I agree that it sounds ridiculous when talking about kids this age. But the debate must inherently include a larger sample size than a girl or two here and there who aren't allowed to play on a boys team.

First, I would guess that there are many girls, I would assert the majority of them in fact, who would be intimidated from joining and participating in sports if it was a co-ed environment. Would it have a negative effect?

Second, and there's no real way of getting around this in the post T9 environment, but if it's going to be co-ed then it can't be boys sports are co-ed but girls sports are still girls sports.

Sure, if we declared tomorrow that all school sports are co-ed, I'm sure there would be several girls here and there would find their way onto the "boys" team. But how many more boys would knock off a roster spot from a girl from whatever was determined to be the "b" team.

I'm not opposed to what you're saying, but I would suggest that segregating by gender actually encourages more participation from girls, even if it prohibits a few standouts from playing with the boys.

Is fighting for one uber-athlete girl to get on a boys team worth having an avalanche of boys potentially take over a girls team? Because you can't have it both ways.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014 at 11:46pm EST

This is another thing I don't understand, why not just push the girls who have clearly exceeded their competition up a level?

When I was in 7th grade, there was a boy wrestler who was clearly above and beyond his peer level. National camp invites, college recruiters, etc. were all over him. The school district gave him permission to wrestle at the high school in his district and he ended up making the varsity squad. So here you had a 13 year old phenom who was given the chance to compete with boys 3-5 years older and it leveled out. It happens in hockey here in Minnesota all the time, boys just get bumped up to the next level.

Why can't a girl who shows superlative talent just be allowed to compete for a spot in a higher level? It's been happening with boys forever. (granted, that's a bit off the wrestling topic because I'm aware that there aren't dedicated girls wrestling teams in most places, but the Pandora's box opens all kinds of scenarios)

Wednesday, January 15, 2014 at 11:55pm EST

Chirp, chirp.

It's easy to make a bold statement and run Dr. Pappano. To actually defend it, well......

Thursday, January 16, 2014 at 10:53pm EST

Thanks for your comments. Where to begin?

It's difficult to discuss whether or not girls -- the "majority of them, in fact" -- would be intimidated by playing co-ed sports. I think one of the goals of co-ed sports at early ages is precisely to lessen the presumption that every little boy is expected to be a better athlete than every little girl. Social experiences 30 years ago may have made it easy to get away with the presumption that boys are "naturally" athletic superstars and females are weak and uncoordinated, but today I'd say "not so fast." There are some kids who are stronger athletes than others -- some are boys and some are girls.

Not sure what you mean by "getting around this in the post T9 environment." This wrestler's case -- as the case in Kansas -- were not Title IX cases, but rooted in the Equal Protection Clause (14th amendment). Interestingly, though, case law does show in Title IX cases that it is acceptable to allow females to play on male teams but not to require the reverse as under the law females constitute an underrepresented minority. I don't necessarily think this is right, but it has been the legal interpretation.

In fact, the notion of boys overrunning girl's teams where they've locally been permitted to play -- often in field hockey and some cases volleyball simply hasn't happened. A skill sport like field hockey involves finesse and stick work that are more about practice than physical size or strength. In fact, whack the field hockey ball too hard and your teammate is unlikely to stop it before it speeds out of bounds.

The nice thing about wrestling -- and there are many, many girls across the country competing on boys teams (and even in state championships) -- is that weight classes allow athletes to be somewhat physically matched. While males at the same weight generally have more muscle mass than females of the same weight, it's been interesting to see a number of female wrestlers discover that their technique and lower center of gravity has been an advantage on the mat.

Sorry for the delay in responding. I certainly did not intend to "make a bold statement and run." Just busy. Plus there is nothing so bold about what I've said anyway.

Friday, January 17, 2014 at 1:26pm EST

I appreciate the response. Truly we probably aren't that far apart in our attitudes regarding youth sports. When I played youth sports growing up in Minnesota in the early 80's, there wasn't much for girls leagues, so it was very common and normal to have girls on the hockey and soccer teams I played on.

Us kids really didn't think much of it actually, I honestly don't remember "distinguishing" the girls from the boys, we were all just part of the same team. Which is, as I best gather from your writings, the "spirit" of what you are arguing for.

The tricky part comes in the pubescent years and beyond. Then there are just some natural differences that start to appear. It most certainly doesn't mean that "every" boy is a better athlete than "every" girl, but on average the "bigger, stronger, faster" argument will ring true.

When we try to decide how to best create equal opportunities and positive encouragement to participate in sports in our community schools, I think we have to consider the larger part of the bell curve.

I agree that where there simply isn't a viable girls alternative (say, wrestling) that they should be allowed to compete. I would maintain, however, that in sports like basketball, that a girl with superlative skills should simply be moved up a level, as has been done in boys sports for decades.

I know you defended the boys who have marshaled to play field hockey in the much publicized cases in your neck of the woods, so you certainly are far from hypocritical in your stance for co-ed sporting experiences.

I guess I just too often see the argument being slanted the other way, where boys sports are essentially neutered and criticized for exclusion, but when a boy who may want to participate in a "traditionally" girls sport like volleyball or field hockey they are not given the same support.

Saturday, January 18, 2014 at 12:49am EST