It is undeniable that women’s sports are getting more investment and attention than ever before. An entire generation of professional female athletes, including Caitlin Clark, Coco Gauff, Trinity Rodman and Simone Biles, have redefined the landscape of women’s sports with record-breaking performances, brand endorsements and salaries.
Not only are they breaking barriers and bringing viewership to women’s athletics, but they are also using their platforms to create lasting change on and off the playing field. At the professional level, women’s sports are reaching new highs.
As a female collegiate athlete, I am inspired by the women in sports who are challenging stereotypes and working to reach gender equality on a global stage. However, I can’t help but feel that this impact is only experienced at the highest levels.
Title IX is a federal law that ensures equal opportunity for women and girls in educational programs and activities. It was established over 50 years ago and has provided the foundation for athletic opportunities for women and girls across the nation.
Title IX requires male and female student athletes to receive equal treatment and benefits, but equal treatment does not necessarily lead to equal respect.
Before reaching the collegiate level, I played soccer and basketball at a Class A high school in Nebraska. My high school won the Class A Nebraska State Activities Association Cup in my junior and senior years, which is awarded to the high school with the most teams or programs competing in the state championships.
Despite the success of my high school athletic department, there was still a lack of respect toward female athletes throughout the school. Members of the boys’ basketball team would tell us that girls’ basketball was not a sport. For every female sport, the only hope of getting a student section was making it to the state tournament. Even the cheerleaders would complain about having to perform at the girls’ games.
The negative view of female athletes amongst their peers and classmates has a negative impact on participation, especially at the non-varsity levels. Even at the collegiate level, scholarship money is proportionate to participation.
According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, girls in every state miss out on over 1 million more high school sports opportunities than boys. At the collegiate level, the Women’s Sports Foundation reported that men receive $252 million more in athletic financial aid and 60,000 additional opportunities in sports compared to women.
Girls in high school have not even reached the same level of participation as boys had when Title IX was passed. According to WSF, 3.4 million girls currently participate in high school sports, but 3.6 million boys participated in 1972.
Title IX removed the barriers for women and girls to participate in sports. Women’s professional sports are even gaining the recognition and investment that has been long overdue. Yet, participation is still lower at the youth level across the nation.
Society is comfortable with the concept of boys playing sports, but with the concept of girls playing sports, there is more unease. There are two ways to solve this problem: view women’s sports as its own category or place the same value on girls playing sports as boys.
Until society changes how it views women’s sports, participation between genders will never be equal. Without equal participation, the full impact of Title IX cannot be reached.
