Woman Athletes Play with Balls Too

 (Women’s Sports Foundation)

It was my first year, the week of preseason for women’s soccer and it was my job to change the laundry loops at our athletic facilities, however, being new to campus I was scared to walk across campus alone at night. I had asked one of my football playing neighbors to walk with me. On the way, he was bragging all about their locker room and how it was “hella cool”, they had comfy couches and were able to play Xbox. It was hard to believe him because the women’s soccer locker room was dark, cramped, we had one loveseat, lockers similar to the one’s I had in middle school with no space for our equipment. We all had to stagger ourselves when we changed so as to not elbow our teammate’s in the face. He was able to show me their locker room and it was extremely spacious. I understand they are a considerably larger team than soccer in number and in size, but their locker room was beautiful compared to ours. They have full person lockers made of wood that you see professional teams have, they have enough room to sit down and multiple cabinets to hold their gear. Throughout the rest of the locker room they have comfortable, leather couches and TV’s set up across from them. And, don’t want to forget the two Xboxes they had set up. That was my reality check where I realized that my gender would determine the quality and opportunities given to me of my athletic experience in college (Thomas, 2019).

There is much awareness of the inequality that is present in collegiate sports. Many studies have been conducted that have stated Division I institutions are very unlikely to be in compliance of Title IX, which is the law that was created to provide equal opportunities for both genders in education which includes athletics (Stafford 2004, Anderson et al., 2003). These studies looked at the participation levels which have increased greatly since the introduction of Title IX in 1972.

However, there has been this huge increase of participation for women in sports they still do not receive the same level of funding in Division III, a women’s team is expected to receive 8.31% less spent on them than a men’s team (Thomas, 2019). The social issue of gender inequality in sports is happening at all levels of athletics and across the country.

Not only, is the difference in funding creating a feeling of lesser value in female student-athletes it is encouraging toxic masculinity. For example, football is a symbol of masculinity because the sport promotes “big, strong, tough, aggressive, and muscular men” (Meyer, 2014). These symbols of masculinity are supported by receiving more attention through media coverage or through more funding. In Division III, institutions with football programs the female teams have 9.64% less spent on them and in institutions without football programs have 6.39% less spent on them (Thomas, 2019). This perpetuates toxic masculinity on and off the field and has been linked to domestic violence cases (Meyer, 2014).

Here is a statement that can be found on the NCAA’s page on what Division III athletics has to offer:

“Division III athletics departments place special importance on the impact of athletics on   the participants rather than on the spectators. The student-athlete’s experience is of  paramount concern.” 

 But what kind of experience is this? Men are being rewarded for characteristic that are proven to lead to more domestic abuse and female student-athletes are left feeling less valued and voiceless.  And the “paramount concern” of the quality of our experience is not felt, not once in my experience in collegiate athletics was I told about ways I can openly discuss Title IX with my coaches or administration. I was shocked when Shana Levine, athletic director at Lewis and Clark college thinks student-athletes and parents need to take more action to call attention to the inequalities (2019). How are female student-athletes shown they have the power to make any of these changes? I only heard about instances when these concerns are brought up and they normally received a shrug of the shoulders, or when I asked my coaches why the athletic trainers are always closed after our practices (which end at 7pm) but they stay open till 10pm when it is football season. The people in power to make any changes for gender inequality are the administration but they continue to perpetuate the situation by ignoring concerns that are brought up and making decisions continuing to fund and provide more benefits to men’s sports more than their women teams. This leaves the female student-athletes with the belief that their experience in collegiate sports is less valued and then this belief of less importance continues after their college experience.

Sources:

Anderson, Deborah J., Cheslock, John J., and Ehrenberg, Ronald G. “Gender Equity in Intercollegiate Athletics: Determinants of Title IX Compliance.” University of Arizona, 2003.

Levine, Shana. Personal Interview. 14 Mar 2019.

Meyer, Elizabet J. “NFL’s Masculinity Problem and How it Affects Us All.” Psychology Today. 2014.

Nowakowski, Audrey. “From Financial Inequality to Sexism, Women in Sports Still Face an Uphill Battle”.  2016.

National Collegiate Athletic Administration. “What Does Division III Have to Offer?” 2019.

National Federation of State High School Associations. “A dramatic, 40-year rise.” 2012.

Stafford, S. “Assessing the effect of formal and informal enforcement on progress towards Title IX compliance.” Social Science Quarterly, vol 85, pp 1469-1486. 2004.

Thomas, Carla. “Is NCAA in compliance with Title IX?” 2019.