DENVER – Talk to people about Pat Johnson and how opportunities for women in sports have increased, and one word comes up.
 
Pioneer.
 
"Some of the younger coaches and athletes today have no idea how far we've come, because they've grown up with the advantages and opportunities that folks like Pat created for them," said Debbie Hendricks, MSU Denver's volleyball coach from 2000 through 2015. "I've heard story after story about what it was like when people like Pat started coaching – the challenges they had – and yet they weren't deterred.
 
"Sometimes they weren't very popular because they were bucking the system."
 
Johnson, who started the MSU Denver volleyball program in 1968 and was its coach through 1987, passed away April 10.
 
She was 86.
 
Services are Thursday at Horan & McConaty Funeral Service and Cremation in Arvada, Colo.
 
A member of the first-ever class for the MSU Denver Athletics Hall of Fame, Johnson was also the Roadrunners' softball coach from 1969 through 1981, with the exception of two seasons.
 
And through it all, she fought for what was right for women in sports, including on the MSU Denver campus.
 
"She just wanted to make sure there was equity and support for both the men's and women's programs," said Joan McDermott, who succeeded Johnson as volleyball coach and later became the department's athletic director. "The volleyball program has been the one mainstay in the department over the years, and quite honestly that's because of her. She built such a strong foundation and continued to be an advocate.
 
"She really was a positive influence for women's sports. Even when she was out of coaching, she was a very strong advocate."
 
That struggle for equality was evident to those around her.
 
"She was always fighting for us," said Kathy Crusan, who played volleyball for the Roadrunners from 1978 through 1982. "It was a constant fight getting gym time. The baseball team on rainy days or in the fall, and the basketball team, were always trying to use the gym and she would always have to work to get us the gym time."
 
A true competitor, Johnson was ahead of her time. Her daughter, Diana Golden, said Johnson wanted to try out for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, but that Johnson's mother wouldn't allow her to drop out of high school. Undaunted, Johnson became a top golfer who played the sport at Stetson before receiving her undergraduate degree from Florida. She taught at Oregon and Idaho State, got her master's degree at Colorado and eventually became an MSU Denver legend.
 
But early in Johnson's coaching career, women's sports on the collegiate level were still in their infancy. Title IX, the law that provides equal opportunities for women, didn't pass until 1972. But even after it passed, growth still came slowly.
 
"Because I started my coaching career I the early '90s, I was exposed to quite a few coaches who were in that group with Pat who were pioneers, and sometimes they had to ruffle feathers and rub people the wrong way to take women's athletics to a place where it was taken seriously and to begin the process of equality and equal resources," Hendricks said. "They had to go through tough times."
 
At the time, the idea of women competing in collegiate sports was still relatively novel.
 
"I've heard from so many former players who've said if they hadn't had the scholarship, their parents wouldn't have let them attend college," Golden said. "She was fighting for fifth-year scholarships for her players after they had completed their eligibility. So many of the people we've heard from the last couple of weeks have said they wouldn't have gotten an education if not for the opportunity. So to be able to do the things she did for women is an amazing legacy, besides just the access to competition."
 
Crusan was just one of those student-athletes Johnson was fighting for.
 
"I came from a family of six kids, and she gave me an opportunity that I wouldn't have gotten if I hadn't had a scholarship," Crusan said.
 
And Johnson coached them beyond their college careers. Crusan was just a couple of credits short of graduating when life put finishing up on hold. But, in 1992 when she got her degree, Johnson was there.
 
"At the ceremony, they warned everyone not to cheer when the names were announced," Crusan said, emotion in her voice. "But she disobeyed them and she came up and gave me the biggest hug. That's what she meant to me."
 
Said Hendricks: "You can tell the way her former players speak of her of what an impact she had on young women. They have so much respect and admiration for her."
 
Johnson compiled a record of 391-232-3 as the Roadrunners' volleyball coach, leading the team to three top-10 national finishes in the old Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women as well as a third-place finish in the National Association for Intercollegiate Athletics.
 
She helped guide the program into its current home in NCAA Division II, and set the foundation for one of the most consistent programs in the division – the Roadrunners have qualified for every national tournament since 2000.
 
"I know she was able to look at what we had in the 2000s and know that she helped create those opportunities," Hendricks said. "I really enjoyed getting to know her as a person. She was funny and very quick-witted and obviously she had a fiery little personality – I can only imagine what it would have been like to play for her."
 
Johnson continued to follow and support the program, and a highlight was the 50-year anniversary of the program in 2018.
 
"I just loved how feisty she was," MSU Denver coach Jenny Glenn said. "She was a character who would stand up for what was right. She cheered for our team with everything she had. For this program specifically, and women's sports in general, a lot of what we have available is thanks to her efforts."
 
There is still progress to be made, as evidenced by recently reported inequalities between the NCAA Division I men's and women's basketball tournaments. But Johnson, and others, helped narrow the gap.

Said McDermott: "She was highly respected by all her colleagues and throughout the state. She was definitely a voice in the state of Colorado for girls and women in sports."