51% of female athletes, compared to the 31% of male athletes, quit playing sports by the time they turn 18. There are many reasons why people quit playing sports, such as bad experiences, conflicts with coaches, injuries, cost or lack of access. At Park, we see inequality with practice and game times, attendance at games and differences in budgets for boys sports and girls sports.
According to physical education and developmental adapted physical education (DAPE) teacher Keri Esslinger, she has seen gender inequality in sports with the practice times and fields that are given to male teams versus female teams at Park. She said you can see these inequities with more convenient game times and dates for the boys’ teams.
“The main places I’ve witnessed (inequality) have been seeing the priority of practice times, and what times the female sports versus male sports were able to get fields, and were able to get courts and game times,” Esslinger said. “It seems like a lot of times the priority would be given to the boys’ teams for the time they were able to play. We even see that with (tackle) football, where they are always given the Friday night time slot.”
Junior Tenzin Pedon said in ultimate frisbee, the open team is more competitive than the girls and non-binary team (GNB team), and due to that, they have more opportunities and competitions. She said there is more of an emphasis on the open team than the GNB team.
“In (ultimate) frisbee specifically, our open/boys team is a lot more competitive than (our GNB team), so they have more players and more playing opportunities like tournaments that need the funding,” Pedon said. “I’ve definitely noticed that there’s a lot more focus on the open team than GNB.”
Freshman Lucy Voeller said team information, regarding games and other important events, and encouraged attendance would be one step towards achieving gender equity in Park sports. Voeller said showing support between male and female teams would help increase the turnout for female sporting events.
“Game day information for girls’ sports should be more accessible and male athletes should be encouraged to attend,” Voeller said. “I know some of the girls programs are going to (each other’s) games, like the track, softball and lacrosse teams, and I think the boys and girls teams should do (something like) that.”
Esslinger said gender inequality can make female athletes feel like there is a limit as to how far they are able to go and what they can achieve in their sports. According to her, Park has done a good job of adding sports for female athletes that weren’t always an option but now are.
“(The inequality) makes girls feel like there’s a ceiling,” Esslinger said. “It makes girls feel like, ‘I can only go to a certain point’ and ‘there isn’t as much opportunity out there.’ But here at Park, we’ve got lacrosse, we’ve got flag (football) and we’ve got all sorts of amazing sports that girls didn’t use to have.”
According to Pedon, there is more help available for male sports teams in general, and she sees this play out through monetary and emotional support. Pedon said she’s seen a misconception that women’s sports are less entertaining and competitive than men’s sports, but it is important to realize that everyone is putting their best effort forward.
“There’s more overall support to men’s teams, whether that be through advertising, funding or just spirit,” Pedon said. “ There is also this idea that women’s sporting events are more lame and won’t be as intense as a men’s game, which is false. I think that we all just have to recognize that all teams, regardless of gender, are playing equally hard and intensely.”
Voeller said one place she sees inequity is when male classmates make comments about male athletes being inherently better than female athletes. She said disregarding the hard work that many female athletes go through to be recognized is very hurtful.
“Guys at school say, ‘the worst male athlete will always beat the best female athlete,’ which is very degrading to hear as a female athlete and very disappointing to hear that people still hold those beliefs,” Voeller said.
Esslinger said athletic opportunities for female athletes have greatly improved, but there is still work to do. According to her, chances would not be possible if the generations that came before us had taken their wins and quit working for more.
“We have come a long way,” Esslinger said. “When I was in school, we thought we had come a long way, and we can’t get complacent. That’s the key, those that are my age and (at) my stage, we can’t sit and celebrate because we see what opportunities you all have. Because if those before us celebrated for the opportunities we had, we wouldn’t be any farther. That’s something that we all have to remember, is that complacency just breeds inequity.”
