This Is NOT Equality in Sports
Written by Jessica Brennis, Former Student on Monday, November 30, 2015
Coming from a strong background of athletes, sports have always been a very significant part of my life. From a young age I’ve competed in multiple sports such as basketball, soccer, and volleyball. I grew up with the tag “athlete."
This year at SHS, two girls played in the football program. One of the girls played on varsity, and the news of her making the team spread around the school like wildfire.
Being a female athlete and having played sports with both men and women, I’ve experienced first-hand the difference in strength between men and women. Men’s bodies are naturally stronger than women’s, and for that reason, men and women are divided into two separate athletic leagues. It is unsafe for girls to play boys sports or vice versa. The athletic advantage men have over women makes it unsafe for both sides to compete in the same league, especially in a high contact sport like football. Both men and women should be offered an equal opportunity to compete, but they should not be compared as physically capable to compete at equal levels of competition.
Girls and boys can compete in the same coed league but if a sport is named specifically a girl or boy sport, there should be no crossover to keep everyone safe and level the playing field for both sides. While Title IX says that “discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity” is prohibited, wouldn’t allowing a girl to play a boy's sport but not allowing a boy to play a girl's sport be discrimination against the boys who wish to play a girls sport? If boys were allowed to play girls sports, they would dominate because of their advanced strength and athleticism. How can we argue for no discrimination when the law only works in the favor of the girls?
Rather than make all coed teams, boys and girls should be limited to playing in their own leagues to even out the playing field and keep everyone safe.
