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<p>Before Title IX, there was Dorie.</p><p>Standing just a tad over 4 feet tall, Doris Saracino was a giant when it came to women&#8217;s athletics. She believed in equality for female athletes and fought hard to make sure they got that.</p><p>Dorie died Friday at age 81, leaving behind a family who loved her dearly and a nation of female athletes who owe her so much.</p><p>Dorie&#8217;s mission began when she accepted a position as an educator in the athletic department at Wilkes College in 1960 &#8211; a mission that would continue until the day she died.</p><p>She spent 34 years at Wilkes, where she became affectionately known as the &#8220;Mother of Wilkes Women&#8217;s Athletics.&#8221;</p><p>Dorie started the women&#8217;s basketball program at Wilkes and served as the first full-time coach of the team, a position she held for 10 years. She started a field hockey program at the school in 1962 and coached that team for eight years. She started a volleyball team there in 1972, guiding the Lady Colonels in that sport for 15 years.</p><p>She then started the Wilkes Letterwomen&#8217;s Club, an organization whose members continue to network with each other to this day. How many of us remember the light blue windbreakers we were awarded as members of the club &#8211; and how very proud we were to wear them? Though it no longer fits, mine holds a prominent place in the back of a closet and will never make its way to the Salvation Army bag.</p><p>Dorie served as part of the women&#8217;s volleyball rules committee during the 1984 Olympics. Many of her Letterwomen were on hand to see her inducted into the Wilkes University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995 and in 2016 when she was named to the Middle Atlantic Conference Hall of Fame. She was one of only eight Wilkes personnel to receive that prestigious honor. She was so proud and the Letterwomen were proud for her.</p><p>In her later years, perhaps because of her closeness to her grandchildren, Dorie was as tech-savvy as anyone. She texted and communicated on Facebook on a regular basis, never losing sight of any one of the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of women she guided through Wilkes College.</p><p>She was an annual presence at Wilkes Homecoming events and could always be found under the Letterwomen&#8217;s banner. She called meetings every couple of months, urging local members of the Letterwomen&#8217;s Club to socialize with her and each other. She fit right in with the women, many 20 and 30 years her junior, eating pizza, drinking beer and telling stories &#8212; stories about some of the craziest things we pulled as college kids.</p><p>A favorite of mine is the memory of Dorie running toward a bunch of hulking wrestlers who thought it wise to practice during a women&#8217;s basketball game. The fans laughed at the sight of her &#8212; remember, she stood just over 4 feet tall &#8212; shaking her finger and stomping her feet. The players just smiled, though, because we could predict the outcome of that scenario. It wasn&#8217;t long before those wrestlers rolled their mats up against the gym wall and retreated to the locker room, not to be seen again until long after our game had ended.</p><p>Dorie stood up for women athletes during a time when we had no one else on our side. She showed us we did deserve equality and, if we had to fight for it, we should.</p><p>Dorie commanded respect. If she called a meeting, we were there. If she needed a ride home, we saw to it. If she scolded us, we listened.</p><p>As much as her husband, Mike; her children, Michael, Maria and Edward, or &#8220;Buddy&#8221; as most Wilkes grads know him; and her grandchildren will miss her as part of their everyday lives, women all around the country are mourning her passing. They know a lot of the doors that opened for them, both athletically and professionally, opened only because of Dorie Saracino.</p><p>And for that, we are all eternally grateful. Rest in peace, Coach. You have no idea how many lives you&#8217;ve touched in so many ways.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Dorie Saracino was inducted into the Middle Atlantic Conference Hall of Fame in 2016. She spent 34 years at Wilkes University, where she became affectionately known as the &#8220;Mother of Wilkes Women&#8217;s Athletics.&#8221; Saracino died Friday at age 81. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_Dorie-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Dorie Saracino was inducted into the Middle Atlantic Conference Hall of Fame in 2016. She spent 34 years at Wilkes University, where she became affectionately known as the &#8220;Mother of Wilkes Women&#8217;s Athletics.&#8221; Saracino died Friday at age 81. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_Martin_Dotty_2_03-03-16-CMYK-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Martin </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_Martin_Dotty_2_03-03-16-CMYK-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Martin </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Beyond the Byline</p><p>Dotty Martin</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Dotty Martin is the Suburban Editor of the Times Leader Media Group. You can reach at 570-704-3982 or by email at dmartin@www.timesleader.com.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Beyond the byline: Dorie Saracino was a giant among women athletes