Women's Athletics Excellence

Through private support, Women’s Athletics Excellence elevates the Buckeye experience of Ohio State women’s varsity sports, while honoring our rich traditions, storied history, and inspiring future generations of Buckeye women leaders to a level of excellence that is synonymous with the Scarlet and Gray.

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As we look through The Ohio State University’s history, we can appreciate the tremendous growth of women in sports. For nearly a century, Ohio State has long been at the forefront in advancing women’s collegiate athletics.

Leaders like Phyllis Bailey, the first women’s varsity basketball coach at Ohio State, were involved in establishing the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. This association was responsible for organizing female competition for the first time and would eventually lead to women’s inclusion in the NCAA. Furthermore, with the implementation of Title IX in 1972, Ohio State commenced a rapid expansion of women’s athletics, adding new varsity teams and hiring physicians and trainers for women.

Women at Ohio State now participate in 20 varsity sports and have achieved extraordinary success in competition and life. We have witnessed excellence in the women who have donned the Scarlet and Gray, including three-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Smith and World Golf Hall of Fame inductee Meg Mallon. Today more than ever, women at Ohio State have the ability to be champions in all of their pursuits – academically, athletically and professionally.

Building on our tradition as leaders in the industry, The Ohio State University Department of Athletics is once again setting the standard by investing in all aspects of student-athlete development: scholarship, sport-specific opportunities and programmatic support. While the department’s Circle of Care provides this type of comprehensive support, an opportunity exists to elevate the resources specifically for our women’s student-athletes, coaches, and staff to achieve sustainable support for aspects of their experience. As a result, the department identified an opportunity to establish a fund and an overarching program to garner philanthropic support on behalf of our women’s teams for Women’s Athletics Excellence at Ohio State.