Gender Balance and College Sporting Programs

Title IX and Reverse Discrimination

Women have very little opportunity to make a profession out of sports, where as men have much greater an opportunity. There are only sixteen teams in the WNBA and players are making a minimum amount. Each game, a WNBA player makes on average $875; this has forced several key veteran players to return to playing in the European leagues.

(For many years overseas was the only place women could play.) Where as there are almost double the number of teams in the NBA and the remuneration is more then double for players that don’t even start. Women only have 3 options of sports to play, but men have more then double that. It might not be fair, but it’s what America wants. Supply and demand says that people will pay over a $100 to see male athletes play any sport, but the same is not said for women. The MLS (Major League Soccer), was created just a few years before the WUSA, however, the MLS did not have the same fate as WUSA.

Men have the ability to create an occupation from sports. Cutting teams like Neal was on, makes it nearly impossible for him to ever make a living from wrestling. Many feminist have commented that if a male athlete is good enough then they will survive having their team cut. This isn’t true. It takes coaching and the right atmosphere for an athlete to grow. Male athletes require great coaches and cannot become professional on talent alone. Knowledge is important also.

Every college is required to have a designated Title IX coordinator. The Title IX Coordinator’s information must be available for all students, faculty, and staff. If there are any complaints it is the coordinators job to file the complaint. Also any other person, may it be faculty, staff, student, coach, or community member may file a complaint. Any retaliation from the school towards a complainer is strictly forbidden. There are also severe punishments for not complying with Title IX. A school can lose its federal funds, or be suspended or fined. Or all three can happen, however, no institution has ever lost federal funds. Moreover, schools do have to pay substantial damages and attorney fees in any cases brought to court (What is Title IX?).

In 2002, The Independent Women’s Forum did a study based on equality in not only sports, but throughout college campuses.

After the study was completed, they came to discover that if the courts required gender parity across the board, 96.4% of all female cheerleaders would have to be dropped from the cheerleading programs, 35.8% of female choir members and 25.4% of female orchestra members would be cut. 33% of female debaters would also be denied the chance to compete (Geene, Fair Play in Sports Reporting). So, why is there nothing being done about this?
This article is in seven parts. This is part six.

Part 1 Women enjoy a distinct advantage over men in college athletics.
Part 2 Bakke believed that his rejections were in direct violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment.
Part 3 Football seems to be the issue when dealing with scholarships. A school is permitted 85 scholarships for football.
Part 4 When Title IX was created it was crafted with intent to make it easy for schools to comply with its guidelines.
Part 5 For the first time since 1968, the USA freestyle wrestlers failed to win a single gold medal.
Part 7 Over 110,000 women participated in intercollegiate sports. Where as in 1971 just about 25,000 participated.

Are you ready for the NEXT STEP!