UA's Adia Barnes, other women athletes featured on equity in sports panel driven by changing the world beyond playing surface

As big as basketball has been in her life, Adia Barnes has always known there is more to life than the sport itself.

That way of thinking is just part of who the UA women’s basketball coach and former Wildcat star player is.

Barnes will share her journey in basketball and beyond as part of a panel discussion put on by the University of Arizona’s Center for the Philosophy of Freedom Wednesday at 5 p.m. at the Fox Tucson Theatre. The event’s topic: “Women’s Equity in Sports: The Fight, the Scars and the Thrill of Victory.”

For Barnes, her calling beyond basketball has always been to help others. That philosophy could be traced back to how she was raised in San Diego by her parents, Patricia and Bruce. She was also deeply influenced by her own coach at Arizona, Joan Bonvicini. The foundation of the culture Bonvicini built within her program the UA program was one of giving back to the community.

Barnes took all that in as she embarked on a professional playing career in the WNBA and overseas, as well as into her coaching career — one that included five years as an assistant at Washington and now seven at the helm of her alma mater in Tucson.

In 2005, Barnes participated in the Jump4Life initiative along with other WNBA and NBA players going to Kenya to run basketball clinics, give messages about awareness about the AIDS epidemic and living a healthy lifestyle.

She’s also said to be the first WNBA player to start a charitable foundation.

Now, she continues to affect change in the world by developing young girls into women during their time at Arizona, being on the board of directors of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Tucson and speaking out on women’s issues, among other topics.

“I’ve always thought about being a change maker and giving more — serving the community,” Barnes said. “And because I know that we’re in a role to do that, it’s just something I’ve always done and I’ve valued that.

“For me it’s natural to be in this position to help other people,” she added. “I don’t think you could be in this position and not do that. It’s what we’re supposed to do. When you’re blessed to be in a situation to help people, that is what you’re supposed to do. That’s just the way I was raised and I’ve always been like that.”

Barnes won’t be alone in sharing her experiences at this week’s discussion. Joining Barnes are women who have each changed their sport, or how sports are experienced in one way or another.

Tucson’s own Kathryn Bertine is pro cyclist, filmmaker and journalist. She brought about change in cycling by leading the charge for a women’s Tour de France – first a one-day event and finally a full eight-day race.

AJ Mleczko is a two-time USA Olympic hockey medalist and U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer. She made history being the first woman analyst on an NHL postseason game.

Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to run the Boston Marathon (1967), won the New York City Marathon (1974) and is an author and a speaker.

Sarah Spain, journalist and co-owner of the National Women’s Soccer League’s Chicago Red Stars. She is the co-founder of Hear the Cheers, an organization that provides hearing aids and equipment so kids can continue to participate in sports and activities.

The event, which is co-sponsored by the Tucson branch of the American Association for University Women is moderated by Damien Alameda, weekend anchor for KOLD News 13 and the station’s sports director.

Barnes said she jumped at the opportunity to share the stage with four “incredible women.”

“It was important to tell our stories, bring awareness to things we’ve gone through and things we’ve faced,” Barnes said, “and just why it’s important to keep talking about difficult situations and conversations.”

The spark of an idea

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Bertine and Mary Rigdon, director of the Center for the Philosophy of Freedom and UA associate professor, are behind this event that has been in the making for more than a year.

Rigdon spends her days researching the “gender wage gap and finding solutions for closing it.”

“It’s stalled in the last 10 or 15 years. We’re sort of stuck at about 80 cents on the dollar for white women compared to white men. It’s even worse for minority groups. This has been something that I’ve been doing research on for at least five years,” Rigdon said.

The two met through another UA alum, former UA standout swimmer and U.S. Olympic medal winner, Lacey Nymeyer-John, while Rigdon was working at Rutgers.

“I thought Kathryn was asking such incredible questions and telling amazing stories about what really happens when you stand on the frontlines of change,” Rigdon said. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do. I was like, ‘Wow, OK.’ And then she asked these two really important questions: Is the journey worth the struggle? Does what we do truly matter?”

This sparked the friendship and a conversation that hasn’t ended. In July of 2021, when Rigdon got her job at UA, Bertine was the first person she called. Rigdon and her colleague Saura Masconale, who is the associate director of the Center for the Philosophy of Freedom and a UA assistant professor, wanted to start a public discussion forum and women’s equity in sport was on the agenda.

Selecting the changemakers

When looking for women to invite to speak on the panel, Bertine decided to start with women who are involved in different sports. Next, she looked at women in her circle who “supported other women” in their journeys.

“I didn’t want to bring anyone to this panel that was all about themselves,” Bertine said. “I know plenty of women who have done amazing things in sport, but it’s all about their glory. That’s not what we’re looking for on this panel.

“Back in 2009, when I was first wanting to make a dent in the patriarchy at the Tour de France, I knew that Kathrine (Switzer) had done that in her running the Boston Marathon. I reached out to her and one of the things I love the most about Katherine is that she wrote back. She was at that point, her book had been out for a few years … she was in demand and famous in her realm of the running world. The fact that she wrote back and engaged with me put her in the same category as Sarah Spain — what I term ‘the sister lifters,’ women helping women as opposed to ‘the sister blockers,’ which I talked about in (my book) ‘Stand,’ which are the exact opposite.”

In addition to Spain being a journalist, she competed in heptathlon at Cornell.

Rigdon said inclusion of Barnes was simple. She’s a “badass” — a role model for all women, showing that you can have a family and excel in your profession. And one who is also a ‘sister lifter’ as shown in her efforts in creating the first lactation room for nursing mothers at McKale Center.

Bertine said “we are all capable of creating change.”

That’s what she hopes is the biggest takeaway from the panel.

“And it doesn’t matter where you live, what your income is, “ Bertine said. “I can speak to that because, I always say that if I were able to change the Tour de France from an apartment on Tanque Verde, then we are all capable of doing anything. That’s something that I think is really important for the audience to know. I’m also hoping that sentence carries weight because it is local. I am local, and it’s important that people know that they can do anything from anywhere.”

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