"Pat Drake is First Women's PE Teacher," Davidson Update, October 1974. · College Archives: Women of Davidson

Title

"Pat Drake is First Women's PE Teacher," Davidson Update, October 1974.

Description

In this article, Pat Drake is interviewed about her philosophy on female athletic education and her coaching of the Davidson's tennis and swim teams.

Creator

Davidson Update

Date

October 1974

Text

"Of course I'm glad Davidson's coed. If it weren't, I wouldn't be here." With a warm, relaxed smile, Pat Drake puts the whole issue of coeducation to rest. Miss Drake is Davidson's first full-time female physical education teacher, but the uniqueness of her role bothers her not at all. Fem Lib? She's not involved. I never had any problem about being a girl," she says. Miss Drake, a native Greenville, S.C., received her A.B. and M.A.T. degrees from the University of South Carolina. She taught one year at the State University College in Potsdam, N.Y. before coming to Davidson. As for Davidson's athletic program, Miss Drake agrees with athletic director Thom Cartmill, who feels the women's athletic program should be shaped the women themselves. "We will go as fast and as far as the women want to go," Cartmill says. Miss Drake explains she is "here to do what the women want." She considers the athletic department at Davidson to be very flexible and receptive to the women's program. "They want us to have everything we need," she says. At present the women's intercollegiate program includes tennis and basketball, and women participate on the college swim team. "It may be hard for us to put together a women's swim team," Miss Drake explains, "because you need a good number—about 15." But swimming is one area where woman and men can be on the same teams with no disadvantage to either. Miss Drake doesn't buy the notion that women are necessarily less athletic than men. Strength is not the only point to consider, and there are different areas in which women can excel. "Some men aren't strong and well coordinated, and some girls are. If a girl can compete with men, great—and occasionally you find some who can." Miss Drake sees a lot more in sports than competition, and she is particularly interested in developing a good physical education program. "What I am striving for," she says, "is to make the quality of instruction such that P.E. will be worth their coming out for. Some students are genuinely interested, but some will always take gym because it is required." Acknowledging that some sports appeal to individuals more than others, she wants to introduce Davidson women to a variety of sports, "with good instruction, so they can decide whether or not they will really enjoy learning that activity." Above all, Pat Drake wants P.E. to be fun. "Sports are fun," she says simply. Although there was an element of competition in any sport, it doesn't have to be a "head on battle" to be enjoyed. Her own favorite sports are tennis, swimming and volleyball, and she says she plays for fun and with friends. And coeducation, Miss Drake says, makes P.E. "more fun." While pointing out that sometimes men and women might not be interested in the same sports—men in slimnastics, or women in wrestling—she says that most P.E. offerings lend to themselves well to coeducational instruction. Cartmill, talking about future hopes for improved or expanded facilities, says he thinks facilities should be co-ed rather than separate for men and women. Cartmill thinks women probably differ from men in the amount of time and dedication they want to a devote sports program, as well as being less interested in the competitive aspects of a game. "We want to broaden our entire offering of the recreational sports," he says, and he points our the importance of the carry-over aspects of a game like tennis. "It not only develops healthy bodies, but it is an activity that fits into schedules easily, adds to the social life of the individual, and can be enjoyed for many years," he says. Cartmill and his new women's gym teacher emphasize that the women's sport program belongs to the women and should be enjoyed. "If there is a demand for a program, we will do our best to provide it," Cartmill says. "If there is an interest in field hockey, we'l move that way." Pat Drake adds that her goals are the women's goals. "I'm here to do what they want to do. Within reason—sufficient interest and adequate numbers for instance—we'll do whatever they want to do."