Well said
From the Saginaw News
Sports seasons: Time to move on
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS, coaches and some sports writers were lamenting the end to a decade-old lawsuit this week that will upend Michigan's high school sports seasons and eliminate discrimination against girl athletes.
With the U.S. Supreme Court refusing to hear an appeal this week, it is time for the Michigan High School Athletic Association and the other captains of high school sports to quit fighting and work out the logistics of moving girls basketball to the winter from fall and volleyball to fall from winter. Golf, soccer and tennis schedules for boys and girls also will change.
The state athletic association has played a full-court press since 2001, when U.S. District Court Judge Richard Enslen ruled that Michigan's sports scheduling discriminated against girls. In every other state, girls play volleyball in the fall. Michigan is one of only two states -- Hawaii is the other -- that plays girls basketball in the winter. The seasons in the other states coincide with the seasons at the college level.
It's why the NCAA women's basketball tournament is held at the same time as the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
The lawsuit was filed against the state association in 1998 and lower courts repeatedly have ruled in favor of moving the girls seasons to coincide with the rest of the country. The group that filed the suit, Communities for Equity, said Michigan's schedule limited the exposure of the state's female prep athletes and hurt their chances for college scholarships.
Most school officials were disappointed in the change, because flipping the girls seasons will create some inconvenience, they said. The state athletic association said it would place a burden on practice and game facilities and on coaches, officials and other personnel.
The schools will adapt and join the rest of the country in working out the logistical problems. The truth is, it was past time for Michigan to get in the game and bring a greater measure of fairness in girls' prep sports. The courts have spoken, and Michigan can no longer not comply with the law and nearly four decades of progress toward a more equal playing field for girls prep sports, since Title IX, the federal law barring gender discrimination in athletics, was enacted in 1972.
Change is hard, but for the nearly 56,000 girls involved in the affected sports, it will mean better opportunities and an end to a practice that treated female athletes in Michigan like second-class citizens.
We'll all adjust and in a few years many of us will ask: What was the fuss about?
Here, here!! It felt good to read that to finally see that someone else agrees with me. It was discrimination. And I truly believe that this is the right thing to do.
Sports seasons: Time to move on
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS, coaches and some sports writers were lamenting the end to a decade-old lawsuit this week that will upend Michigan's high school sports seasons and eliminate discrimination against girl athletes.
With the U.S. Supreme Court refusing to hear an appeal this week, it is time for the Michigan High School Athletic Association and the other captains of high school sports to quit fighting and work out the logistics of moving girls basketball to the winter from fall and volleyball to fall from winter. Golf, soccer and tennis schedules for boys and girls also will change.
The state athletic association has played a full-court press since 2001, when U.S. District Court Judge Richard Enslen ruled that Michigan's sports scheduling discriminated against girls. In every other state, girls play volleyball in the fall. Michigan is one of only two states -- Hawaii is the other -- that plays girls basketball in the winter. The seasons in the other states coincide with the seasons at the college level.
It's why the NCAA women's basketball tournament is held at the same time as the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
The lawsuit was filed against the state association in 1998 and lower courts repeatedly have ruled in favor of moving the girls seasons to coincide with the rest of the country. The group that filed the suit, Communities for Equity, said Michigan's schedule limited the exposure of the state's female prep athletes and hurt their chances for college scholarships.
Most school officials were disappointed in the change, because flipping the girls seasons will create some inconvenience, they said. The state athletic association said it would place a burden on practice and game facilities and on coaches, officials and other personnel.
The schools will adapt and join the rest of the country in working out the logistical problems. The truth is, it was past time for Michigan to get in the game and bring a greater measure of fairness in girls' prep sports. The courts have spoken, and Michigan can no longer not comply with the law and nearly four decades of progress toward a more equal playing field for girls prep sports, since Title IX, the federal law barring gender discrimination in athletics, was enacted in 1972.
Change is hard, but for the nearly 56,000 girls involved in the affected sports, it will mean better opportunities and an end to a practice that treated female athletes in Michigan like second-class citizens.
We'll all adjust and in a few years many of us will ask: What was the fuss about?
Here, here!! It felt good to read that to finally see that someone else agrees with me. It was discrimination. And I truly believe that this is the right thing to do.
Comments
However, one issue that hasn't been touched on very much is the strain on area officials. I know there is one official (a very good one) that will no longer be able to do boys games because he coaches girls.
Also, a lot of these officials aren't going to want to be working four nights a week.
As you know, it's hard to find good officials and I'm affraid this could create a serious problem at least in the short term.
I don't mind being in the minority on this...history will bear me out as being right.