With the field finally narrowed from more than 100 nominees to nine finalists, the NCAA stands ready to reveal the 2008 NCAA Woman of the Year this Sunday, October 19.

Grand Canyon’s Sheila Johnson was among the 132 conference nominees in the running. Though she wasn’t chosen among the finalists, she serves as a living example of just how far women’s athletics has advanced in a few short decades.

At age 60, Johnson made a successful return to collegiate tennis during the 2007-08 season, marking 40 years between launching and concluding her intercollegiate athletics career. Having competed both before and after Title IX, she has a unique perspective on women’s athletics.  

During her playing days at Arizona State in the early 1960s, there were no athletics conferences for women or dual meets or team positions one through six. Female athletes also didn’t receive shoes or uniforms, though sometimes they were able to get their rackets restrung.

When Johnson arrived at Arizona State in 1963, eventual Intercollegiate Tennis Association Hall of Fame coach Anne Pittman was nine years into what would be a 30-year tenure at the school. Johnson believes that Pittman was probably compensated, but she suspects that in the early years many of the program’s expenses came out of the coach’s own pocket. In fact, most team travel, with the exception of a couple of plane rides, was done in Pittman’s station wagon.

“It seemed like it was more of a club because we competed against are our own teammates. All we had was a traveling squad. We’d practice every day and go to a few tournaments during the year,” said Johnson, who was a member of the Arizona State squad through the 1965 season.

In the intervening years, Johnson forged a successful career as a high school math teacher and tennis coach before retiring after 30 years of service. At 50, she picked up competitive tennis again. Her desire to try something new and the opportunity to continue to train under current Grand Canyon head coach Greg Prudhomme spurred Johnson’s recent return to collegiate tennis. Ranked nationally in the top 10 for her age group by the United States Tennis Association, Johnson had been taking private lessons from Prudhomme when he was selected for the post at Grand Canyon. As the coach was assembling his squad, Johnson mentioned that she had one year of eligibility left. After confirming she could still compete, Johnson accepted Prudhomme’s offer to join the team.

“I thought it might be an interesting thing to do at this time in my life,” she said.

It also proved to be a successful time. Though she admittedly never expected to use that final year of eligibility, Johnson put it good use for Grand Canyon, serving as captain of the team, posting a 13-5 mark in singles and helping the squad to a 9-9 record and an appearance in the Division II national championship tournament.

Academically, she enrolled in 12 hours, focusing on recreation and health. The former teacher said the academic hurdle was more of a challenge than the athletics one, but she enjoyed the whole experience.

“What I really liked was being able to come back to a team aspect,” Johnson said of her return to college tennis. “Things were quite a bit different because you do have a lot of camaraderie and you are all supporting each other instead of being against each other.”

Her final year of eligibility now exhausted, Johnson serves as a volunteer coach at Grand Canyon, working with the team twice a week. She also continues as a force on the senior tennis circuit, playing both singles and doubles in national tournaments. Just last month in fact, she took second in doubles in a tournament in Seattle. Still nationally ranked in the top 10, Johnson said she hopes to continue competing for a long time.

“I hope to be able to walk out on a court when I’m 85 and be able to play,” she said.

Though she wonders if the push for gender equity is increasing the actual number of participants or just providing more opportunities for girls who are already participating in athletics, Johnson is a strong proponent of women’s sports.

“Women’s athletics are important for girls and the way they look at themselves. It also keeps you out of trouble because you’re too tired to get into any,” said Johnson. “You can pay for your education and no matter what level you are, there’s a school out there, if you look hard enough.”