on the sidelines (2021)

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

49 years before making this documentary, the statute Title IX was passed in order to create an equal playing field for male and female college athletes in the United States. Yet, to this day there is still rampant sex discrimination taking place on college campuses all around the country that goes completely unnoticed.

As a college student, as a woman, and as a lover of sports this fact was never a shock to me. Sexist comments on sports pages is common, women's sports rarely get similar audience sizes to men’s sports, and most college athletic departments don't hide their bias towards their football and men's basketball players.

While in pursuit of how to tell this story, I met former Olympic gold medalist Nancy Hogshead-Makar who is the creator of the non-profit organization Champion Women and a Title IX advocate. With her help, I got in contact with the incredible people standing up for student athletes who are trapped within the college sports system.

On the Sidelines was created during the COVID-19 pandemic which presented many challenges during production however with the 50 year anniversary of Title IX coming up in the next year it seems this was the perfect time to make it. On the Sidelines went on to numerous film festivals in Florida and will be released online publicly very soon.