Title IX decision could likely alter local sports seasons as soon as next fall

Switching from one sport season to another at the high school level is much like a changing of the guards. Small high school sports programs, including those in Presque Isle County, often share athletes from one sport to another. Local athletes are no sooner hanging up their volleyball uniforms then to grab their softball gloves and cleats for the next season of play. If the historic battle over Title IX is decided upon by June 1, 2007, the high school sports seasons will have even more change to confront in the very near future.

BEFORE ANYONE can begin debating the issue, it is important to know what Title IX is, and what its place in history has been. Title IX was an education amendment in 1972 that simply stated girls and women in high school and college had the right to equal opportunity in sports. The amendment was focused on prohibiting sex discrimination in educational institutions that receive any type of federal funding. If found in violation of Title IX, a school could lose its federal monies, which would be detrimental to most institutions ? especially small districts such as Rogers City and Posen. According to statistics, in 1971 there were 294,015 girls participating in sports in the United States, compared to 3.5 billion boys. Female sporting opportunities were not equally offered in schools, but after Title IX was enforced in 1972, the opportunities for female athletes multiplied ? and in the 1972-73 school year, the number of female athletes doubled. Many states implemented the change by adding female sports during the ?traditional? season. In other words, girls? basketball season was added to run congruently with boys? basketball season, and matching up with most college seasons. Volleyball was added as a fall sport, and other sports fell in along the same lines. Other states, including Michigan, added female sports around the pre-existing male sports. Boys? and girls? basketball seasons ran opposite of each other, and volleyball was added as a winter sport.

ALTHOUGH THESE additions have, for the most part, been accepted, some athletes, parents, and organizations believe the addition of female sports in Michigan schools have left female athletes with less opportunities and perks. For example, some believe females could be missing out on scholarship opportunities because of ?non-traditional? seasons. Many male sporting events are supplemented with cheerleaders and high school band performances, where female events are not. Others believe changing Michigan high school sports seasons would do more harm than good. It is has been argued in large newspapers around the state that some female sports will lose media coverage if having to play during a ?traditional? season. Some also believe a season change would bring about a statewide shortage of qualified coaches and officials. It is also argued that placing girls? basketball alongside boys? basketball would result in less crowd participation at girls? games. Recently, in West Virginia, Virginia, Montana, Arizona, and South Dakota, the states have been court ordered to change the seasons from ?non-traditional? to ?traditional,? in order to stay compliant with Title IX. Alaska and North Dakota changed their seasons voluntarily without taking the matter to court. This leaves Michigan, Hawaii, and Rhode Island as the only three of 50 states with non-traditional sports seasons.

WHEN CONNIE Engel, a co-founder of the group Communities For Equity, first took up the fight for traditional seasons in Michigan nine years ago, she had just relocated to Michigan from a state that had traditional seasons. ?The more time went by, the more I uncovered that things just weren?t fair for girls,? said Engel. ?Sports were being held out of season, girls were not offered prime time spots for sporting events, such as March Madness, and there wasn?t full support at girls? games that is always offered at boys?, such as cheerleaders, high school bands, and announcers.? The Communities for Equity (CFE) started in response with hopes of having Michigan courts order the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) to implement ?traditional? seasons across the board and comply with Title IX. This battle between the two groups began in the late 1990s, and could possibly come to an end this summer. ?In December, the Sixth Circuit Court refused to hear MHSAA?s appeal for the second time, which led to MHSAA taking it to the Supreme Court,? said Engel. ?Our attorneys are following up with a response, and we are hoping the Supreme Court will turn this away, too, ending this once and for all.? Engel believes that as one of the last states left in the nation to have ?non-traditional? sports seasons, Michigan is leaving its female athletes behind in opportunity and equality. ?I felt that if I accepted this in our schools, I was giving into discrimination, and to believe that ?this is how it?s always been? is only supporting more discrimination,? said Engel. ?It always comes back to the civil rights laws ? you can?t have programs different for boys and girls. Boys would not accept it if you took six of their sports and placed them out of season. This adversely affects adults, and it is the inconvenience that bothers them the most ? at what point do you stop accommodating the adults in order to enact the civil rights of our daughters??

THE TITLE IX coin is not one-sided, and John Johnson, the communications director for MHSAA, believes changing the sports seasons in Michigan will put individual schools in jeopardy, and that the battle has gone much deeper over the years than simply adjusting seasons. ?Our schools support us and that is what keeps us fighting this fight,? said Johnson. ?These are seasons they (the schools) chose some 30 years ago. What comes into jeopardy is the school?s ability to make the rules to control interscholastic athletics. If you tell a student he/she has a right to play at a given time of the year, then you are also saying that student has a right to play ? playing sports is no longer a privilege. If that happens, coaches will see problems with making team cuts, or for holding an athlete responsible for disciplinary problems, among other problems. The ability for schools to self govern is still a point that must be won.? Johnson said MHSAA filed a petition with the Supreme Court on January 29. He believes that by April they will know whether the case will be granted a review. ?We continue to tell schools to be ready ? they have the harder job here,? said Johnson. ?Both sides (MHSAA and CFE) have come to an agreement ? if the Supreme Court has not acted by June 1, 2007 ? regardless of the decision ? there will not be any changes for the 07-08 season. If they act in favor of CFE by June 1, the seasons will change next fall.?

Johnson said if the Supreme Court decides to hear the case, ?all shades of gray will kick in,? and athletes and schools will just have to wait again. ROGERS CITY Area Schools and Posen Consolidated Schools are not waiting to find out whether the Supreme Court acts by June 1 or not ? they are preparing for change to make sure that when and if it happens, they will be ready to switch seasons. ?We have to come to the realization that this (changing seasons) is going to happen,? said RCHS athletic director Pat Lamb. ?No matter how much you say you are prepared, you really aren?t. I have two schedules made out for next year ? one with changed seasons and one regular. I see this being a big headache when it comes to scheduling officials, but we have to be ready ? we can?t afford not to be.? Lamb said the Straits Area Conference (SAC), which Rogers City belongs to, has decided to create a basketball season where the weeks are interchanged between girls? and boys?, in order to offer both the boys? and girls? teams ?prime time? game nights. For example, the first week might have the girls playing on Tuesday and Friday, with the boys playing Monday and Thursday. The next week, the teams would switch game nights. Lamb said foreseeable problems in Rogers City include splitting practice times equally with one gym, scheduling non-league games, and scheduling officials for both boys? and girls? basketball seasons occurring at the same time. He also said some coaches who coach both a girls? and boys? sport might have to make a decision between the two, and the golf team could suffer in membership numbers if switched from fall to spring.

Posen athletic director Dru Milliron said he also has a ?Plan B? in case seasons do switch for next fall.

Posen belongs to the North Star League, which is choosing to run the first half of its season with boys? and girls? basketball playing certain nights, and then switching the second half of the season, in order to make opportunities equal. ?Our league president drew up the schedules, so the first half of the season the girls might play Tuesday and Friday, and the second half they?ll play Monday and Thursday,? said Milliron. ?We haven?t run into any foreseeable coaching problems ? the hardest part is going to be scheduling non-league games. Leagues can do what they want, so you have to find dates that are compatible.?

Posen boys? basketball has four non-league games, while the girls? team has three non-league games. Although both the MHSAA and CFE expect word of the Supreme Court?s decision by April, no decision has been announced yet. To follow the lawsuit, go to www.MHSAA.com or www.communitiesforequity.com.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.