Trailblazing legislation known as Title IX was passed on June 23, 1972, which prohibits discrimination based on sex in educational programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance. It was the catalyst for bringing girls athletics in high schools to the forefront. As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of this momentous occasion, the AIA will produce a feature on the 23rd of every month on a female that paved the way for girls athletics in Arizona.

Joni Pabst’s high school athletic experience sparked her mission for equality.

It started when the very driven Pabst learned that her high school offered only one sport for girls.

“I was not too happy,” she said. “When you have a father who played in city leagues in basketball and brothers who played different sports, and you were always out there with them playing pickup games with them, it was a little frustrating that they had those opportunities and I didn’t.”

Pabst didn’t sit on the bench, however.

She went to work, advocating for more opportunities for females once she became a coach and an administrator. To this day, despite retiring in 2002 due to a rare medical condition, she continues to fight for equality as the executive director of the Arizona Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.

Pabst is one of Arizona’s Title IX high school sports torchbearers. The federal legislation’s 50th birthday of opening doors for females in athletics is on Thursday.

This year, Pabst is celebrating 40 years of service to high schools. Pabst and Title IX blossomed into powerhouses.

But Pabst is quick to credit her mentors for also helping her carve a successful career.

Xavier Prep athletic director Sister Lynn Winsor helped pave a path for her in Arizona. Pabst also saluted a couple of gentlemen for encouraging her to fight for what she deserves.

The first one was her father, Al Littleton, a retired U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt.

“He taught me to respect authority and not be afraid to question things,” Pabst said.

Some of Pabst’s formative years were spent in Arkansas, where she attended high school and college.

At the University of Central Arkansas, she competed for a man who also inspired her, Dr. Larry Gates, Pabst’s gymnastics coach.

“Dr. Gates was always proud of us and a proponent of equal opportunities,” she said.

After a four-year tour in Arkansas as a high school teacher and coach in the early 1980s, Pabst and her husband moved to Tucson, where Pabst flourished, especially as an administrator.

Her impact was felt first in the Tucson Unified School District as a coach. As she advanced while serving as an assistant principal at Santa Rita and then Sahuaro, she worked for the Arizona Interscholastic Association as a site and tournament director.

She also served on the AIA’s executive board from 2004-07, ending with a term as the board’s president. She kept breaking ceilings after joining the Arizona Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.

For the past 27 years, including 12 as the AIAAA's executive director, Pabst’s been one of the AIAAA's guiding lights while helping train athletic administrators.

In 2015, Pabst was honored for her contributions, becoming the first Arizona administrator to be inducted into National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association's Hall of Fame.

“Joni is very articulate,” Sister Lynn said. “She’s not afraid to speak up, and when she does it’s always backed up by facts.”

Pabst is also a battler.

In the early 2000s, she was diagnosed with fibromuscular dysplasia, which weakens arteries and can cause strokes. Pabst had to undergo an eight-hour craniotomy to clip an aneurysm.

But you won’t hear her complain despite her medical challenges, including level six headaches she gets.

“You have to live life,” she said. “There’s always going to be somebody in worse shape. I’m not a woe is me and pity on me type person. Like I tell my kids, suck it up butter cup.”

She also didn't allow her medical obstacles to stand in her way of her AIAAA duties during the past 20 years or so.

Pabst said she’ll step down in three years from her AIAA executive director post. That’ll be a bittersweet day for one of the best interscholastic leaders to come through Arizona.

“It will break my heart to step down,” she said. “But it’ll be time for the younger generation to step in.”

That next generation is following Pabst’s footsteps.

Missy Townsend, Prescott High’s athletic director, is the AIAAA’s president.

Glendale High AD, Julie Patton, is the AIAAA’s president elect.

Safford’s Toni Corona, Perry’s Jennifer Burks and Queen Creek’s Renee Regoli currently occupy a seat on the AIA’s executive board. The future looks bright with those leaders and others in place.

Pabst deserves a lot of credit for helping usher in the next generation.

Title IX was also there every step of the way.  

The Pabst file

Education

Bachelor of Science in Physical Education and Health Education, University of Central Arkansas

Master of Arts in Education, University of Arizona

Administrative certification, University of Arizona and Phoenix

Professional experience

Teacher and coach in Arkansas 1982-86

Teacher, coach, assistant athletic director, athletic administrator at Tucson Unified School District

Professional service

Arizona Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association

National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association

AIA Board of Directors

AIAAA Board of Directors

National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association, Board of Directors 2006-09, President 2008

Honors

Circle K and University of Arizona Outstanding Faculty Award

Certified Athletic Administrator Certification

NIAA State Award of Merit for Arizona

National Federation of State High Schools Girls Cross Country Official of the Year Arizona

AIAAA Distinguished Service Award

4A Athletic Director of the Year

NIAAA Distinguished Service Award

AIAAA Citation Award

NIAAA Citation Award

AIA Everyday Heroes Administrator of the Year

Old Pueblo Cross Country Invitational Hall of Fame inductee

AIAAA Hall of Famer

NIAAA Hall of Famer

Previous Features:

• September: Sr. Lynn Winsor (Xavier College Prep administrator)
• October: Anne Montgomery (Official)
• November: Misty Hyman (Shadow Mountain/Olympic swimmer)
• December: Trina Painter (Flagstaff coach)
• March: Abbigail Colquitt (Mayer basketball player)
• April: Gracelyn Nez (Flagstaff multisport athlete)
• May: Prescott badminton