Quote:
Originally posted by rainmaker
... Why shouldn't girls get the same caliber of officiating as boys? If they don't get it, why shouldn't they sue? That's what Title IX is for! to give legal footing for girls to insist on treatment equal to boys. Why is that a problem?
|
Yes, the girls
should be entitled to the same high caliber officiating as the boys. The fact is that there are not enough officials to accomodate "same season" schedules. In reality, the highest caliber officials will be scheduled for the boys and the girls will get the less experienced officials - if they can even get full crews to work their games. So in essecence the girls are getting short changed once again.
Quote:
Originally posted by Jimgolf
Why should someone in Washington (the state or the D.C.) have any say when girls basketball is played in Michigan? This was never the intent of Title IX. In fact, these two cases illustrate why the federal government should not have gotten involved. One state is being sued because both sports share the same season, the other because they don't.
The purpose of high school sports is to encourage good health and school spirit through sportsmanship and competition, not to compete for athletic scholarships. The court should look at whether or not athletes have equal opportunity to physical fitness and competition, and not concern itself with extrinsic considerations.
|
Great point here Jim, that is what many MI parents are saying. The
real focus seems to have been lost here. The issue of scholarships is one of the main arguements for change when it is not even one of the goals in
ANY mission statement for a single HS association in
ANY state.
If athletes are striving for scholarship opportunities, there are other ways to get noticed besides activities sponsored by their high school. (i.e. AAU participation or camp attendence).
Statisically, it has been shown that participation levels for girls in MI (via survey of the athletes) will diminish due to conflicts in schedules of the sports that girls choose to play. Many girls play multiple sports under the current configuration. The girls in MI that are worthy of scholarship opportunities still get recruited, that is a fact!
This is NOT about gender equity. Here in MI the system works fine, isn't broken, and doesn't need to be fixed. I would love to see this issue turn into a ballot proposal where the citizens could vote as to their wishes for their own community (state) and get the Fed out of it.
Perhaps the focus should be placed upon the NCAA and their rules for recruiting would that not eliminate the problem for the most part?