Discrimination in HS sports

Alright, football season has started! People left flyers all over the place for the first football game at old High School. Wow, just like last year. Radio talk about football season, everyone excited!

But guess what? They never advertise vollyball, softball, none of the womens sports. Also, the biggest women sport at the highschool, womens basket ball, is done in the off season. During mens football.(about the last 3 months) But no one gives out flers, no radio ads, nothing. Why? How come the mens sport, football, is advertised and supported more than womens sports? Or when the baseball/softball season starts, baseball, baseball, baseball, yea! Oh, softball? Womens sport, baseball baseball baseball! Also, track and feild. The men are worshipped, but they suck. The womens team kicks ass every year, but they get no funding.

Also, funding for womens basketball is lower then mens. WOmens record last year? 10-4. Mens record, 6-8. Or football, they suck. Past ten years never make it to playoffs. Womens tennis has gone to the championships 7 times past 10 years. But guess who gets more funding? Football.

Why do mens sports get more funding, more support, and more fans? Even when they suck compared to the women's team, they get more. Is it discrimination? Or just the way things work?

Women's sports are ignored because no one cares about women's sports, except women. No one likes to watch women play "Men's" sports because they are bad at them. Have you ever watched a WNBA game? Watching the NBA is boring, but the WNBA take it to new heights. The only WNBA game I ever watched had the final score 43 to 36. That would be the first quater in any NBA game, even if the Wizards were playing.

If I recall correctly, most games (no matter what sport), except football games, were usually played right after school. Most people work after school or have things they need to take care of. It would be like advertising to an audience of 3 people. It would be a waste of money. It's just the way things work.

[edit on 27-8-2004 by BangorangRufio]

Wow BangorangRufio, thats a really closed minded opinion! James is right, its discrimination torward women's sports. Thank god for Title IX or women may not even get the chance to compete in sports like men do.

I say, regardless of gender, people should concentrate on the "sport" and not the "gender" of those involved. If they don't then they are not true fans of sports...

Men are better than women at most sports, thats why they get more support and fans.

At the risk of sounding "closed minded" I would have to say it's because mens sports (in high school) are higher scoring, faster, and rougher. If you have ever played real football (tackle with full pads) then you know why there isn't a WNFL.

In my experience, football is the only sport that gets all the attention in high schools -- none of the other sports, boys or girls, gets hardly any attention at all. Personally, I don't think this is due to discrimination; I think it's simply due to the fact that football is, by far, the most popular sport in the U.S.

Also, am I the only person who thinks there is way too much emphasis on sports in schools in general? Academics should come first; after all, sports are supposed to be extra-curriculuar activities, after all...

Well, mens hockey and basketball is treated as a religon here, not just football. But for those that say women are worse then men in sports, the Olympic Mens barely win bronze. The womens, as far as I know have a shot at gold.

Also, as said, our men's track team suck, our women's kicks butt. So, not that women are bad at sports. And what is up with the post about how women can't play 'real" football? You get some of them over eating women who are 5"5, 350lbs, they can wear the pads as well as a 5"5 350lbs man.

Well women sports are maturing. An interesting fact is that many women don't watch women playing sports. Women could drive the market, by spending dollars, but they dont because they dont care.

I think its a question of maturity.

That is an interesting point. Despite all the efforts of the NBA to create and mature a WNBA, it still has to fight hard for fan support. I rarely see women wearing WNBA clothing; in fact, 90% of the time I see women wearing NFL clothing (when they're wearing sports-related clothing at all)...

The truth is, most women don't care about sports. Are they supposed to? Are they required to? Of course not. As long as women are free to play sports if they wish (like in high school or college), and as long as businesses are free to try and establish pro leagues for women athletes, then the system is OK. At that point, it's up to the market to decide who gets the most attention.

I do hope the WNBA does well though. It was a brilliant idea by the NBA -- "Hey, we already have stadiums built for our NBA teams, so why don't we build a women's pro league that can play in the men's offseason in the same stadiums? We can have an entirely new pro league with minimal upfront costs!" I also hope that someday we'll see a WMLB built in a smiliar way...

Well, a school district in Michigan got in trouble for discrimination against womens sports. How? In basketball season they had the girls play volleyball, in volleyball season, they played basketball. Now, how did this discriminate? According to the studies the state did, if you have volleyball in basketball season, people want to watch basketball, not volleyball, and vice versa.

I never watch WNBA, I also don't watch NBA. Wrestling is my, ha ha, sport.

I agree. Women did alot better in the Olympics than men did.

I dont care much about sports. I do not watch basketball at all, because its a pointless and boring sport to me. Watching sports holds little interest, I prefer to play.

I do prefer though, when I do watch some sports, to watch women vs men, as they are far more interesting without all the hype, bluster, and fanfare than mens games have. mens games have little to do with the sport, and more to do with everything else.

More people watch mens sports because of all the fluff and BS surrounding them. If you took all that away, mens sports would lose popularity, because when you get down to the game, they lack real substance. Pointless posturing and the like.

Men and women wear mens sports team clothing because its fashionable. Ive seen alot of people, male and female, who wear team clothing and know nothing about the sport.

Here's my 2-cents:
Women's sports aren't as big a deal because they haven't figured out how to market them correctly, yet.

JUst look at how the media has ruined NASCAR and golf? They make it where a true fan can barely tolerate the coverage, and the ratings are higher than ever. Give them time, they can get to women's sports when they have ruined, I mean, gone through all the men's sports.

It's different at my school. The Girl's sports are recognized just as much as the Boys, except in Basketball where the Boy's made the Championship last year. We are discriminated this way: Our school is called Fountain-Ft. Carson HS, because the kids on Ft. Carson mix with the kids from Fountain. well since the school is IN fountain, us Carson kids are discriminated in the sports. Like in Football and basketball seaon last year, out of 122 kids that participated, only 20 were from Carson... me being on both. But yes... There is discrimination bigtime, and I hate it.

that would because there are usually only women's teams because the women couldn't make the men's teams ROFL

u know what man, ur right! lets close down all the sex divided leagues and make only co-ed leagues in which only the best make teh teams! lets see the male:female ratio then motha-- LOLZ

Well, women can't make it on the men's teams, they are not allowed to even try. But some of the women could probably make the mens team if they were allowed to try. But they aren't, for it is a mens team, not co-ed team.

If you think it's a big deal in High School....just look at college....Men's football, basketball and baseball are about all anyone cares about...and you want to know why?!

B/C every day I drive to work I go past this....


The guy who was able to provide the funding to build this stadium/office space/class space? This guy....


That's why high schools, colleges, and most big cities love their men's sports....maybe some day we can see women's sports attract this kind of money and attention, but for now it's all about the people who can bring in the most money.....

Wow, that is a huge place. But yes, the people who put the money in to make certain buildings may want their buildings to make money. Or at least recognized. If one make a stadium for say, shot put, and no one watches shot put, no one will know he built the place/funded it. No one will know about say, James Stadium. But if you make a football field and call it James INC Stadium, then people will know that James INC made it and will appreciate it and may buy more James INC products. No one goes to a girls softball game, so no James INC Field.

Actually, for the record, the vast majority of Division 1 A and AA programs lose money. With the exception of a few teams in football and basketball, college sports teams always lose money. However, they make up for it in "cool sports college" undertones that bring in merchandise money.

Now, as far as women sports go...

High school attendance for most sports are pretty sorry, with one exception, football. And even then it's lackluster at a lot of schools. Sure, the may advertise for baseball and basketball, but they're not doing it to make money. The booster club has a specific level of funding for advertising, and they have to spend it on the sports they thing will bring in the most people. The fact of the matter is that men’s sports bring in more people. The boosters are going to invest in what they deem is a sure thing, most boosters simply cannot afford to take risks. They want to increase turnout at the places they have the best chance of increasing fans of a measurable financial amount. This way, they can make money on merchandise and concessions. Remember, if it wasn't for the money they make on football, basketball, and baseball, or whatever, there would be no women's teams. Hell, there'd probably be even less men’s teams.

It really boils down to money. School can’t fund all of the teams on their own so they depend on boosters. Since all sports lose money for schools, they need to back up the ones that bring in the most revenue, and that is men’s sports.

As far as why no one goes to watch women sports…. People just don’t like to watch women compete. That’s not going to change. I’m not saying it’s right, but I shouldn’t have to feel bad about myself because outside of Women’s soccer I find women’s sports boring.

Actually, it may change, I’m probably wrong about that. However, women have been held down from competing for a long long time, longer than most history books keep track of. It’s going to take a long time to change that mentality because at this point it’s almost genetic.

I couldn't agree more as a former highschool football player who had his D1 college (and the slim shot at pro) dreams shattered by 2 ACL injuries. The simple fact is that there aren't any 6'1" 215 pound women who run can run 4.5 and under in the 40 yard dash with a mid 30 inch vertical jump.

Women are built differently then men - they are not as strong, not as fast, not as coordinated and sorry, again at the risk of sounding close minded, not as tough as men. Thus, the majority of mens sports are more entertaining, and after all - for the spectator - the goal of being a fan is to be entertained.

As far as funding goes, in a lot of instances (especially college) it is because the male sports bring in a lot more money thn their female counterparts.