Minyon joined the Ducks for the 2019-2020 season after three years playing at USC. That year, Minyon helped the Ducks win the Pac-12 regular season and tournament titles while pulling in Pac-12 All-Defensive Team and Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll awards.
Now an assistant coach with Sacramento State, Minyon opened up with Women In Flight about her experiences and how basketball has prepared her for her career influencing the next generation of young women.
What has Title IX allowed you to accomplish as a collegiate female student-athlete?
Title IX opened up so many doors for me as well as my teammates. It allowed for opportunities that weren’t there previously so, it affected my life completely. If we didn’t have Title IX, my life would have been so different, college especially, so I’m so appreciative of the trail blazers and the women who have come before me to allow me to have the opportunities that I’ve had.
How does it make you feel that the University of Oregon has something like Women In Flight in support of women?
It makes me feel great, it makes me feel hopeful for women that are coming after me. I was only here for a short amount of time, but while I was here I know Women In Flight and the University of Oregon put a lot of importance on the women athletes at the university. They give people equal playing fields, the men, the football team, the men’s basketball team, the women get the same treatment so it made me feel great while I was here and it makes me really happy.
How did Women In Flight and your time with UO athletics prepare you for your career now?
A lot of knowledge. They taught us a lot of stuff, and it makes me feel great that I can now take the knowledge that they’ve given me and push women in sports. Just a lot of knowledge like I said, and they prepared me to be able to affect generations after me.
What’s some advice you can give to current Ducks and female student-athletes at UO?
Keep pushing, sky’s the limit. The people that came before us didn’t stop, so you shouldn’t stop. Keep pushing for change. If you see something that’s not right, call it out. Sedona Prince is a prime example of someone who did that, and now there’s more change happening for women. So keep being active, keep pushing for change.
As a collegiate coach, you are now directly influencing young women. What do you see as the biggest personal and/or professional challenge for young women in collegiate athletics?
I would say the mental side of the game. Confidence is a really big thing. I dealt with that as a woman, just in general. A lot of times we feel like the world is against us and we don’t have equal rights. But now that I know what I know, I can try to affect women, especially my own athletes and players to try to give them the most confidence and empower them to be great because I know it’s possible.
How did the support you received from Women In Flight enhance your student-athlete experience at UO?
I think it affected it as a whole. I don’t think without Women In Flight, I would have been able to do what I did or have the confidence doing it. Going out there everyday with my team, going to war, we had that confidence because of Women In Flight and our fans believe in us and that’s a really big, important thing so…thank you Women In Flight!