.
One aspect of their journeys that they shared was how sports have impacted their lives outside of the pool and the court.
“I think [sports] just gave me a sense of confidence in myself,” Brown said. “I think we can all get a little bit self-conscious at times… but I think what I’ve learned from my athletic career is when I feel that way I need to pick myself and do it anyway.
“Then you prove to yourself that you can do it or you fail one or two times and that teaches you a whole different set of lessons in life. So, I think sports has just taught me so much about being brave and sometimes just jumping into the unknown and figuring it out as you go.”
They also shed light on the experience of playing sports at the next level, as many of the student-athletes in the room have their sights set on the collegiate and possibly even professional ranks.
“It’s interesting, when you get there I feel like you’re not like ‘Oh my gosh I’m here,’ you’re more like ‘I’ve got to go win that tournament or event,’” Spieler said. “I was never satisfied because I was hard on myself… and I think that’s another thing about sports that you’re constantly pushing yourself
“We’re all learning that we’re going to take that from sports, whether we play just in high school or farther, we’re going to always keep pushing ourselves.”
While the pressures of playing at the next level can weigh on any high school student-athletes, Brown left the local crowd with a much-needed message at the end of the luncheon: enjoy your high school years.
“Enjoy it, this is a really unique time in your life so don’t rush it,” Brown said. “There’s going to be hard moments… just look at the big picture because you’re not going to do this forever.
“Enjoy it while you can and take a beat before you make any big decisions about something and seek out resources around you because there are a lot of people supporting your career.”
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