Equality, sports, and Title IX - Erin Buzuvis and Kristine Newhall

Today, lots of girls play sports. But, for a long time, girls were not encouraged to kick, throw, run, jump, shoot, slide, or hit like boys. So, why did things change? And how much have they changed? Are girls and boys treated equally when it comes to sports? To begin to answer these questions, we have to look back.

In 1972, Congress passed a law called Title IX, which protected girls and women from discrimination in schools, colleges, and universities. This included discrimination in school-sponsored sports. At that time, only 15% of college athletes were women, and in high schools, only 7% of athletes were girls. Female athletes didn't get a lot of support either and often had to provide their own uniforms and equipment. It was Title IX that forced school administrators to make sports more equal.

But what does equal mean in sports? The government developed rules to measure equality under two general categories: participation and treatment. In the early days of Title IX, the number of girls playing sports was so low that it would have been very difficult for schools to suddenly provide exactly the same number of opportunities for girls and boys. Instead, the government wrote rules that gave schools three options, or tests, to demonstrate fairness in opportunities for girls. The three tests are proportionality, progress, and satisfied interests. A school can pick which test to follow.

Proportionality means that girls should receive the same percentage of athletic opportunities as the percentage of girls in the student body. So, if 51% of students are girls, then girls should have approximately 51% of the opportunities to play sports. The second test, progress, requires schools to make up for the days when girls had fewer opportunities by adding new sports for girls on a regular basis. The third test asks if girls interested in athletics are satisfied. Under this test, a school must regularly ask female students what sports they are interested in and also take into consideration the popularity of certain sports in the area where the school is located. It must, then, add teams according to the girls' interests.

Another important part of Title IX is that it doesn't just look at how many athletic opportunities are available to each sex but whether those opportunities are of equal quality. Specifically, Title IX requires equality between boys and girls teams for things like equipment and supplies, publicity, the scheduling of games and practice times, and the quality and number of coaches. Girls should also have equal access to locker rooms, practice spaces, and competitive facilities, as well as medical services.

So, if the best time to play basketball is on Friday nights because that's when most parents and fans can come, then the girls' and boys' teams should take turns playing on Friday night. If boys' teams play in a stadium with lights, scoreboards, and concession stands, then girls' teams must have the same opportunity, either by sharing those facilities or getting their own of equal quality.

But, as we all know, just because a law exists doesn't mean that everybody follows it. School officials are responsible for making sure there is fairness in sports, but you can help, too, by keeping an eye on your own school. Look around. Are there a lot more boys than girls who play sports? Is the boys' soccer field better than the girls'? Are athletic trainers available to all teams equally? Does the baseball team get new uniforms every year, while the softball team gets them every three years?

If you think there might be inequality in your schools, you can approach a school administrator, a parent, or the Office of Civil Rights, a government agency that makes sure schools comply with Title IX because equality is important for everyone, both on the field and off.