License to Thrive

Capt. Anita Ortega, LAPD - "I Am the Beneficiary"

"I am a proud product of Title IX. Through athletics, it played a major role in the transformation of my thought process and life. I learned that I could be strong, confident, and determined. I’ve approached life with this attitude. Not only did Title IX allow me to compete in sports but, more importantly, in the real world. I’ve never felt that my gender prevented me from attaining my goals. I give the credit to Title IX. 

As a girl growing up in a poor family in South Central Los Angeles, I felt that my opportunities were bleak and limited. I lived with my parents, my brother and sister in a two-bedroom apartment for most of my childhood and early adult life. My mother cared for us, while my father maintained a steady job to make ends meet. My family never owned a car, went out to dinner, or took a vacation. 

I discovered basketball in 1971 at Toberman Park, a few blocks from our apartment. I was in the ninth grade. Basketball was my chosen sport because I had few other options. Golf, swimming and tennis were out of the question. In that era, it was not common for a young girl to be interested in any competitive sports, but I was always driven to have more in life, and athletics gave me the confidence to strive for it. 

Material things do not bring you happiness, but I knew I would need a car when I was older. My family never had a bank account. I felt it was important for me to save money and earn interest. When I got my first summer job, working in the cafeteria at John Adams Junior High School, I went to the Security Pacific National Bank and opened up a savings account. I’m sure the teller wondered why a 14-year-old girl would open an account on her own initiative. 

At Toberman Park, it took a while for the guys to get comfortable with me. What would you expect? I was the first female to ever try to get in the games with them. I took some bumps and bruises, but they were always respectful. 

I remember all of them—Hank, Junior, Caveman, Li’l John, B.J., and Billy. Hank was the leader and as he got older the guys called him Godfather. I’ve been told that Godfather is still a Toberman Park regular. Not only did these guys teach me how to play basketball, but also some important life lessons: being confident, assertive, a team player, understanding, not being a wimp, and never quitting. Those guys have a special place in my heart.

At Los Angeles High School, in 1972, I tried out for the girls’ basketball team. I didn’t know what to expect. Mrs. Norman was my physical education teacher and the coach of the team. She was a petite lady who wore a sparkling white shirt with snaps, white pants, white socks, and white tennis shoes. She was very strict and the practices were intense. I couldn’t wait for my first real high school games. I knew we would be a strong team. I believed we would win every game, but I didn’t know the season would consist of just four games. What a letdown. 

By my senior year, the schedule had increased to about 15 games. We had a great team. One of the young players was Kim Maddox, who later played at Long Beach State. She was lean with great jumping ability. We were the team to beat. We played Manual Arts in the city championship game and lost by 5 points. As the team leader, I was devastated and could not stop crying. My mother told me I would get another opportunity to win a championship. And she was right.

My dream was to go to UCLA. That started when I was in the 6th grade. My teacher drove a Volkswagen that had the large letters U-C-L-A on the rear window. I had not seen anything like that on a car. I was curious. I asked her what it meant. She told me that UCLA was a university and that if I kept my grades up I could go there. No one in my family had attended a university. My 6th grade teacher gets all of the credit for giving me those words of encouragement. My mission from then on was to get accepted into UCLA. 

I was a good student, but throughout my junior and senior year I was bombarded with forms, applications, and so forth. With the aid of my counselor I managed to complete them all and meet the deadlines. In the spring of 1975, I was accepted at UCLA. I was admitted through the Affirmative Action Program. I did not receive an athletic scholarship until my sophomore year. In 1974, my teammate Ann Meyers had become the first female athlete to get a full ride at UCLA. The budget for women’s sports was nominal compared to men’s. 

I had to make the basketball team as a walk-on my freshman year. None of the coaches had any idea who I was, but I knew from day one that I could do it. When practice started I applied everything the Toberman guys had taught me and I ended up being a starter. 

In my junior year, we had a five-game East Coast road trip. It was a first for the women’s basketball team, and it showed how Title IX was having a real effect. It was a wonderful experience, even though we lost three of the five games. We also endured an early morning fire alarm in the hotel. I remember running out of the room carrying every piece of clothing I had brought on the trip. I know it was a funny scene. I didn’t own a lot of clothes, so they were important to me. 

Although our early season win-loss record was not good that year, all those East Coast spankings got us ready for the postseason. We won our league, the Southern California Intercollegiate Conference, and were jelling as a team just before tournament time.

In the West Regionals, which were held at Stanford, we played Long Beach State. With five seconds left and Long Beach in possession of the ball, we were down 74-72. One of the Long Beach players was attempting to make a long pass in the frontcourt. My instinct told me I could steal the ball, and I did. That sent the game into overtime, which was just as tough as regulation. At the end, a Long Beach player had a chance to win it but missed a 12-footer. That was the game that truly challenged us. It was the game that made us understand that we were unstoppable. We then went on to the Final Four—the first Final Four for women—which was held at UCLA. We beat Montclair State 85-77 in the semifinals, then beat Maryland 90-74 in the championship. I was the leading scorer in the game, which is considered one of the turning points in women’s basketball—the shift away from the days when small schools like Immaculata and Delta State won all the titles. Now, of course, powerhouses like UConn and Tennessee dominate. So it was a natural result of Title IX. After that, my senior year was almost anticlimactic, even though we went to the Final Four again. That season we finished fourth.

Following my college days, I played in the Pan American Games for Puerto Rico, where my father had grown up, then in the Women’s Basketball League, a predecessor to the WNBA. I returned to UCLA as an assistant coach for a few years, which was a great experience, but I had wanted to pursue a career in law enforcement ever since high school. I have now been a Los Angeles police officer for 23 years. I hold the rank of captain and oversee the largest division in the department—communications. For me, this has been a wonderful career. I just hope I can continue to make a difference."

You can write to Anita directly at anitaortega13@yahoo.com.

To view Anita’s UCLA Moment video, go to: 

www.spotlight.ucla.edu/video/ucla-moment_anita.mov