Former NDSU standout testifies to Congress
A former NDSU women’s basketball star traveled to Washington, D.C., last week to attest to the positive effects athletics have had on her life.
Sen. Byron Dorgan invited Lynette Mund to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation at a hearing Feb. 1.
“ In rural states like North Dakota, communities rally around their sports teams,” Dorgan said. “I wanted Lynette to share her experience, which underscores the impact that our progress in promoting women’s athletics has had all across this country.”
Mund grew up outside Milnor, N.D, a town with a population of 700. In 1990, she was named Miss Basketball and earned a college scholarship to NDSU.
She went on to become a starting guard, winning three NCAA Division II national championships during her college career.
February 1 coincided with the 20th annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day, a day recognizing and celebrating female participation in sports.
The day was established by Congress to honor the memory of Olympic silver medalist Flo Hyman and acknowledge female athletic accomplishments.
The hearing was held because government officials have discussed the possibility of reforming Title IX, which has caused a stir among school officials, Mund said.
Title IX, which was enacted in 1971, says, “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation” in educational activities.
According to the American Association of University Women Web site, 49.1 percent of students in high school are female.
Only 42 percent of high school athletes, though, are female.
Because of the disproportioned numbers, government officials are discussing ways to prove girls are interested in sports through e-mails and surveys, Mund said.
Those testifying at the hearing provided firsthand accounts of the impact athletics have had on their own lives as a way to ensure the opportunity remains for females today and in the future.
U.S. Olympians Dorothy Richardson, Donna de Varona, Dominique Dawes, Jennie Finch and Catherine Reddick joined Mund in testifying at the hearing.
“ Twenty years ago, I was a 12-year-old girl who (was) milking cows on my parents’ dairy farm in rural North Dakota,” Mund said during her testimony. “Now I am here in our nation’s capitol with some of the most influential people in our country listening to what I have to say.”
After graduating from NDSU, Mund moved to St. Louis, Mo., but returned to North Dakota four years ago to teach at West Fargo High School. She is also the head coach of girl’s basketball.
“ Being back in North Dakota not only afforded me the chance to work with female athletes in West Fargo, but I was also able to continue working with young girls back near my hometown of Milnor, N.D.,” Mund said.
In the last 12 years, Mund has put on 40 basketball camps, giving more than 800 young women the chance to be involved in athletics.
Her position as coach at West Fargo has presented a unique opportunity for Mund to witness the growth and impact of sports from a different perspective.
Three seniors on Mund’s basketball team will continue their basketball careers at college.
“ I have had the chance to watch these young ladies grow and mature since their freshman year,” Mund said in her testimony. “They exude a confidence that was not there three years ago. They know they have the ability to do whatever they want in life and the self-assurance they will be successful.”
The confidence and self-assurance Mund sees in her players reflects her own poise, a characteristic Mund wonders she would possess had she not been involved in sports.
“ I sometimes sit and wonder how different my life would be without athletics,” Mund said. “I wonder … if I would have had the confidence to move away from my home state and if I would have had the nerve to fly to Washington, D.C., all by myself and speak in front of U.S. Senators.”
Mund hopes to continue to inspire young women across North Dakota through her basketball camps and coaching.