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Celebrating equality in sports?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Gator, May 7, 2012.

  1. Smash Williams

    Smash Williams Well-Known Member

    And again, this "inherent physical advantage" is not the case with this boy, who is six inches shorter and 20 pounds lighter than the average 12-13 year old boy (http://www.ehow.com/facts_7417018_average-weight-height-13_year_old.html). The reason this kid is so good, and the reason they want him out of the league, is he has extensive experience with the sport while all the girls likely first heard of it around age 14. The gender difference is a red herring.
     
  2. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    And again, you're discounting the matter of speed.
     
  3. Smash Williams

    Smash Williams Well-Known Member

    I'm really not, I promise. This is a tiny kid for his age with proportionally shorter legs. Even if he has a quicker turnover or more explosive muscle mass, his stride length is a huge factor at his height.
     
  4. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    You have never seen a bunch of middle schoolers race, I guess. I will tell you how it comes out: The smaller kids usually win.
     
  5. Gator

    Gator Well-Known Member

    Not sure how many field hockey games you've covered, but I've never covered one where the number of pushups, or the time in the mile would be an asset. Now the shuttle run is a different story, and that time is comparable.

    But if you want to use the physical difference argument, take the case of Chelsea Baker, the knuckleballer. She was more developed at 13 than most of her competition, and like our little field hockey player, her "skills" were far and away better than anyone else in that league. If she were booted from her baseball league, would you care as much?

    Discrimination is discrimination, any way you slice it.
     
  6. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    The 'physical difference' argument makes no sense in this case.

    He's a much better field hockey player because he grew up in a place where boys play field hockey. His level of expertise is way beyond that of his classmates.

    Is 'overwhelming competitive advantage' a fair argument when talking about high school sports?
     
  7. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    What's also not taken into consideration is the level of interest needed in order to field a team. This Title IX article speaks of how there's 41 percent of the female HS population plays sports, even though they are 49 percent of the student body. Maybe 8 percent just doesn't give a damn about playing sports?

    http://www.titleix.info/10-Key-Areas-of-Title-IX/Athletics.aspx

    Not to mention, in the story you cited, the one boy was allowed to play after suing was 5-6, 145. Hardly a physical specimen. It was also funny reading how they were concerned it would "open up opportunities for everyone." Um, wasn't that what Title IX is all about?
     
  8. Gator

    Gator Well-Known Member

    This is the quote that I really didn't understand.

    "[Pilaro is] having a significant adverse effect on some of his opposing female players. The rules state he would be allowed to play if he wasn't the dominant player."

    You'll have to show me that rule book, because I can't fathom how such a rule got in there.
     
  9. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Is the goal of extracurricular sports victory? Or participation?

    I don't doubt that somewhere in the "rulebook" - presuming the rules were written in the last few years - those very idea(l)s are questioned.
     
  10. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    There's nothing in sports that makes me go BOING more than field hockey players in the old-school plaid skirts.

    They might as well be drill team members in the style of today.
     
  11. WriteThinking

    WriteThinking Well-Known Member

    Personally, I would hire the kid, as a roving coach for the league.

    That said, I guess things are different in N.Y. than where I am, because I wonder how an 11-year-old got onto any high school team? Did he skip a couple grades?

    I do think this case really is a skills issue. Any gender or sex-discrimination issues aside, the reasoning here is essentially the same as that employed by sports leagues the world over for having age-group divisions, and generally not crossing them, in youth sports.

    Any girl -- even one who is good at what she's doing -- is unlikely to upset the balance and competitiveness of any boys' team on which she plays, while the reverse would likely not be so.

    That's the difference, whatever the laws, which, it should be noted, were put into place and practice as a means to help and heed a group that was seen as needing it -- much as Affirmative Action hiring practices were -- and the fact is that this boy isn't in that group.
     
  12. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    New York allows seventh and eighth graders to play varsity sports, which still strikes me as very odd.
     
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