This book tells the story of the 1999 Providence College Friars baseball team, the last season that the sport was played at the institution. Baseball was set to be eliminated after that season in order for the school to comply with Title IX regulations. Strike IX reflects on the ordeal that the athletes went through on and off the field, and how they came together as a team, setting aside their emotions and going out and achieving the best season in the 80-year history of the school’s baseball program. This is a sports story, but it is also an inspirational story about team work and achieving something when everyone else writes you off.
In October 1998, as fall practice was getting underway for the Providence College baseball team, the players and coaches learned that their sport was going to be eliminated after the 1999 season in order to comply with Title IX provisions, a federal law enacted to ensure that schools did not discriminate against female athletes. Knowing that this was going to be the last year that baseball would be played at PC, the team decided to put their emotions and anger aside and make it a season to remember. The Friars went out and had what was arguably the best season in the 80-year history of the school sport. They worked hard—and partied hard—and were eventually crowned Big East Champions, but were not satisfied with that as they advanced into the Division I NCAA playoffs.
Strike IX is the story of this historic year and the players who decided to make their statement on the field and show the school administration that they made a mistake.
Excerpt
After gathering up the equipment and raking the infield, Coach Hickey finally walked back onto the field, about an hour and a half after he had left. He walked slowly across the infield, just inside the third base line, shadowed by his coaches. He motioned for the players to gather around near home plate. He looked like someone had punched him in the gut.
“This is bad,” he began.
None of the players seemed to be breathing.
“The college is cutting the baseball program,” he said quickly, like pulling a Band-Aid off.
He looked around at the shock and disbelief painted on the faces of his players.
“It’s official,” their coach informed them. “1999 is going to be last season for baseball at PC.”
With his eyes clouded, Coach Hickey tried to focus on the one positive aspect that remained by telling the team that they would still have the season to play out and that all they could do was win as many games as they could to put pressure on the administration into rethinking their decision. He had no other answers for his players. There were still many questions that Coach Hickey had himself for college administrators, as well as a few choice words, but he didn’t share any of that with them. Instead, he informed them that the Assistant Athletic Director wanted to meet that evening to talk to them about Title IX and why the baseball program was being eliminated.
Additionally, Coach Hickey advised his team to take the rest of the week off from practice and to use the time through the weekend to talk with their families and think about what they wanted to do with regard to their futures at Providence College.
By 7 p.m. a brief closed door meeting between the players and the administration took place in the college press room. Assistant Athletic Director, Mark Devine, addressed the athletes. He explained the reason for the school’s decision to cut baseball, along with golf and tennis, the two other men’s sports programs that were being eliminated in order to comply with Title IX mandates. After he spoke, he allowed the players to ask questions, but most were too angry or upset to respond. They were all still in a state of shock after getting the news from their coach. Some cried, some got angry and some kept their emotions to themselves, but for all of them it was a moment in their lives that they would never forget.
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With those three words, the horrific truth of their future thrust upon the Providence College Friars.
Paul Lonardo’s Strike IX highlights the final season of the Providence College baseball team. In this stimulating account of pride and passion, Lonardo brilliantly ties together the motivated young stars who put together a historic, memorable season.
As the academic year began in 1998, rumors began to spread that Providence College was going to begin cutting back on their sports programs, due to their failure to comply with Title IX, a federal law that prohibits schools from discriminating against a particular sex in regard to educational programs.
In a battle between the school newspaper and the school administration, word got out that the baseball team was among the sports that were set to be cut. Even under the national spotlight, and despite much opposition and anger, the administration stressed that they had no choice.
For a team that was now entering it’s final season, many players had choices to make. Their ultimate dream of making the big leagues would only be hindered––or destroyed––by playing on a team that would not exist in the following season. Although some would depart, most stayed behind to fight for their pride; a sacrifice that wasn’t difficult for them to make.
After the team had to clean the field on their own, it became very evident that the school was no longer on their side, and that they were, in fact, along. Despite that horrific truth, the Friars would pull it together to form one of the most inspiring stories in the history of college sports.
In a very unique account, Strike IX gives you the rare chance to see the effects of Title IX, and the emotional, avid relationships between the players of a historic team. It is yet another reminder that pride will triumph, even when your aspirations are dried to dust.
This book tells the story of the 1999 Providence College Friars baseball team, the last season that the sport was played at the institution. Baseball was set to be eliminated after that season in order for the school to comply with Title IX regulatio
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