During the V is for Victory. So is IX. campaign, our Public Policy Officers met with school administrators, athletic directors, coaches, parents and student-athletes, motivating them to seek full Title IX compliance at their sites.
Here are some of the stories about fair play in sports they saw and heard. From the courts, fields, tracks and pools, these authentic tales kept us energized.
Fair Dollars for Officials
In 2006, a state interscholastic athletic association voted to sanction boys’ lacrosse, effective July 1, 2008. Girls’ lacrosse had been a sport in the athletic association for years. By the 2009 spring sports season, all schools sponsoring lacrosse and their players had to comply with the new standards. The athletic association holds state championship tournaments for participating schools, while non-association schools continue to make adjustments as they transition to the new order.
A Women’s Sports Foundation Public Policy Officer discovered that officials for boys’ lacrosse games were to be paid $82 for a varsity game, while officials for girls’ lacrosse games were paid $61 for a varsity game. Boys’ lacrosse games were 20-25 minutes longer than girls’. At a meeting with league officials, a mathematical matrix was used to determine if the $21 difference in officiating pay was legitimate or discriminatory.
Success! A proposal from the meeting resulted in fairly compensating all officials based on their time covering the game.
Golf’s Good to Go
When our Public Policy Officer met with a suburban high school athletic director, she discovered a group of female students had expressed interest in forming a girls’ golf team. At the time, only a coed team existed. To demonstrate their commitment, the 12 female students practiced at the school during the rest of the year and throughout the summer. While the league only sponsored coed golf teams, the athletic director scheduled separate matches for the females, competing against other schools with competitive female golfers.
Success! The athletic director, with our support and resources, took the reins and proposed a separate golf team for females at the next league meeting, setting up more opportunities for all students to play competitive golf.
A Field of Their Own
A Title IX workshop was held for softball players and their parents in the winter. One of the parents reflected on the value of her sports background—how she had loved playing softball and field hockey before receiving her master’s degree in landscape architecture. The girls quickly complained that their fields were in soaking wet areas with lousy drainage. This not only minimized their ability to use the fields, but also was detrimental to their safety. Following the Title IX workshop, the parents better understood that, regardless of gender, all athletes require a safe place to play.
Success! Thanks to the mother’s knowledge and activism, she helped to fix the fields. Girls’ teams now use them routinely, rarely losing time to soaked conditions.
Fit for All
A recently hired high school athletic director made plans to improve the school’s fitness center. The facility, not renovated in years, had equipment that was so old, little strength or endurance training was possible. It had been, historically, the privileged space for the boys’ teams. Renovations took place, including a new ceiling, floor and cardio-pulmonary endurance equipment. Additional purchased pieces were selected specifically for females’ needs and sports.
Success! More female athletes are now using the fitness center for their strength and endurance training without worrying about injuries. The athletic trainer regularly provides beneficial workouts for all student-athletes.
Watch Us Win
In a telephone conversation with a high school athletic director, we heard the scoop on an unsuccessful girls’ basketball team. With only a handful of wins, very few parents and friends attended the games.
The athletic director hired a new coach for the girls’ basketball team. The team finished with a winning record the next season and advanced to the state playoffs. He celebrated the girls’ teams in pep rallies, media coverage and encouraged the student body to attend games. This resulted in about 200 tickets being sold for each game.
Success! Although the team lost in state finals, the spectators showed their appreciation for the team. They waited until the players left the locker room to applaud their efforts for the previous season.
Money Matters
At one of our Title IX workshops, teachers seeking further certification in health and physical education networked together. One attendee revealed that she was the assistant coach of a girls’ basketball team and, after her first year, discovered she was being paid a third of the salary that the boys’ assistant coach received. Following the training, she argued her case for the same salary under Title IX with her teachers’ association.
Success! The next year, she received a comparable salary, and all salaries for girls’ coaches were increased, providing pay equity.
Learn more about the V is for Victory. So is IX. campaign
Play Fair: A Title IX Playbook for Victory.
Step by Step: A Practical Guide to Assessing and Achieving Gender Equity in School Sports