AP

PHOTO GALLERY: Celebrating the impact of Title IX

Jun 15, 2022, 9:46 PM | Updated: Jun 16, 2022, 9:58 am

FILE - South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley celebrates after a college basketball game in the fina...

FILE - South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley celebrates after a college basketball game in the final round of the Women's Final Four NCAA tournament against UConn Sunday, April 3, 2022, in Minneapolis. South Carolina won 64-49 to win the championship. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

(AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)


              FILE - Tennis legend and equality rights advocate Billie Jean King, reacts while speaking at a Women's History Month event honoring women athletes in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Title IX, Wednesday, March 9, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
            
              FILE - Daviess County's Reagan Chinn, left, and Owensboro's Ella Bratcher fight or possession of the ball in the first half of the 9th District Girls' Soccer Tournament at Deer Field Park, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2021, in Owensboro, Ky. (Greg Eans/The Messenger-Inquirer via AP, File)
            
              FILE - Down judge Sarah Thomas (53) arrives before the NFL Super Bowl 55 football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)
            
              FILE - Fans celebrate as members of the the U.S. women's soccer team pass by during a ticker tape parade along the Canyon of Heroes in New York, July 10, 2019. The U.S. national team beat the Netherlands 2-0 to capture a record fourth Women's World Cup title. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File)
            
              FILE - United States' Claressa Maria Shields, right, reacts as she won her gold medal for the women's middleweight 75-kg boxing against Netherlands' Nouchka Fontijn at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
            
              FILE - Arizona Cardinals training camp coach Jen Welter watches practice during NFL football training camp Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015, in Glendale, Ariz. (Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic via AP, File)
            
              FILE - Fans scream for an autograph from Serena Williams after her match against Marina Erakovic, of New Zealand, at the Family Circle Cup tennis tournament in Charleston, S.C., Thursday, April 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Mic Smith, File)
            
              FILE - Venus Williams, left, from the U.S., celebrates after defeating her sister, Serena, in a match during the opening day of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)
            
              FILE - San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon, left, talks to players during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Monday, Jan. 10, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
            
              FILE - Jacksonville State sophomore kicker Ashley Martin (89) of Sharpsburg, Ga., holds her helmet high at the start of the season opener against Cumberland in Jacksonville, Ala., on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2001. Martin kicked the extra point on her team's second touchdown, becoming the first female to play in an NCAA Division I game. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)
            
              FILE - Jacksonville State sophomore Ashley Martin (89) of Sharpsburg, Ga., kicks her first extra point of the season against Cumberland in Jacksonville, Ala., Thursday, Aug. 30, 2001. Martin kicked the extra point on her team's second touchdown. Martin is the first female to play in an NCAA Division I game. Holding is Josh Shaw (10). Defending for Cumberland is Floyd Atkins (2). (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)
            
              FILE - Minnesota Lynx's Seimone Augustus, left, signals possession after the ball went out-of-bounds against Chicago Sky's Tamera Young, right, during the first half of a WNBA basketball game, Saturday June 23, 2012, in Minneapolis. The league is honoring the 40th anniversary of Title IX on the players jerseys. (AP Photo/Genevieve Ross, File)
            
              FILE - Olympic gold medalists Rebecca Lobo, left, of Southwick, Mass., and Sheryl Swoopes, of Lubbock, Texas, display their jerseys for the inaugural season of the Women's National Basketball Association in the shadow of New York's World Trade Center, Oct. 23, 1996. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
            
              FILE - U.S. women's basketball coach Pat Summitt is carried by members of the team following their 85-55 gold medal win against South Korea, at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Aug. 8, 1984. Also shown are players Cathy Boswell, foreground right, and Carol Menken-Schaudt (15). (AP Photo/Dave Tenenbaum, File)
            
              FILE - Nominated for the title of greatest U.S. woman athlete of the past 25 years in an election sponsored by the Women's Sports Foundation, five stars, from left, Wilma Rudolph, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert Lloyd, Billie Jean King and Mary Decker, get together in New York, Sept. 10, 1984. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler, File)
            
              FILE - USA's Wilma Rudolph, of Clarksville, Tenn., hits the tape to win the gold medal in the women's 4 x 100-meter relay at the Summer Olympics in Rome, Sept. 8, 1960. Title IX has had a broad and extraordinary impact on everything from the safety of college campuses to athletics to education at public schools. (AP Photo/File)
            
              FILE - Pottsville Area High School's Ava Goodman (14) reacts after scoring the winning goal in the final seconds of their match against Minersville Area High School during the Schuylkill League High School girls' soccer championships at Ghosh Orthodontics Field at Spartan Stadium in Fountain Springs, Pa., Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. (Jacqueline Dormer/Republican-Herald via AP, File)
            
              FILE - Monique Lopes, 16, far left, dresses with unidentified football players at Pepin High School prior to practice Monday, Sept. 27, 1999, in Pepin, Wis. (Steve Kinderman/The Eau Claire Leader-Telegram via AP, File)
            
              FILE - In this Aug. 15, 2014, file photo, Pennsylvania's Mo'ne Davis throws a pitch in the fifth inning against Tennessee during a baseball game in United States pool play at the Little League World Series tournament in South Williamsport, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
            
              FILE - South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley celebrates after a college basketball game in the final round of the Women's Final Four NCAA tournament against UConn Sunday, April 3, 2022, in Minneapolis. South Carolina won 64-49 to win the championship. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
            
              FILE - USA's Brandi Chastain reacts to her winning penalty kick that won the 1999 World Cup for the U.S. National Team in their game against the China in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., Saturday July 10, 1999. (Anacleto Rapping/Los Angeles Times via AP, File)

The impact of the 1972 Title IX law barring discrimination in educational programs that receive federal aid is vast, but it has been particularly influential in athletics.

Women’s and men’s teams are expected to be treated equally under the law, which marks its 50th anniversary this month, and schools should look to expand the opportunities for women to play sports.

Many female athletes over the years have benefited, directly and indirectly, from Title IX and their milestone moments — on stages big and small — are celebrated in these images from The Associated Press.

___

For more on Title IX’s impact, see AP’s full package: https://apnews.com/hub/title-ix Video timeline: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdgNI6BZpw0

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PHOTO GALLERY: Celebrating the impact of Title IX