Title IX Expert Expresses Concern About Possible Reduction in High School Games

Nancy Hogshead-Makar, the former president of the Women's Sports Foundation, is one of the nation's foremost proponents of Title IX.

Nancy Hogshead-Makar said the Florida High School Athletic Association's proposal to cut 40 percent of junior-varsity games and 20 percent of varsity games -- except for football -- isn't a "gender-neutral decision." The proposed cut in schedules is financially motivated.

April 25, 2009 

Nancy Hogshead-Makar thought her elite swimming career at Jacksonville Episcopal High would end after graduation.

She didn't see the scholarship to Duke coming in 1979. Winning three gold medals in the 1984 Olympics was a pipe dream. And without those opportunities, she likely wouldn't have gone to Georgetown law school and become an advocate for Title IX -- part of the 1972 Education Act that prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions, including athletic programs.

That is why Hogshead-Makar is watching closely what the Florida High School Athletic Association will do Monday when it votes on a proposal to reduce the number of games in most varsity sports.

The proposed cut in schedules is financially motivated.

"Budget cuts just have to be done equitably," said Hogshead-Makar, who co-wrote the book Equal Play, Title IX and Social Change and teaches at Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville. "You can't ask women to tighten their belts when they're already anorexic on a shoestring budget."

Hogshead-Makar said the FHSAA's proposal to cut 40 percent of junior-varsity games and 20 percent of varsity games -- except for football -- isn't a "gender-neutral decision."

Competitive cheerleading is also safe from game reductions, but it is a recognized sport that essentially has one event -- the state tournament. Should the game reductions pass, several sports -- including girls basketball, girls soccer, softball and girls volleyball -- would see the maximum number of games trimmed from 25 to 20 games. Fifteen junior-varsity contests would be allowed in those sports.

Girls weightlifting would go from 13 to 11 meets, the same as boys weightlifting.

"Girls are being asked to shoulder a disproportionate share as opposed to boys," Hogshead-Makar said, referring to football's exclusion from game cuts.

Sonny Hester, chief administrative officer for the FHSAA, said game reductions are meant to save sports.

"By cutting the number of games, we're not doing away with programs,'' Hester said. "We feel we are saving programs because the reason for the games reductions is the superintendents association says if we don't cut games, we cut programs which may put some people in Title IX jeopardy.''

Saving programs is good news for schools such as Oak Ridge. Athletic Director Red Johnston said even without a recession, it is a struggle to get more participation from girls at his school.

The Pioneers are on pace to go for their record-tying 10th state girls track and field title in two weeks, but they have just six girls varsity teams. The FHSAA either sanctions or recognizes 15 girls sports.

Oak Ridge won a softball state championship in 1991; sadly, the school currently is without a team. After the Pioneers' feeder system -- Pine Castle's Little League program -- closed a few years ago, numbers at the high school level dwindled.

"We have to do a better job as coaches to get out and recruit in the hallways," Johnston said.

Administrators such as Johnston still could fight an uphill battle if budget cuts eliminate or drastically cut back sub-varsity programs.

"My concern is that the opportunities will be dwindling," Trinity Prep Athletic Director Kathy Finnucan said. "If you're limited to 15 [JV] games over eight weeks, that's a long period of time without a lot of excitement and opportunity to show what they can do. And that's when kids start losing interest."

The number of athletes affected Participation numbers are particularly important for girls, who are still outnumbered by over 1.3 million boy athletes in high school sports across the country.

In Central Florida, high school boys athletes outnumber girls 7,668-5,181 in Orange County. Boys hold the edge in Volusia (3,095-2,425), Seminole (3,783-2,638) and Osceola (2,354-1,690) as well.

Figures for Lake County were unable to be obtained.

Title IX, though, has proved when girls are given equal opportunities, interest follows. Girls participation numbers in varsity sports have exploded in the 37 years following the groundbreaking law. The most recent National Federation of State High School Associations survey showed 3,057,266 girls participate in sports; that number was 294,015 in 1972.

But some worry that those figures could be in danger. As sub-varsity programs stand on the budget chopping block -- coupled with situations like in Seminole and Volusia, which offer pay-to-play middle-school sports -- some wonder how children, especially girls, will get opportunities to develop athletically.

And without that development, girls such as Victoria Parks would have a harder time getting financial aid for college.

Parks, a senior volleyball player at Eustis, earned a scholarship to Lake-Sumter Community College. Her older brother attends Florida A&M, and paying for two children in college would strain her parents' finances.

"If I wouldn't have gotten a volleyball scholarship, I don't think I would have been able to go," Parks said.

Athletics has opened opportunities beyond the swimming pool for Hogshead-Makar.

She moved to Jacksonville at 11 years old. At Episcopal, thoughts of becoming an Olympic swimmer never crossed her mind until her coach, Randy Reese, exposed her to bluer pastures.

Reese went on to coach almost two dozen Olympians and was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2005.

"Without that opportunity," Hogshead-Makar said of meeting Reese, "it would have never happened."

Source:  Orlando Sentinel