By Terri Lakowski
Father Forces Sexually Abusive Basketball Coach to Resign
A father contacted the Foundation for advice in dealing with his daughter's high school varsity basketball coach. The coach has a history of being verbally and sexually inappropriate with the players. One girl who was a target of this abuse quit the team because she could not tolerate the harassment. Despite this fact and the complaints from several parents, the school had yet to take any action against the coach. The Advocacy Department suggested the father follow our
Step by Step Guide to Gender Equity and sent him resources, including
Addressing the Issue of Verbal, Physical and Psychological Abuse of Athletes: The Foundation Position,
A Coach's Self Assessment: Are You Crossing the Line with an Athlete? and Sexual Harassment - Sexual Harassment and Sexual Relationships Between Coaches and Athletes: The Foundation Position. We also referred him to the Positive Coaching Alliance and a sexual harassment expert. He followed our advice and met with the school athletic director outlining the various issues of concern and called for the coach to be fired.
Success: The coach resigned the next day. The athletic director gave the coach the choices to resign or be fired and face possible charges. The coach chose the former. The player who has previously quit the team was reinstated after the abusive coach left.
Geena's Hero:Dan, basketball parent
Boston, Mass.
Parent Breaks Through Gender Barrier in Youth Basketball League
A mother contacted the Foundation for assistance after she was told that her middle-school-aged daughter was not allowed to compete in a local travel basketball league. Although the league is a feeder program of her daughter's high school, the league director said that it is for boys only. A similar league does not exist for girls. The Advocacy Department sent her
Playing Fair and
Common Questions about Gender Equity in Non-School Recreational Sports and recommended that she follow our
Step by Step Guide to Gender Equity.
Success: The mother's advocacy efforts worked! Her daughter and two other girls were allowed to tryout for the boys' team and made the travel squad. The mother said, “The information on the Web sites that you gave me helped a lot with my decision to question the league and the city in which we live (since it's a city program). The league was unresponsive, but the city knew that they were subject to Title IX. Thank you again for your help!”
Geena's Hero:Darcey, basketball parent
Illinois
Parent Changes Sex-Segregated Gym Class Policy
Hear from a father: “I sent you a question last October because my fifth-grade daughter's school was segregating gym class by gender, and she didn't like it. The school sort of blew me off, and nobody else took it at all seriously. You sent me a very long and detailed response, including some good citations and suggestions for follow-up research. I did a lot of that and was, therefore, able to go into future meetings well prepared.”
Success: “Finally the school district relented, and all 12 elementary schools, as of last month, have integrated gym classes. THANK YOU for your help.”
Geena's Hero:Toni, concerned father
New York
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