No, not that Tonya, the curse of figure skating, but Tanya the Australian superstar softballer. Tanya, 28, recently made an extraordinary pit stop at UCLA, one that lasted exactly one spring quarter. Recruited by UCLA, Harding joined the Bruins’ softball team at midseason and delivered a pitching-hitting tandem the likes of which haven’t been seen on the ball diamond since Babe Ruth. Harding pitched 18 games, won 17 and hit .444. Then, in the College World Series, she really began to play well. Tanya was the winning pitcher in all four games and hit .500, earning her an MVP designation that somehow seems understated.
Despite the dazzling effort, it was Tanya’s off-field performance that attracted scrutiny. After the final outs, she packed up and flew home to Queensland; Australia, without taking a final exam – and without a single classroom credit. “There was nothing unethical and certainly no rules violations,” says Mark Dellins of UCLA’s sports-information office.
The latter may be true, perhaps even the former. But the Harding episode (too brief to be called an affair) should at the very least be an embarrassment. While there are many top college athletes who depart without earning degrees, most stay longer than two months and muster at least a few academic credits along the way.
Dellins says there is some possibility that Tanya will return to UCLA and resume her studies in the fall. Actually, there’s about as much chance Harding will return this’ fall from across the Pacific as will Amelia Earhart. Instead, Harding will be majoring in softball with the Australian Olympic team. She expects her next starring role in the States will come at the ‘96 Summer Games in Atlanta. (Softball will make its Olympic debut next summer, and, despite Harding’s formidable presence, the American women remain gold-medal favorites.)
Foreigners have, of course, starred on many top American college teams. African centers and Israeli guards have made their mark on some of the nation’s elite basketball teams. Few college hockey champions have reached the pinnacle without Canadian imports. And the NCAA’s track-and-field record book is rife with the efforts of Irish and African runners. But rarely has there been such an obvious ringer, not to mention such a successful one.
UCLA’s short-time gambit may offend the few moralists still working in college athletics, but it could also inspire under-the-gun athletic directors. There are NCAA titles ripe for the plucking, and lots of world-class athletes who, like Tanya, could be tempted to fine-tune their game in sunny climes. While we await the onslaught, UCLA can console itself with its championship trophy. And the knowledge that it has struck a blow, albeit a sorry one, for gender equity in college sports.
