Boy swimmers race against girls in Mass. People not happy

They have separate fall and winter seasons (there's also a girls winter season) because there are not enough pools and officials available to accomodate all the teams, or so I'm told.

 

So you're in favor of an equal playing field for golf. Fair enough.

That's what this is in swimming. Equal.

If they want to come up with a different plan, where boys only compete against boys as a separate part of the meet, fine.

But I'm tired of hearing how unfair it is. A girl kicks ass in a boys sport, it's "You go girl!" But heaven forbid if a boy does great in a girls sport.

Either come up with a better solution, or stop complaining.

 

The solution is for the state association, and in turn the schools, to offer boys swimming at a time and under conditions that are equitable to that of girls swimming.

If for whatever reason they cannot or will not field a boys team, then the boys compete on the girls team. Just like girls compete on wrestling or football teams when a school does not field a girls team. Title IX works both ways.

Clearly there is unmet interest among boys who want to swim. And their parents should sue, just as parents of female athletes have had to do for decades. Wanting a school or state association to follow the law does not make someone a douchebag.

And I find this:

to be as distasteful and wrong as the fathers who tell female football players to "get back into the kitchen."

 

In that case I would suggest you rejoin the reality-based world, the one that acknowledges the inherent differences between the sexes and can figure out which ones are and aren't material to the matter at hand.

 

I agree with the part that if a girl fares well in an all-boys league, she's lauded. E60 did a piece on a girl knuckleballer who "made the boys cry." And that was the crux of the story, how she liked to poke fun at the kids who started to cry after striking out (these kids are freeking 12, by the way).

I thought that was pretty unfair, considering most adults are trying to teach their kids about sportsmanship. If that was a dominant boy pitcher laughing at another boy after striking him out, we'd all be up in arms. But no, because it's a girl it's super cute and funny.

 

So you think the school administration should not have reprimanded that father, since he was just pointing out the reality of the situation?

 

I do not think the school administration should have reprimanded the father, no. I think the boys and their parents should be ashamed of themselves, and anything that further heightens their shame is OK by me.

I'm sure this gets your field hockey skirt all bunched up.

 

I think telling female football players to get back into the kitchen is a lot worse than sarcastically congratulating boys for beating girls in swimming.

 

Why should the boys and their parents be ashamed? It's not their fault there isn't a team available for them. And what should they do, not try to win?

 

They shouldn't be competing against girls. If they want to run a few heats as boys-only, that seems like a viable solution.

If this were my boy, I would tell him tough shit, he's going to have to find another sport because he's not going to embarrass himself like that.

 

People are offering solutions.

And your point completely ignores the physical differences between boys and girls. Other than that, it might actually hold up.

 

If the kid were not a good swimmer and he never beat anyone, would we even be having this argument?