After 44 years of honoring female athletes, male athletes should be included in a prestigious award that honors their athletic abilities, too.

According to the Minneapolis Athena, in 1972, the Sports and Attraction Committee and the Women’s Division of Greater Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce created the Athena Award in hopes of correcting the oversight of female athletes.

Every year, participating high schools choose one girl who demonstrates the qualities of the Greek goddess Athena. It is time to also acknowledge male athletes who work hard.

The Minneapolis Athena originally intended to highlight female athletes because of their lack of acknowledgment.

However, since the 1970s, female athletics have acquired a greater sphere of viewers in many sports. According to CNN, the WNBA’s team sponsorships rose more than 10 percent from the prior season in 2012.

The Athena Award creates the assumption that the student body should celebrate female athletes only around the time of the award instead of year-round.

Only awarding it to a single female might create the assumption that recognizing female athletes only falls under a certain time of year or category, when the Athena award winner is announced. In reality, support should be year-round.

This ideology puts girls in a different category than boys and illustrates their inferiority.

By including men in the award, equality of both genders increases through promoting equal athletic recognition of each side.

The award excludes males from recognition of their achievements. By creating a school-wide male athletic award, the competition for the award would be more inclusive.

Many male athletes work very hard in their sports seasons and deserve to have an award similar to the one available to girls. Both sexes deserve equal recognition and should be treated equally.