close
close

OU softball has a dynasty, but more and more women's sports are thriving in Oklahoma

When Jayda Coleman walked into the OU softball team's new stadium, Love's Field, for the first time earlier this year, she couldn't hold back her tears.

“We finally have a football-like facility,” Coleman said. “And I can pester Billy (Bowman, OU football player and Coleman's fiancé) about it all the time.”

Women’s sports are thriving on the OU campus and across the country.

The 2023 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship game between LSU and Iowa attracted a then-record audience of 9.9 million viewers for a women's college basketball game.

This year, the number of viewers increased even more.

More: Oklahoma State Softball wins WCWS for fifth consecutive year as Cowgirls defeat Arizona

The Final Four rematch between LSU's Angel Reese and Iowa's Caitlin Clark drew 12.3 million viewers.

Clark's Hawkeyes' loss to South Carolina in the national championship game drew an average of nearly 19 million viewers, according to Nielsen – the most-watched basketball game in the last five years and over four million more viewers than the men's title game between Purdue and UConn.

Attendance at the Women's College World Series, which begins Thursday at Devon Park, has steadily increased in recent years.

Last year's WCWS finals drew an average of nearly 1.9 million viewers on ESPN, with a peak of 2.3 million.

In the latest softball rankings, the ratings for this game were behind only the Sooners' decisive 2021 WCWS Championship Series win over Florida State.

Sooners coach Patty Gasso was in the midst of the softball boom, turning her program into a dynasty but also increasing the sport's national reputation.

More: How OU softball seniors led the Sooners to their eighth consecutive WCWS

OU coach Jennie Baranczyk

Jennie Baranczyk, OU women's basketball coach, has a unique perspective on the recent boom.

Gasso's program had established itself as one of the best in the country when Baranczyk arrived in Norman in 2021, but has evolved since then, winning the last three WCWS titles.

Baranczyk has been very close to Clark's family for years, hosting her at Clark's youth camps and watching Clark's rise not only through that lens, but also through the lens of a former Iowa player who was involved in coach Lisa Bluder's early success in Iowa City.

“You see Caitlin becoming a household name, not just to people who are in women's basketball or the state of Iowa,” Baranczyk said. “She's really been able to step up. Look at what she's already doing from a WNBA perspective.”

Clark's WNBA regular-season debut for the Indiana Fever against the Connecticut Sun drew an average of 2.12 million viewers on ESPN2 and was the most-watched WNBA game in more than 20 years.

“Obviously, when you talk about Lisa, you're talking about Patty and (OU women's gymnastics coach) KJ (Kindler), they have class and they've taken their sport to a new level,” Baranczyk said. “Not only do they have such a narrow-minded view of what they're doing on any given day, but they're not only taking their own sport to a new level nationally, but they're taking all women and women's sports to a new level. They're these strong, incredible people who have humility, grace, value and the ability to be competitive and still raise the level of the people around them.

“I don't know how I got so lucky to be with so many of them, but that's the way it is and it shines through.”

While Baranczyk was at the Final Four in person to watch Clark and the Hawkeyes, Gasso watched the game on television every chance he got.

“I love watching elite athletes play,” Gasso said. “Whether it's bowling, golf, softball or women's basketball. I love watching elite athletes. … I don't know what the ratings were, but I tuned in because I was fascinated. They're elite athletes and that's what fascinates me. I'm not interested in all that other stuff. I'm interested in seeing 30-foot bombs and it was incredible. I love good competition and elite athletes competing and there's nothing better than that.”

More: Mussatto: How softball at Oklahoma State became the “toughest opponent in town”

Jocelyn Alo and the “shooters in our sport”

Jocelyn Alo has witnessed the shift in perceptions of women's sports since arriving at OU in 2018, during her record-breaking career that ended as a home run record holder, and now during her professional career that includes stints not only in professional softball but also with the Savannah Bananas baseball team.

“People are starting to see us as more than just women playing with a ball,” Alo said. “We are actually ballers in our sport. We are so good and work so hard at what we do, but we just don't get enough recognition for what we do.”

“I think when you think about what the women's basketball did in the postseason and how women's sports are on the rise right now, you think, 'Man, we're really damn good athletes,' and we just needed this time for people to recognize that and I think now they're recognizing it. I think from a softball standpoint, we're starting to get a little more recognition, but I think it just takes a little more from people to get the word out there like we know it.”

Coleman has watched many games in the women's basketball tournament over the past few years, especially those involving Reese and Clark.

“It honestly brings me to tears when I see how much women's sports are growing because I know I want my daughter to be able to be an athlete one day and not have to depend on a man to make her money or anything like that,” Coleman said. “Just go out there and be a boss.”

OU third baseman Alyssa Brito has watched as the crowds – in the stands and in the autograph signing lines – have changed.

“We have young men who see female athletes and are so excited about them too,” Brito said. “I think that's inspiring not only for young girls, but also for the next generation of young men who see the value in women's sports and just build more partnership around it.”

Tags:

You may also like...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *