The successful women's sports publicist communicates the legitimacy of women's intercollegiate athletics to the media and to the public. Because the field of women's sports has not had the amount of media exposure compared to that of professional sports, collegiate men's revenue sports, and high school sports, the women's sports publicist must rely on the usual and the unusual methods of advancing and reporting women's sports events. The news release containing "hard" news items (as opposed to feature articles) is the main communicative tool for the publicist. However, the feature story with an interesting angle is the best assurance of highlighted program coverage. Coaches and athletes can support the women's sports program by participating in radio discussions, writing columns for local papers, and by being accessible to the media at sports events. Although many women's sports programs lack the funds for advertising, increased spectator interest can create greater sports coverage, making public service announcements, radio giveaways, community calendars, and other low-cost publicity efforts necessary. (FG)