IUB women's water polo: An example for other institutions

Lekas, Toole, and Pankokoe
Photo by Chris Meyer
Maryann Lekas (left), Kate Toole and Amy Pankokoe played on the men's water polo club team until a women's team could be formed and varsity status was achieved at IUB.

IUB women's water polo: An example for other institutions

By Jason Parry

Most people take a lot for granted. Take a political example -- the right of women to vote. Americans today simply see the results of the struggle women endured to gain suffrage, while the means to that end have been forgotten.

In the sports arena, the right of women to compete at all levels in athletics has been a hard-fought battle, but most of us see only the end result -- the development of the first ever women's U.S. Olympic ice hockey team, for example.

A similar struggle has taken place over the course of the last five years at the intercollegiate level in Indiana University Bloomington women's athletics. That struggle resulted in the development of the first ever Big Ten women's varsity water polo team.

The IU women's water polo team opened its season earlier this spring with a tournament, faring exceptionally well in recording a 4-0-1 mark. What was not evident as these women dove into the pool for the opening match against Northwestern was the work required to reach this point.

Few knew that IU women's water polo did not exist, even on a club level, prior to 1994. Any female interested in water polo had two options -- to play on the men's club team or not play at all.

Three student-athletes -- Kate Toole, Maryann Lekas and Amy Pankokoe -- took the first option and played on the men's team until a women's club team could be formed. They saw the squad through four years as a club to its current varsity status.

In addition to Indiana head coach Barry King, these three individuals were essential in shaping the IU water polo team into what it has become -- an example that other universities are now attempting to imitate. The standard IU women's water polo program has served as a catalyst, producing projections of eight varsity teams in the Big Ten by the year 2001.

The Indiana women's water polo team continues to make great strides. As the host of this year's Midwest regionals on April 17, the Hoosiers anticipate a top-two finish, which gets them a trip to the national championships at the University of Southern California.

Considering everything this team has already accomplished, the sky is the limit.