Support women's sports and SHARE this story with your friends!

This week in Arizona, a fundamentalist Catholic high school called "Our Lady of Sorrows" (indeed!) forfeited the high school championship game rather than face Mesa Preparatory Academy and its female second-baseman, Paige Sultzbach.  According to its press release, this decision was an extension of their religious beliefs:

Our school aims to instill in our boys a profound respect for women and girls. Teaching our boys to treat ladies with deference, we choose not to place them in an athletic competition where proper boundaries can only be respected with difficulty.

Sadly, OLS's "respect" and "deference" for Sultzbach means denying her and her team exactly that -- the opportunity to play for the championship.  This instance of discrimination, however, may be outside the scope of the laws that usually govern high school sports.  OLS is a private school, not subject to the U.S. Constitution's Equal Protection Clause, under which public entities must give girls an equal right to tryout and play sports.

Nor does Sultzbach likely have a claim against her own school, Mesa Prep.  It was reported that during the regular season, Sultzbach benched herself in games against OLS, to avoid a forfeit for her team. Thus it would appear that she's being discriminated against by Mesa Prep's decision to play against OLS -- except that her school is private also, and likely outside the reach of Title IX, which only applies to schools that receive federal funds.  (While Title IX would not require a school to let a girl onto a boys baseball team in the first place, due to it's status as a "contact sport," the law clearly requires schools that do accept a girl onto boys' teams to treat her equally, which would, I argue, include not subjecting her to the unique pressure of having to opt out in order for her teammates to have competition).  Similarly beyond the scope of nondiscrimination law is the conference both schools play in, the Arizona Charter Athletic Conference, which "provides competitive athletic competition for charter schools, home school organizations & parochial schools in Arizona."  

Sultzbach and her parents are all reportedly upset by this decision, but unfortunately they would not appear to have legal recourse.  Instead their situation must serve as a cautionary tale for others about the consequences of opting out of civil rights protection by one's choice of where to attend school.  

Support women's sports and SHARE this story with your friends!

• Baseball
• Sports
• SportsPLUS
• OpEd
• Discrimination/Title IX
• High School
• Student-Athlete
• Sexism

View Original Post at title-ix.blogspot.com

View EBuz's Full Profile

There is 1 comment on this post. Join the discussion!

Crimson says:

Ms. Buzvis - As you note, neither the government or Title IX have jurisdiction in this scenario. It should not be lost on those reading this post that charter schools came into existence due to the well documented deficiencies in the government supported public school systems and the desire for many parents not to hand off their parenting responsibilities to folks who think like you and your friends.

The fact that Our Lady of Sorrows has exercised their constitutional right to freedom of religion should not surprise or disappoint anyone. You may not like their decision, but it is their belief system and their right.

The real story here is that Mesa Prep beat Our Lady of Sorrows twice during the regular season without Sultzbach in the line up. What actually happened here is that gender politicians like you decided to try to make a point with this drama by forcing Sultzbach into the lineup without notice prior to the championship game. It certainly didn't change the outcome of the game as it was clear that Mesa had the better club, regardless of Sultzbach's participation.

The most unfortunate aspect of this entire spectacle is that there are Title IX attorneys, academics, consultants and apologists like you that would be happy to take these folks' right to religious freedom to support your social agenda.

Monday, May 14, 2012 at 12:55pm EDT

Leave Your Comment:  Read our comment policy

Login  |  Sign Up

LOGIN TO WOMEN TALK SPORTS:

Username: 

Password: 

SIGNUP FOR A WOMEN TALK SPORTS ACCOUNT:

A Women Talk Sports account allows you to maintain a profile at www.womentalksports.com and login to comment on posts using your WTS identity.

Fields marked with a * are required.

Your First Name*: 

Your Last Name*: 

Your E-mail*: 

Your Website: 

Your Location: 

Your Twitter Username: 

Create a WTS Username*: 

Create a Password*: 

Confirm Password*: 

Check here to receive bi-weekly emails from Women Talk Sports and partners highlighting discussions on our site and upcoming women's sporting events, as well as informing you of new products, services and special offers.

I accept the Terms & Conditions for joining Women Talk Sports