IU South Bend professor writes about her soccer career and Title IX in 'The Keeper'

Kathy Borlik
·4 min read
Kelcey Ervick, who teaches creative writing at IU South Bend, wrote and illustrated her new book, "The Keeper: Soccer, Me, and the Law that Changed Women's Lives." This illustration begins a sequence of pages about how being a goalkeeper is like being a writer.
Kelcey Ervick, who teaches creative writing at IU South Bend, wrote and illustrated her new book, "The Keeper: Soccer, Me, and the Law that Changed Women's Lives." This illustration begins a sequence of pages about how being a goalkeeper is like being a writer.

Title IX is having its golden anniversary this year. It was signed on June 23, 1972. In honor of the milestone, there have been events and discussions all year. Even a Sports Illustrated cover.

And, as with all good things in life, there is an Indiana angle with that bill. It was introduced by Birch Bayh in February 1972. Yes, that Bayh. Sen. Bayh wrote the 37 words of Title IX that banned discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance. It was an amendment to the Higher Education Act.

It changed things because athletics is one of those activities.

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This is where Kelcey Ervick enters the story for another local angle. Kelcey was outstanding in her field of soccer. Today she is a creative writing professor at IU South Bend. In her very creative way, she has written a graphic memoir of her days as a goalkeeper, “The Keeper: Soccer, Me and the Law That Changed Women’s Lives.” It is published by Avery, an imprint of Penguin/Random House.

Writing is a big deal, but she also illustrated it. She weaves the thought-provoking chapters together with her art, diary entries, history lessons about early female athletes, literature, pop culture, soccer pointers and commentary. It is funny. It is about feminism. It is about growing up in general, growing up female and being an athlete.

It is about how far we have all come. And where we go from here.

Writer Kelcey Ervick signs books at a recent talk at IU South Bend, where she teaches creative writiing. Ervick’s book “The Keeper” tells the story of her journey playing soccer and the positive effect Title IX has had on her life. Photo by Kathy Borlik
Writer Kelcey Ervick signs books at a recent talk at IU South Bend, where she teaches creative writiing. Ervick’s book “The Keeper” tells the story of her journey playing soccer and the positive effect Title IX has had on her life. Photo by Kathy Borlik

Some remembrances are cringeworthy when it comes to roles. She recalled a school days memento booklet given out each year in elementary school. One page asked the child to select a job in the future. Boys could be astronauts, soldiers or athletes. Girls could be singers, nurses or mothers. No athletic category listed.

Kelcey added her own category — soccer.

Many of the memories for her book come from videos shot during games by a soccer dad. She also said her mother kept everything from her playing days.

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Before this book, Kelcey’s stories, essays and comics have appeared in numerous publications, including the Washington Post, Notre Dame Review and Colorado Review. She has written three awarding-winning books of fiction and nonfiction. She received her doctorate from the University of Cincinnati.

Before all this, she was an NCAA Division I goalkeeper for four years at Xavier University (1990-93).

She has been doing a book tour in the past few weeks and attending Title IX events. She stopped long enough to give an informal talk about the book at IUSB.

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“I actually wrote some essays about being a soccer coach about 10 years ago,” she said. She had become a soccer mom. A very involved soccer mom. “I wanted to explore more of Title IX and how it shaped my life.”

Time for a short history lesson on the writer. Kelcey began playing soccer in first grade in 1977. She also wanted to play football. She played on co-ed soccer teams and later she was a member of a select team that traveled and won a lot of matches. In 1987, she was a member of the U.S. National Girls team. There were four top teams — and one was her Ohio team.

Author Kelcey Ervick said this illustration from "The Keeper: Soccer, Me, and the Law that Changed Women's Lives" was in response to a newspaper columnist who claimed that the 1999 Women’s World Cup was played more “like the talent competition in the Miss America pageant than … a sporting event."
Author Kelcey Ervick said this illustration from "The Keeper: Soccer, Me, and the Law that Changed Women's Lives" was in response to a newspaper columnist who claimed that the 1999 Women’s World Cup was played more “like the talent competition in the Miss America pageant than … a sporting event."

As part of the tournament, there was a press conference with an unprepared group of reporters. They were facing females. “The press didn’t know what to ask us. They asked us who would get married first. Would you ask members of the boys team that question?” she said.

She didn’t know much about Title IX when she was playing. “I wrote 'The Keeper' because I wanted to know more about Title IX and how it shaped my life and the lives of women in my generation. How it has shaped the lives of today's generation. And what it was like for the women who came before,” she wrote on the Keeper’s website.

Kelcey said because of Title IX she is a writer and a professor. It opened many doors. “I am lucky to have been born at the right time,” she said.

Contact Kathy at kfborlik@yahoo.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Title IX, soccer subjects of IU South Bend professor's new book