By Terri Lakowski
Female Athletes Attacked During School Competition
Three members of a middle school (School A) track team were attacked when using the rest room at another school (School B) during one of their meets. According to one concerned parent, a number of male students prevented the girls from exiting the restroom, and when one girl became scared and tried to push the door open, she was picked up by a male student and slammed repeatedly into a wall. More specific details of the incident are unknown, because according to this parent, the three girls involved were told by a school official that “if they told anyone about the incident they would never play sports in the school district again.”
The attack of the female track players was not the first incident that occurred at School B. The previous year, members of School A's basketball team were attacked by a group of spectators from School B after a close game. Parents and other spectators were able to restrain the fans from harming the girls. After this incident, the school promised that no team from School A would return to School B for competition. However, as the case of the track team demonstrated, School A did not uphold its promise. A father contacted the Advocacy Department for assistance in what he considers a pattern of neglect and mistreatment of the female athletes at School A. The attack of the middle school track athletes he said is just one of many examples of the school's disregard for its female athletes. In addition to safety, he identified other Title IX issues relating to facilities, equipment and supplies, coaching and publicity. The Advocacy Department is currently working with this father and a collaborating attorney to address this situation.
School Refuses to Showcase Female Athlete
A high school senior recently contacted the Women's Sports Foundation after her athletic director refused to showcase her state wrestling championship trophy in the school's trophy case. According to this student, the athletic director said that the trophy case holds only awards earned from school-sponsored competition. (While this athlete competes on the school's wrestling team, this women's state tournament is not a school-sponsored event because the state does not offer a tournament only for women). Men's trophies from non-school sponsored events are in the trophy case. The Advocacy Department is working with this student to ensure that the school upholds its obligations under Title IX to equally support and showcase the accomplishments of its male and female students.
Coaches and Administrators Refuse to Allow Male Athletes to Compete Against Females
The Advocacy Department is currently working on several cases involving situations where coaches and administrators have refused to allow their male athletes to compete against females.
One situation involves middle school wrestling. While the league is coed, several schools in the league refuse to allow their boys to compete against the female wrestlers. A Superintendent of one of the schools said the school “does not want to put our young men in a situation where they would be inappropriately touching a young lady.” A father of one of the daughters discriminated against has filed a lawsuit and a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights.
A similarly “unbelievable” situation occurred in a co-ed youth hockey league. While the league is co-ed, and an all-girls team competes in the league, one of the boys' teams refused to play against the girls claiming that it would hurt the development of the boys' game. Instead, the boys' team opted to switch to a division that did not have an all-girls team.
The Foundation strongly supports the right of girls and women to compete with and against boys and men in situations in which a women's team is not offered in that sport. For more details on our position please read Co-ed Participation - Girls Playing on Boys' Teams and Male Versus Female Competition: The Foundation Position.
Please help us fight these 'unbelievable' situations!