Girl Games

I find myself getting into arguments and discussions about girls in sports rather frequently. I'm not sure how I feel about girls playing on boy's teams - my opinion on that changes regularly, usually depending on the article I've just read or situation I've come across. However, I am a firm believer and supporter of Title IX, which is the provision allowing equal opportunities for girls' sports teams. It is a provision that has stirred up a lot of controversy: Many parents, coaches, and athletes believe that boys' sports are being short-changed.

I could argue this more in-depth, but perhaps I'll save that for another column. This week, I want to address - and stress -the importance of respecting female sports and athletes.

Why do girls play sports? Same reasons that boys do: they enjoy the sport, for exercise, to learn teamwork or a skill, because they are good at it, because mom and dad insist. The Women's Sports Foundation provides more detail to why women play and how to help girls get involved.

What I find frustrating is the second-class status that girls' sports get. Not just from those who fund sports or schedule practice and game times, but by sports fans themselves. While events like the Women's World Cup in soccer have made positive steps in showing that women sports are exciting in their own right, most girls' games go sparcely attended while the boys' games attract the crowds. The problem, as I see it, is too many fans expect boys and girls to play the same sports the same way; therefore, they see the girls' game as the slower, possibly more dull, version of the boys' game. Basketball is a great example of this because it is a game where the playing surface is identical. Women use a slightly smaller ball, but the court and the baskets are the same. Male basketball players can slam dunk. The style of play is more individualistic and often more physical. Lots of fans see that as more exciting. Women basketball players play a slower, more methodical game. It is more of a team sport.

The point is, boys' basketball and girls' basketball aren't really the same sport. They are the same game played by two different types of athletes, which creates very different sports. The first step to appreciate women's sports is to understand that they aren't watered down versions of a man's game. They are unique sports in which the athletes are female. They are opportunities for our daughters to experience all the good things about sports.

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