Well I think there has always been a divide when dealing with gender in the sports realm. I mean men have always been sought after as the more dominant and athletic gender. Society views males as being bigger, stronger and faster than women typically. I think it wasn't until recently that women have began to gain some recognition for their contributions to the sports world. But what does that all mean? That's a good question because I asked myself this recently as well. All my life I have been taught to love sports no matter what. It didn't matter how busy or what other interest I had, I was always taught to make time for sports. So that's exactly what I did. I began to watch sports just because everyone else did; thinking that's what I was supposed to do. It wasn't until high school that I began to actually enjoy watching and playing sports. Sports have sinced turned into one of my most enjoyable past times. The ironic part is that even though females have began to emerge tremedously in sports, I never have actually sat down and watched any sports that they played. I have had several female friends that played sports and to be quite honest they were extremely talented in their respective sports. I just think that it was always enstilled in me to look at "manly" sports. My father played baseball, softball and ran track while he was in school. My mother never played a sport, but was the score keeper and the coache's assistant for varies teams while she was in school. So when sports was presented to me of course I was taught to spend more time watching sports that they were associated with. I did that for a long time, until I started to watch sports that my friends played. That's when I started to deal with more contact sports such as football, boxing, lacrosse and rugby. I used to think that there was something wrong with me not watching female sports or just being able to discuss them intelligentally. As I look at the issue at hand, I began to think why do I have to be wrong for not watching females in sports? Why can't I just like what sports I like? These are some of the questions that most males tend to come up with when dealing with this topic.
Now don't get it wrong I support all females involved in any aspect of sports; especially those who really have a passion for sports in general and their respective sports that they work with. I think those individuals are helping to make females in sports more of a presence.

In this decade, being a woman Division I athlete is accepted and allowed. It is also socially accepted to see a woman on the cover of Sports Illustrated or on ESPN. Title IX is �??a civil rights law, sponsored by Birch Bayh (Senate) and Edith Green (House of Representatives), which prohibits sex discrimination, including sexual harassment�?� (Shakib, 2000). Title IX has allowed woman to participate in athletics and excel. Because of Title IX women are now given the opportunities to play sports on scholarship, and because of scholarships some women who may not have been able to afford college now are able to.
In my situation, I participate in a sport that does not produce funds: swimming. Many institutions would drop a sport like swimming, gymnastics, tennis, or cross country because they are not considered profitable sports. I would assume that prior to Title IX, institutions would more likely cut a women's swimming program to make sure the men's football or basketball team had enough money for uniforms, traveling, and recruiting. However, by giving women like me the opportunity to participate in athletes does come with a price. By giving women these rights with Title IX, it usually means cutting men's teams that do not generate money. However, if gender laws in sports would have been equal from the beginning, I believe this could have prevented men's sports being cut today. Also, the numbers of male and female athletes should have been equal from the beginning. According to the Lopiano article, Title IX is affecting more Division I schools than II and III. (Lopiano, 2000) I feel this is because of the level of excellence and the amount of money teams have to spend to recruit excellence.
Recruiting the super athlete takes a lot of time and money. Millions of dollars are spent each year by large, money making universities to recruit the best athletes. In most universities, sports that produce the most profit are offered the most financial benefits. But what about those sports that do not make the money? I think that if there was some sort of recruiting cap or more rules were made about recruiting, there would be more money and therefore nonprofit sports teams would not be cut. If NCAA could institute a rule only allowing upperclassman to gain full rides to universities or if athletes would get lower tuition (because they are generating money for the university) then Title IX could be viewed as a good thing for both sexes, not just women. Also, NCAA or big conferences like the Big Ten could have roster restrictions. At Towson University, there are roughly seventy players on the Towson Men�??s Football team roster. However, only eleven players are on the field at a time. Restricting players would decrease recruiting money spent which another team could use.
Personally, Title IX has hit close to home. The Towson University Men�??s Swimming Team which used to be almost fully funded, now only has one full scholarship per year (which is sixteen thousand dollars). With only having sixteen thousand dollars in recruiting money, this leaves little room to recruit fast swimmers. Many male prospective student athletes would turn their head to Towson and could potentially look at another Colonial Athletic Association team. Also, The James Madison University, another Colonial Athletic Association school was forced to cut a total of ten teams. An article in USA Today by Erik Brady stated that the teams being cut becomes, �??effective July 1, at which point 61% of JMU athletes will be women, matching the percentage of women enrolled, meeting the requirements of the first test�?� (2007, p. 8).
Growing up I had a lot of trouble with picking sports I wanted to play sports with the boys but I was not aloud to because my parents were afraid I would get hurt. I always did swimming but I wanted to try a lot of other sports I was not aloud to. One sport I always wanted to do was football. There was no way my mother would let me go out for the team. I am very happy to of chosen swimming and that Title IX allows me to continue my sport in college.
Being a female Division I athlete might not have been possible without Title IX. This law has enabled many women to have the same opportunities as men, no matter how much income the sport produces. However, like every law, there are obvious downfalls. Many men�??s sports are forced to be cut so that the numbers of men and women athletes in universities are equal. I feel that there are many ways to decrease spending and stop cutting programs.
Growing up and playing sports so far this class has changed my view on certain aspects. I never realized how much race, gender, class and age affected the way sports are seen and played. Growing up the way I did I was very lucky to be able to try and attend as many sports I dream of. Every new sport I played was an experience I loved. If I had not been given the opportunity to spend my life around sports I would probably not be at Towson writing this paper. I would not want to spend my whole life wanting to teach others how to play different sports. This class has now taught me not to turn the blind eye when media goes after another athlete. I will now read more into it.

Sports have always been a huge part of my life, whether it be watching them or playing them. As a male, I was encouraged to play sports when I was younger because my parents loved to play sports. I was definitely encouraged to play baseball considering my parents gave me a middle name of Palmer, referring to the legendary Baltimore Orioles pitcher Jim Palmer. On the flip side of things, I would also say that my parents discouraged me from playing football because I was extremely skinny, and they were afraid I would get hurt. Also, I tended to play sports that were representative of the middle class.
I think young boys and girls have many options to choose from when it comes to participation in sports. The problem is that when boys and girls get older, and attend high school and college, the girls tend to have a few less options then boys do. Title IX has definitely helped with this problem: "As a result of Title IX, immense improvements in the situations of women and girls have occured in the last thirty years" (Shakib). Because so much money is being put towards sports like football and basketball in college, and the amount of scholarships as well as the amount of players required for football are so great, other men's sports programs are getting cut. A great example is at Towson University. There is no men's track and field or cross country team, which by the way did exist years ago, but there is a women's track and field team as well as a women's cross country team. Why did they not cut? Let's just say that Title IX is working. So, in a way, I feel that opportunities do continue to a rise for women in sports thanks to Title IX. Sports will most likely always be male dominated because they create tremendous revenue as opposed to women's sports, but women are definitely getting more involved in sports and competing, for example the WNBA, which is great to see.

Keith, my parents also allowed me to play any sport I wanted when I was younger, except football because I was so skinny. I do wish that more opportunities would arise for women as well, though I think that there will always be more money to be made with sports played by men than women. Also your writing was very easy to read and made a lot of sense. Nice work.

Its too bad I decided to respond to this blog after the championship game occurred. If I had read it earlier I would have definitely had a team to root for. Unfortunately Rutgers got beat pretty convincingly by Pat Summits Volunteers. I agree that sexism is a big part of the business world and in many ways the preferential treatment the Uconn coach gets is parallel to how many males in the workplace are regarded (wrongfully so). In my sporting experiences I think my sex had everything to do with the sports that I chose to play.
Of course growing up as a child it is frowned upon to do anything �??girlie�?� such as field hockey or ballet so, as a male, I never participating in these types of sports. I believe that I was definitely programmed as a youngster to participate in contact sports because of the saying, �??men should play man sports�?� and ridiculous similar thoughts. Football, wrestling and boxing were the main sports I participated in as a child. However, I don�??t believe on any conscionable level I decided to play these just because of the fact I was of the male sex. I think it had more to do with the people I grew up idolizing and wanted to be like (Rocky Marciano or Brett Favre). I think that my little brothers�?? decision not to participate in any �??manly sports�?� had an impact on his life.
My little brother is the youngest of five children (four boys, one girl) and unlike any of his older brothers he decided not to play contact sports. He decided he would rather skate here and there, work on the computer, build plastic airplanes and other alternative activities. This would be the most courageous decision he ever made. The amount of SH*T my youngest brother caught from me, my brothers, and the rest of our peers.
I wish I knew then what I know now about the way certain genders are ridiculed for not pursuing the �??accepted�?� path and the amount of stress they suffer because of it. Thankfully my brother didn�??t hold any grudges against us and knew we were just being annoying, immature brothers.

Gender plays a major factor in the sporting world. We think of the majority of the sports we play as male dominated activities, but the truth lies in the fact that men play and popularize those sports that we have a genetic advantage over women in. The sports that generate the most money and popularity are those sports that require physicality, brute strength, and speed, and more often then not, men have an advantage over women. This makes it very difficult for women to pursue a career, whether they are looking to prolong their playing careers, or looking for a job in the various positions that relate to sports. In an article I read prepared by Sohaila Shakib, Kevin Scalir, and Kuros Shakib, they described the importance of Title IX in women�??s sports, and how the situation with women in athletics has improved. They state that �??as a result of Title IX, immense improvements in the situations of women and girls have occurred in the last thirty years�?� (2001, p.1). However, in the article I read by Donna Lopiano she states that �??for every three new dollars going in to college athletic programs over the last five years, two are going to men�??s sports and only one to women�??s sports�?� and that �?? the $1 to women�??s sports in not closing the significant expenditure gap�?� (2002, p.295).
In relation to my own experiences. Growing up male and loving sports, you never give much thought to the fact that the sports you love to play and watch are gender specific, �??male only�?�. As a young kid playing lacrosse, baseball, ice hockey, and soccer, the only sport that I noticed initially that women would play was soccer. I never noticed any women on the baseball fields, lacrosse fields, or the ice rink. I believe that male growing up around other young males, you tend to gravitate to the sports that are popular among your friends or your parents. I now in my life I choose ice hockey because that was the sport my father most admired.
The older I got the more I realized that women were involved in a lot of the same sports, but just to a smaller scale. I believe that this stems from our society and culture. When are children are born we try to involve them in a variety of activities, and for boys that usually involves sports. Women might be introduced to sports as well, but those sports will most likely be the sports we may consider �??lady�?� sports. For instance sports like, dance, gymnastics, tennis, or figure skating. If they do play some of the major sports the rules are usually changed, or the equipment is altered to make it more �??lady�?� like. For example in women�??s lacrosse women are required to wear skirts on the playing field.
Ultimately although the situation between men and women�??s sports has improved greatly over the last fifty years. There are still underlying factors that are ingrained in our society that unfairly treats women when it comes to sports. It�??s an attitude and perception that we need to keep improving in order better the situation for all people and athletes.

Sports have been a difficult subject for many women. There are some women�??s sports that have been taken lightly and deemed �??not as important�?� as their male counterpart. For example, women�??s basketball has only recently emerged as a sport worth watching. Despite the fact that these women put forth just as much, if not more, effort as the men they have no received anywhere near as much recognition. I can remember when the WNBA was created. That shows the inequality that is present in our society.
Much like race, I have not been affected by gender very much. I had not really known of the inequalities until recently. After my final track season in high school, I began looking for colleges to run at. However, due to the passing of Title IX, I discovered that a substantial number of schools cut their running programs to allocate more resources to women�??s sports. I believe that this is fair. I think that women�??s sports should receive just as much funding as men�??s. If there is no funding, then there will be as much recognition of the programs. That could prevent a substantial amount of revenue from entering the college. If people are not aware of games going on, they cannot purchase tickets or watch them on television.
Growing up I always thought of women�??s sports to be comprised of events that required less out of the body than men�??s sports. I think that for real progress to be made there would need to be more coed sports being mainstreamed into our society. The addition of a female counterpart to male sports is a solid step. However, that also makes it easier to point out differences between the sports. If everyone is playing the same game then there is not as much to complain about. I realize it is far from probable that we as a society would do away with gender specific sports and just have sport in general. However, I think it would work in a utopia.

Although race places the biggest separation factor within athletics and sports, gender differences play a major role which is now being tested. The experience between female and male athletics participation is quickly being even. There are as many females playing sports today as there are males. I have even heard of cases, such as here at Towson University, where females have tried out for the university football team. Should there be discrimination towards these women who wish to be included in these types of male specific sports? I believe there should not be because in this control we all have equal rights as men. If you look close enough, the word men is included in the word women.

There are sports that were discouraged to men in my high school. They were cheerleading, dance competitors, volleyball, and softball. I have played softball before for a restaurant league, but in high school it is known that baseball is for guys while softball is for girls. The same idea applies to football is for guys and cheerleading is for the girls. I watch college sports all the time and I see men on the cheerleading team all the time. I always wonder why they discriminated so much at our high school. There were some girls in high school that even tried out for the football team; of course a coach is not allowed to discriminate so he must allow them to participate. The way our coaches handled the situation was to treat them unfairly by making them work harder and making them do hitting drills against Varsity starters until they eventually were injured or they quit. It was wrong to do and discriminatory, but sports in the south are against co-ed participation. In society today, there have been creations of amendments that state that both women and men have equal opportunities in programs and activities.

One educational amendment that is very important to many athletic programs is called Title IX. Title IX protects from discrimination and exclusion of male or female athletes (Shakib, Title IX: facts, figures, myths, and reality). This title has impacted a lot in sports because before this was created many female were often prohibited to participate in public athletics Shakib, Title IX: facts figures, myths, and reality). I believe this 1972 educational amendment was the key to fixing problems within gender issues of the sports society. I also believe that is can help close the gap between gender inequalities in our society because today, sports and entertainment have a major impact on the world. Sporting power can sometimes be a major contributor of political, economical, and social power.

I agree with msookdeo that sports are dominated by males. You can see this in the comparison of the WNBA to the NBA. Male sports just draw a bigger crowd then female sports.

Along with race, gender is another big issue in sports. I believe that growing up more pressure was put on me to exceed at sports then on my sister. When I was too young to play sports, I used to go to my sisters softball games. Everyone playing the game seemed to have fun no matter if they won or lost. I shared the same kind of enjoyment when I began to play t-ball. There was never any pressure to win the game at such a young age. Our parents brought us out there to play the game and have a good time. For little kids, playing baseball for an hour or two was the most fun in the world.
As my sister became older and continued to play softball, the atmosphere was still relaxed for all of the players. When I got older, it wasn�??t ok anymore just to go out and play. Now that I was older and playing in more competitive leagues I was expected to win. I was expected to do well every game that I played in. When I got into the competitive leagues, my parents started to make me take pitching lessons. I liked baseball, but it wasn�??t something I wanted to spend extra time practicing for. Between all the added pressure put on me to do well and hectic schedules of practice and lessons, baseball became no fun. It was all of these things adding up that led me to stop playing baseball.
Even though I stopped playing baseball, I still was playing football. Football was a game I loved to play more then baseball. I was never pushed as hard in football as I was in baseball. That all changed when I got into high school. I started to workout and was what my parents like to call �??encouraged�?� to run everyday to get my stamina up. My dad told me that I had to work hard to show my younger brother that there is no time for slacking off if you want to be great. I always told my dad that we don�??t live in one of those little redneck towns where football is life, that it was ok if I missed a day or two of running. However, I do think that being pushed to work harder did in the end make me a better player.
My sports experience was affected greatly by my gender. While my sister was encouraged to have fun while playing sports, I was encouraged to have fun while running two miles a day. There are always two sets of standards, one for males and one for females. I think because I was a male I was expected to succeed at all sports that I played. Fortunately, I loved football to much to let a little pressure make me stop playing the game.

Sports in the modern world is very gender based. From the formation of Title IX to the sexist comments made by Don Imus last year. In Ryan's opening statement, he makes a very good point that there were two great college basketball tournaments happening. While the mens tournament has the glamor and high priced events, the womens bracket offers just as much excitement without the hype. After the Tennessee/LSU game, which proved to be a one point game and a great game at that, no body was talking about it the next day. Just shows how little attention women get no matter how much excitement is involved.

Growing up a male, in what is clearly a sports society made for men, I faced no obstacles in what sports I wanted to play. I was interested in mainly men "only" sports such as hockey, baseball and football. I didn't face many obstacles, but I did find many flaws.

Being a football player, I got all the perks. New uniforms every year, catered dinners the night before a game, rented lights so we were able to have night games and seniors even got free car washes at the local car wash. The basketball team got similar perks. I'll be honest with you, we did not deserve any of this. Our schools womens volleyball team won states all four years I was there and the womens basketball team won states two years in a row. We also had an All-American womens track runner. These girls didn't walk away with their varsity jersey after their senior year, they didn't have catered dinners before each game, they weren't given perks around town. They did what they had to do and I had the utmost respect for them. As Donna Lopiano states "The problem is not Title IX. The problem is college presidents not putting a stop to the embarrassing waste of money occurring in men's football and basketball." The girls on these teams would usually call us spoiled and envied us, as well they should. Our school put so much money into mediocre men's sports, that the women got overshadowed

I guess you can call me lucky to have never have to experience an obstacle due to my gender. I just feel bad for all the girls who put so much work into what they do and get absolutely no recognition for it.

Similar to problems with racism and judging people by their skin and ethnicities, gender has been a major issue in society affecting many females including female athletes. Eric Pearson, chairman of the College Sports Council brings up an important point about gender equality in sports:

�??The greatest challenge remains defining what exactly is
gender equity and how do we know when it is achieved?
One frequent suggestion is whether athletes will gladly
change places with the other gender�??s program. In that
case, we have achieved gender equity in rowing,
gymnastics because male athletes would gladly switch
with their female counterparts. On the other hand if everyone
insists on being treated like the Notre Dame football team,
we�??ll never get there. And at the heart of the matter,
opportunity is what�??s important.�?� (Pearson, 2007, p. A37)

Growing up, my parent�??s first priority was my education. Throughout my life, my parents have been much more concerned about my grades and academics rather than sports or activities I was involved in. In their minds, school and school work always came before playing sports, hanging out with friends, etc. As a result, my parents never really encouraged or discouraged me into getting involved into sports. Since my parents started me in dance lessons when I was very young, and I liked it so much, I stuck with it rather than try out new activities and sports. I have never really been the athletic type or the girly girl. I border between these two female stereotypes. I like playing sports and being active, but I also love dressing up and going out to clubs and bars. It was not until high school I got involved in sports because I had different priorities. I would rather hang out with my friends and play basketball in one of our driveways rather than on a team. It was a lot more fun and less stressful this way.
Females have been fighting for equal rights as males for many years now. Not even one hundred years ago, women received the right to vote. It will take many more years to be equal to males in all aspects of life especially in sports and in workplace. Title IX has given women athletes a chance to participate and play sports in college, but male�??s sports teams still receive the majority of the funding. As Donna Lopiano states, �??NCAA research shows that for every three new dollars going into college athletic programs over the last five years, two are going to men�??s sports and only one to women�??s sports�?� (Lopiano, 2002, pg. 294). Society including the world of sports has many more obstacles to overcome before males and females will be equal in every area of human life.

This division amongst players can also be seen as you take a look at the gender identity. Most people have this notion that some sports are only for men and some are only for women. For example, gymnastics: Is it a men�??s sport or a women�??s sport? Most people will tell you right off the bat that it is a women�??s sport. I would say that may be true in that it is dominated by women; however, there are many men�??s gymnastics teams. How about football: men�??s sport or women�??s sport? Many would say that it is a men�??s sport. I would have to agree, but there is something behind that which keeps women out of the sport.
Football is a sport which is dominated by males because that is all it is marketed to. Title IX allows females to tryout, but coaches prevent many females from entering the sport. This division in sports is again created by society. As a child, my parents had no intentions of limiting me to the sports I could have been involved in. If I wanted to play football, I could have; if I wanted to do gymnastics or dance, I could have. So why did I choose to play baseball, football, and soccer? These are the sports that are marketed and supposed to be played by boys. The athletic apparel company, Under Armour, recently displayed an ad of a group of kids on the bus headed to their football game. Where there girls on the bus? Of course not! In fact, it was a group of boys getting pumped up for the game and pounding their chests.
Another aspect of this male domination of sport can look at the monetary funding of college sport programs. For every three dollars that is spent on a sporting program, 2 dollars goes to men�??s sports while 1 dollar goes to women�??s sports (Lopiano). This displacement of money is quite uneven. The only reason I could see for this is that women�??s sports aren�??t as popular in the culture, but that should not mean that they are less important. Lopiano also goes on to say that this money, which is being spent on men�??s sports, is really only focusing on two programs in Division I schools: football and basketball (Lopiano).
Recently, though, there has been some progress made in women�??s sports. This time is entering into a sport that is predominately males. These two sports are skydiving and snowboarding. This is attributed to liberal feminism, which is advocating for women to have to same opportunities as men (Laurendeau 2008). One would hope that this notion would extend into colleges and professional sports. It would be ridiculous to say that America has to like women�??s sports and that they should catch on just like men�??s professional sports, but it would be nice to see the opportunity arise.

I have to agree with ayBADman. The high school I attended also had very talented women�??s team especially in basketball, but always seemed to get the rotten end of the deal. The men�??s teams were always the teams the received the most support and most attention overall. It is a shame how one sided things can really be.

I grew up in a family in which by the age of 8 my father had decided to leave the family and left my mom to pick up the pieces with my sister and I. My mom never pushed us in a certain position of what sports we could play and could not play. My sister and I are five years apart in age and she pretty much played the same sports I did growing up until she got to high school where she played lacrosse. I had played baseball, basketball and a year of soccer when I was much younger and my sister had participated in the same sports except her baseball was called softball. I was never interested in playing a sport such as field hockey or even softball. I actually remember thinking that whoever played those sports were nuts. I remember the first time I saw fast pitch softball and I had no idea on the timing of the ball coming out of the pitchers hand. I also remember field hockey being crazy with how they would swing their sticks and use no type of facial protection and I thought that was pretty crazy. Overall I was impressed with the women sports, but never interested. I never noticed any difference in how female and male sports were treated until my sister got to high school and played lacrosse for her school. I remember my sister always being furious with how the women�??s lacrosse team got the rotten end of deal compare to sports like Men�??s Basketball and Football. She would always tell stories how both of those teams would get world class treatment. I remember her saying how the football team used to get the best practice area outside of their stadium and no one else was ever allowed to use it. The school would also bring people in to line their field on game days and made sure it was in top notch shape. For the women�??s lacrosse team the players were forced to do it themselves or it was not going to get done at all. Every team that used a field other then the field at the stadium was forced to go around and pick up rocks off of it before practices and games themselves. The football team never had that problem because teacher aide�??s were used for doing that. There was also special bus schedules put into place so fans could go watch the team play away games, but that was not done for any other sport. The men�??s basketball team also got first class treatment when it came to their gym. My school had two gymnasiums and one was the main gym the other was a little side gym in which the women�??s team was always forced to use. The main gym got a whole renovation right after I started there too. The floor was repainted and a new scoreboard was added to both sides of the gym so it would seem like a big time playing environment. It was not until I was a junior when the women�??s teams were allowed to use that gym, but they still had many games and practices in our side gym. All of this was done for years and it was not until I was out of school when things really started to change. Fields were starting to be re-done and gymnasiums were starting to be shared more. Here again though now that things are becoming fair it is showing that the schools are beginning to spend all of their money on their athletic teams. Today my old high school has over fifteen portable classrooms because they would rather spend money on new fields and new uniforms every year instead of putting the money into expanding the school. In Lopiano�??s article Real Culprit in Cutting of Men�??s Olympic Sports she states �??how one Division I institution spends 31 percent of institutional budget on sports�?�. That is how my high school has gotten. They wanted to start to make things fair, which is great but at the same time now they are taking away from their academics. They have a school that is ridiculously overcrowded and now have kids have to go 15 classrooms that are outside scattered all over the place around the school. I love sports don�??t get me wrong, but aren�??t we paying for an education? Schools are supposed to be institutes of higher learning and unfortunately they are getting away from that now.

I like what mwenke1 has to say about her weight lifting experience. I think it's comical that all the guys were so impressed because she was a girl. I hate how (generally) males assume that females can't build muscle and become great athletes. Just because we're female doesn't mean we can't succed in something we put our minds to, even out lifiting men. I think the men in our society need to give us a little more credit!

Stereotypically, little girls spend their childhood playing dress up, cooking in an EZ Bake Oven, and playing house. They don�??t run and play with the neighborhood boys, and frequently come home with scrapes and bruises. As a little girl, I was the exception to the stereotype. Growing up with an older and younger brother, my vote for playing Pretty Pretty Princess was always shut down for a game of Home Run Derby or basketball or whatever the sport of the hour was. When I was old enough to play organized sports, the question was not whether or not I would participate, but rather what sports would I participant in.

When I first started playing sports, boys and girls were not segregated. I played soccer, basketball, and tee-ball on unisex teams. Because everyone played at about the same level, I never thought boys were more athletically inclined than girls. As everyone aged, I was happy to begin playing softball because the boys�?? attitudes about girls on the team changed. I enjoyed playing with only girls and never wanted to play baseball again. However, there was on girl in the league who insisted on playing baseball instead of softball and the league allowed it. There was such a stigmatism toward her because none of the guys wanted to play with her and many of the girls decided she had to be a lesbian. Soon, I began playing soccer and basketball on all girls teams as well. I was glad when the genders were separated because I was more likely to actively participate in the sport. With a mix gender team, the boys would only pass to boys because they assumed a girl would not be able to play as well as a boy could.

As a cheerleader, I faced numerous self-confidence issues. I put pressure on myself to be skinny, have perfectly shaved legs, and hike my skirt up as high as the other girls even though I hated my thighs. I believed that this was what I was supposed to look like because this is how cheerleaders are typically viewed. I became jealous of other cheerleaders who were skinnier than me or had perfect hair. My body has always been a thick, athletic-type build. Even as young as eight years old, I felt pressured to be perfectly petite and skinny like the girls around me. I think it is sad that young girls develop insecurities about their weight and appearance because of what society tells them.

When I began high school, I gave up cheerleading because it did not have the competitiveness I desired in a sport. Instead, I continued to play field hockey, (a sport I had picked up in middle school) and began running on the track team. I had a lot of pride in the sports I played in high school. My field hockey team had a reputation for winning seasons and success in the state competition. My senior year, the team placed second in the state. Other students, teachers, and faculty members always asked about our games, wished us luck, and congratulated us as we walked through the halls. When we hosted state tournament games, our team would draw out more spectators than the football team. I also had a lot of success in track. I consistently placed in many of the races I ran in. In fact, the girls track team held a better record than the boys. This was a trend for many of the sports in my high school. The girls soccer, basketball, softball, and tennis teams had better records than the boys. To this day, my dad claims that the female athletes and female coaches at the high school I played for are much more disciplined and as a result, consistently do better. It was an amazing feeling to play for teams that did so much better than my brothers�?? teams did. It somehow made up for all the teasing I got from them when they told me that �??girls can�??t play sports.�?�

Playing sports was a very positive experience for me physically, psychologically, and competitively, and I could not imagine my life without it. I believe that these experiences would have been very different for me had I grown up before Title IX. Since Title IX, �??participation rates have increased 847% for females�?� (Shakib, 2001) in regard to athletics. This statistic proves that before Title IX, there was a stigmatism about girls participating in sports. Now, it has become widely accepted and encouraged. Without sports, girls would be much less active and much more likely to contribute to the growing obesity statistics in the United States. If Title IX did not exist and there were less opportunities for me to play sports as a child, I know I would not be the same person today. My tendency toward sport and exercise is what led me to the exercise science field. I am happy to know that because athletic resources for females are increasing, my potential future daughters will be able to grow up on sports like I have.

I agree with Chris Richards in that in most male sports when some one gets hurt the coach tells the player to just �??walk it off�?�, and how society pushes male athletes to be �??tough�?�

As a child I felt I always had the option to play the sports I wanted. Being the younger of two boys I mostly engage myself into sports my older brother played. He originally began playing soccer and often needed me to practice with. From this experience I began to play soccer myself. Being a male never really encouraged me to play a particular sport over another. If anything the sports my brother played and my father favored encourage my interest more then my gender. My father encouraged my brother to play then I pretty much followed in his steps, it was almost expected for me to play soccer. As I got older I grew more interest in other sports like baseball, basketball and even wrestling. It could have been subconsciously I favored these sports because they were male dominated and my social structure influence me to play but I believe I had a natural interest in doing so. The abilities I obtain from soccer made it easier for me to get into sports like basketball more so then sports like gymnastics and ice skating. The fact that I was a middle class Greek American probably further discouraged my interest in other sports. I picked up many of my influences from my family member and the fact that all my older cousins and relatives all played soccer or football narrowed my scope of interest. It seemed that all my female cousins never really participated in any sports. I am sure if my father had experience of being a swimmer in his past of if my mom was an ice skater growing up I would probably had interest in participating in those sports, but it just wasn�??t the case.
Now in my early twenties I experience and look at sports totally different. I have a vast interest in playing varieties of sports and activities just to experience something new. I believe the more a person matures and becomes educated the less they categorize sports by gender and race.

I had a very similar experience in high school as karagoodwin did. Our field hockey fields were not only holey, but had grass only in the center of the field. The jv field hockey uniforms I think were the original uniforms from when field hockey came to Stephen Decatur high school, and we never got new equipment unless the team participated in a car wash or some other form of fundraiser. On the other hand, our football team, like karagoodwin�??s high school football team, also enjoyed a practice field AND a game field which was located in our huge, brand new stadium. The football team enjoyed extravagances that any of the women�??s teams could only dream. Such as, new uniforms, equipment and tangible items every couple years, but they also had an abundance of human resources at their disposal. They had three coaches, a weight training coach, and two athletic trainers, as well as six student managers (I know student managers are purely voluntary but still) all a part of their team. Our field hockey team was decent, but our women�??s soccer team was state champions more than once while I was in high school. I never saw any treatment of the women�??s soccer team come even close to the treatment of the football team, and our football team wasn�??t even good!

As a child, I played baseball and soccer on teams that welcomed boys and girls. Of course, as we grew older, the time inevitably came when boys and girls were quickly separated, and sent into the sport realm �??suitable�?� for his or her gender. Instead of playing baseball like I did as a young child, I was placed on a �??Ponytail Softball League�?� where we were given a different ball, new pitching techniques, and a new, more revealing uniform. When it came time to part with the boys on my soccer team, I decided to play field hockey. There was the option of joining the girls�?? soccer team which was present throughout middle and high school, so my choice to play field hockey was not because soccer was no longer available to me. My mother and older sister both played field hockey, and I conveniently did not care for soccer, so the transition was smooth and assumed.
I remember as a child I looked forward to my baseball games and enjoyed the sport. Softball, on the other hand, brings no fond memories from my childhood. I stuck out softball through middle school solely for the reason of a lack of other options, and quickly joined the women�??s lacrosse team at the first opportunity.
In high school, I enrolled in a weightlifting class three separate times because I really enjoyed it as a hobby. It was a great way to stay in shape, and I noticed huge improvements in my speed and agility on the field and court as a result of my weight-training. Naturally, I was the only girl in all three of my weight-lifting classes. I did not feel intimidated, which is the only reason I can fathom as to why the other female athletes neglected to participate in a weight-lifting class, I actually preferred being the only female. I blame my preference on a childhood living in complete idolization of my two older brothers and spending a lot of time with each of them. It was not uncommon for me to bench press and squat as much or even more than many of my male classmates. At the time, I felt it was a great complement when my classmates would congratulate me on lifting more than some of the others. While congratulating me and giving me �??props,�?� in the same breath, they would turn and call the boys lifting the same or less than me �??weak�?� or �??wimps�?� (I�??ll stop there with the name-calling) than began laughing at them. Now I understand that my male counterparts held me to a much lower standard, with far lower expectations than the males in the class. My fellow classmates were not the only ones behaving with the far too familiar �??men are superior�?� attitude. My weightlifting coaches, of course also men, behaved in the same way. The weight I could put up as a female was met with surprised gasps and congratulatory high fives, while the exact same performance by a male was followed by wimp jokes and laughter at his expense. The boys in my weightlifting classes are a classic example of the many adolescent boys who succumb to the �??Televised Sports Manhood Formula�?� everyday.
Every male I have ever known has lived and breathed by sports and ESPN. According to the study in the article �??The Televised Sports Manhood Formula�?� by Michael A. Messner, Michele Dunbar, and Darnell Hunt, ten distinct themes based on white male supremacy were identified in just 23 hours of sports footage consumed by males ages 8-17 years old. Imagine the kind of permanent beliefs of what the �??powerful man�?� is and how he should look and act that these sports programs have imprinted on our young boys after a lifetime of dedicated viewing. The fact that women and minorities are gaining respect in the American sports realm at the pace similar to that of a snail suddenly makes perfect sense to me.

I feel that gender has had an impact me and my sporting experiences growing up. While growing up I participated in various football, baseball, soccer, bowling, softball, and volleyball. During my youth baseball experience I had the opportunity to play on some teams that had girls on them as well as males. This was only acceptable for the very young baseball leagues (ages 4-8), and then after that the girls were encouraged to play softball. They were pressured into playing softball because the administration of the youth baseball leagues thought that they would get hurt if they continued to play in a boy�??s baseball league. As I grew older I began to concentrate on my two main sports; baseball and football. Since the age of 9 I have never had a female as a teammate, and I feel this is due to society, and that it pressures females and males to participate in sports that are designed for their own gender. In today�??s world male sports receive a lot more media coverage than female sports, and this is because society perceives men�??s sports as more competitive than women�??s sports. For example all of my friends could tell me what men�??s college basketball teams was most likely going to win the national championship, but none of them ever had a guess who even knew what was going on in the college women�??s basketball tournament. �??Although girls watch sports in great numbers, boys are markedly more likely to report that they are regular consumers of televised sports�?� (Messner, pg 380). This quote by Messner sums it all up, in that boys watch more televised sports therefore sports that are on TV are geared mostly toward men and not women.
Now I play in a two summer softball leagues; one competitive league and one church league, women are not allowed to play in either league. I understand why women don�??t play in the competitive league, and that is because there is a women�??s league that plays at the same time the men�??s league takes place. But for the church softball league that is not very competitive I do not understand why they do not allow women to play in it, especially since there is no women�??s church league. This question has come up many times in the past year at league meeting and the only reason that the league officials can come up with is that they don�??t want the women to get hurt. I know that when ever you play a sport you are taking a risk of being injured no matter it be a male or female sport. However the league does allow kids as young as 14 play in the league, and I know that on my team alone that there are some younger players that do not know a lot about the game and they are just out playing to have a good time, some of them can�??t even make the throw from home plate back to the pitchers mound. I feel that if they think it is safe for kids to participate in then it is safe for females to participate, but the league will still not allow it. I feel that this decision is mainly do because of societal and media pressures that make it inappropriate more females to play in the same league will males.

clax1027
"As for UCONN vs. Rutgers: I hope Rutgers takes it. Women deserve more than �??nappy headed hoes�?�. "

I agree.

Growing up I followed in the footsteps of my older brother. Playing virtually every sport he did; soccer, baseball, golf, tennis. In high school I focused on golf and baseball �?? there was no female golf team. Before analyzing this issue of gender being a major force in sports and how society has molded this perception that everyone accepts as the norm, I didn�??t realize the implications behind what was going on. The focus on female sports was non-existent in my childhood, not only involvement around them physically but also on television. This trend has continued into my early adulthood, as I still don�??t pay attention to female sports. The only female sport I enjoy watching is tennis �?? the competition in female tennis is intense, and I would be lying if I didn�??t acknowledge that the onslaught beautiful women in the sport also attracts my attention.
Being a guy the aspects of gender were positive because I could follow in the footsteps of my brother in the sporting arena. Now if I had deep down inside wanted to be a ballet or tap dancer, or even a field hockey star, then my gender would have hindered my experience �?? lucky I did not have that problem. I can see how it would be much harder for a girl to grow up wanting to play certain sports but having to conform to the unspoken rules of society that dictates who plays what. Being a guy it�??s hard to stand back and look at the sporting world from a woman�??s eyes, but after you look into it you can see the imperfections in how our society is shaped in regards to gender in sports.

I agree with msookdeo when he says �??During homecoming it was the male sports that got most if not all the attention everyone would go to see the guys football game the whole school would turn out. There would be so much hype about the game, you would hear announcements the weeks leading up to the game saying support your school and bring your school spirit to the game that kind of stuff yet you rarely heard anything about the girls�?? soccer game that was going on the same day as the guys�?? homecoming football game.�?� This was exactly how it was when homecoming came around even though our football team wasn�??t very good. It seemed like the world stopped turning because it was time for homecoming and everyone needed to come out to support their team. By the time my senior year came around, luckily the �??all football all the time�?� attitude in regards to homecoming was out the door. The week preceding homecoming involved all the other fall sports both male and female and then on Friday night, there would be a football game. It became a very nice balance between recognizing only the male sports during homecoming and recognizing everyone.

During my youth I was never really discouraged from playing certain sports however I was encouraged to play others. I am the older brother to a very active younger sister. She always wanted to be like her big brother so she would tag along and play all the same sports as I did. As she got older, she started to realize the differences between male sports and female sports. She noticed that women didn�??t play baseball with the guys and instead played softball. She also noticed that for girl�??s basketball that they used a smaller ball. These details were a little discouraging to her since she, for so long, had followed her older brother and played the sports he played. Because my sister was the way she was, my parents always encouraged us to play together and get along with each other. This is why, I believe, that I was never discouraged from playing sports such as softball or playing basketball with the smaller ball. My parents knew that if my sister couldn�??t hang out with me or play with me due to sports, she would have a cow. My parents went as far as actually sitting me down one day and explaining to me the on-going situation as my sister got older and was still involved in sports.
I never really looked at sports as male and female but merely as sports. I started seeing the games as time that I got to spend with my sister playing what we enjoyed playing. We both took a major liking to soccer and to this day we are both still playing and my sister is even playing at the Division-1 level at LaSalle University currently. I think that the reason why soccer became such a fun sport for us was that we didn�??t have to make any changes to the equipment or the rules in order for both of us to play. There were other times though that we would play sports that changes had to be made in. When we played basketball we used her smaller ball because she was more into basketball than I was so she had to be used to using her size ball. When we would play lacrosse, she would strap on some pads and grab a guy�??s stick and let me play defense against her so I could work on my checks in a fun environment without negative coach interaction. It was a normal thing for us to go back and forth between �??male�?� sports and �??female�?� sports.
Once high school started, I really got a look at how the guy�??s teams and the girl�??s teams were treated differently especially if it was a guy�??s team and a girl�??s team for the same sport such as soccer. The guy�??s had better uniforms and many more fans at games. The playoffs were a much bigger deal for the guy�??s than it was for the girl�??s. It seemed like our school only acknowledged female teams if they won state championships like our softball and volleyball teams. Each team won the state championship three out of the four years I was in high school. They were very good teams and they got treated like it all the time. Since our football team wasn�??t very good, the volleyball team took all of the press and the same thing happened with the softball team and the baseball team. During the high school years, I noticed my friends were starting to acknowledge the girl�??s teams more and more and by our senior year they had the same attitude I had about sports when I was younger just hanging out playing with my sister. It was a very nice change and I hope that as the years go on this transition can be a little smoother for both the male and female athletes.

I agree with clax1027 on jredding's response.I think the women's versions of certain sports are even more interesting than the men's depending on talent and energy of the game, and many female athletes train just as hard as the males.

in response to jredding, how can you generalize by saying all women's sports are boring if you have never really watched much? I think several female athletes can winningly argue that there is much more than meets the eye for women's sports. Females train just as hard as males do, and its unfortunate that some people cannot see that.

Although my parents never restricted or pushed particular sports simply because of my gender, they did push playing sports in general. Both parents have been a part of athletics since adolescence. As I discussed in an earlier post, they both feel that sports is an integral part of growing up; that it helps socially, physically and intellectually.
The sports I played growing up were completely up to me. My dad played lacrosse and hockey and my mom played field hockey and swam. Although that had somewhat of an influence on my decision, it was up to me to choose, if any, what I wanted to be a part of. I swam in a league in the summers, I played field hockey in the fall, I played basketball in the winter and I played lacrosse in the spring.
It was almost understood that I wouldn�??t play sports like football or hockey. These are male-dominated sports. In my area, there weren�??t really many options to even play them. In most cases this applies to lacrosse too. Fortunately, lacrosse in prominent in the Baltimore-Washington-Annapolis area, so I had the luxury of playing on a women�??s team. I think that if I had wanted to play lacrosse, but only had the option of playing for a men�??s team, I would not have ended up here, at Towson, playing lacrosse.
Another point I�??d like to make is the difference between women�??s sports and men�??s sports, lacrosse being my example. Women�??s sports are usually all about finesse, where as men�??s mostly have to do with being tough and hitting people. Both take talent and hard work, but I think that gender plays a huge part in how the actual sport is played. Traditionally, men would do the hunting and hard labor. On the other hand, women would focus on raising children and doing housework. This has carried over to the world of sports. But in my opinion, it is not the choice of the athlete. It is how society shapes the ideals surrounding the sport. People assume that women cannot handle a rough sport, and so the create rules to �??protect�?� us. Yes, men are usually stronger�??usually�??but ask any women, and most would say that they would love to play sports with men just to show they can be just as good. I�??m am not at all surprised then, when our women�??s lacrosse team here at Towson, barely has enough fans to fill the front row of our stadium. On the other hand when the guys team plays, everyone is excited to come to the games.
Women are working toward gender equality, especially in sports. I don�??t believe this will happen any time soon, but small moves have been made to show that women deserve the same respect in the world of sports. Women work just as hard; spend just as much time in the weight room, and just as much time on the field as men do.
I see a parallel in both women�??s college basketball and women�??s lacrosse at Towson. The tournament is way more exciting for women, but barely anyone pays attention. Similarly, even though our women�??s lacrosse team is having a better season than our men�??s team, they still have more fans. Even when they lose a game by a lot, and we win a big game, they still get the full color picture and the big article.

As for UCONN vs. Rutgers: I hope Rutgers takes it. Women deserve more than "nappy headed hoes". The should be seen as truly talented athletes who happen to be women, not women who happen to be truly talented athletes.

I understand with what cari was saying about her father being intrerested in her sisters playing basketball and not her dancing. I know that my own father was very dissapointed when my brother chose to do gymnastics, and it shows when he has no desire to go to the gym and watch him participate. He used to coach his baseball and soccer teams, but now that he is dong something my father doesnt consider a sport, its hard for him to gain any support in doing so.

In response to A. Bennett
Also growing up I had the freedom to choose which sports I played but as well as you I grew up in a male dominated family that laid the ground work as to which sports I would play. Being the youngest I kind of followed my brother�??s foot steps as to what they were interested me and I to took an interest. They played the aggressive, violent sports and that is the kind of sports that I played for an extended amount of time. Further in high school my coaches as well did not baby anyone it was up to you to get the job done or you sat the bench.

My sporting experiences have been influenced or changed just because of my gender. Growing up playing numerous sports society influenced me over which one�??s I should take seriously just because I am male. Looking back at my sporting experiences I played both �??male appropriate sports�?� (football, ice hockey) and �??female appropriate sports�?� (swimming). Only the �??male appropriate sports�?� were the one�??s I ever took seriously and played for an extended amount of time. This occurred because society views these sports as the gladiator or manly types of sports all characteristics men seek. Further, in these �??male sports�?� I never once had a female teammate or coach because society tells them these sports are not for females. Plus, these sports received higher priority than the female dominated sports. For example, when it would rain outside and we had football practice inside the volleyball team didn�??t have practice. Our football team got first priority for the gym over every fall sport. We had huge practice field of which we never used the whole thing, while the soccer teams had a make shift field behind our baseball field.
I believe that in the male community athletics seen as a way to prove your manliness. I have had countless, coaches after an injury tell me to �??walk it off.�?� What does that mean? Injuries and being able to deal them is a huge statement in the male community about how tough someone is. Throughout sport men are told to play through the pain, with questions like �??Are you hurt or Are you injured?�?� Look how males were portrayed when they are asked for water breaks. Referring to the Remember the Titans movie �??We are going to do up downs until Blue is no longer thirsty.�?� Until athletes beginning dying, needing or drinking water was looked at as a sign of weakness in the male sporting community. I remember going through hockey practices with no water breaks. My coach thought it would better condition my body. In all these �??male dominant sports�?� all these experiences occur because males are determined for people to describe them as strong, aggressive, and violent. In the male sporting community, �??when players were not doing well, they were often described as �??hesitant�??, and lacking aggression, emotion and desire�?� (Messner, 2000, p.386). Even though in various sports these characteristic might be looked on as a negative. For example in golf, when I play with aggression or anger due to a bad shot I play even worse on the succeeding holes.
Sports I played were influenced by my friends and family. Growing up in a male dominant family there was sports that I could play and sports that just wouldn�??t be acceptable. I never had any desire to partake in any of these societal male unacceptable sports like figure skating, or cheerleading. I probably could have but it just wasn�??t around where I grew up. There were no male cheerleaders or male figure skaters that I knew growing up. Further, my friends were playing �??male appropriate sports�?� so I wanted to as well. Gender plays an enormous role in sport. Gender determines the sports you watch, how you talk about sport. Talking about sport changes between men and women, in that men�??s conversation�??s is more trivia based then women.

Unlike ewilson my mother wanted me to be a prissy girl because I was her only girl. My brothers and I were treated differently by my parents when it came to helping out around the house. My brothers did the outside work and the more demanding chores. When my dad needed help with something he would always ask my brothers over me, which never bothered me.

My parents never really pushed or encouraged me to participate in sports. Now, I begin my post with that statement because this way I set the tone that I was always blessed to have a choice in what sports that I resorted to participate in or not mind at all. Sometimes I wondered if having my parents be considerably present and always participating in my sporting ventures, would I have enjoyed them more or done those certain sports at all. I read all the other replies and I even look back at those hardcore parents that are always present at their child�??s (children�??s) sporting events and I always had wondered how that would have, could have affected my outlook on sports. Did I envy those parents and families that were so dearly supportive of their child? Absolutely. I felt that I wasn�??t the only one that felt that way. Of course as I grew older, that kind of attention would dissipate naturally. Now given that my parents were both involved in full time careers (traveling a lot too), I couldn�??t argue or in some cases whine to them about not being able to see my sporting events or being a �??sport parent�?�. I was content with taking this thing solo and learning as much as I can. My parents let me do what I feel, but made a stern notice that I had to maintain an excellent report card while doing these sporting events. So and gender or race factors in my case weren�??t really an issue. Other things that were gender related I did notice growing up that still front page in today�??s major sporting events.
One thing that I did not notice as much now, as I did then, was how the male sporting teams were treated differently from the female teams. I was fortunate enough to be involved with school growing up that encouraged both male and female sports, including events that encouraged co-ed participation. But the one thing that sticks out, whether it was conspicuous or not, was that the male sporting teams always had precedence and premium preference over the female teams. Even the actual sporting season was laid out in such a way that favored the male sporting team exposure. During practices, we always had the gymnasium first and used it as long as we needed. We always were told to be on the bus before the females were. All the male sporting events were the �??highlight�?� of the evening whereas the female competition always occurred earlier in the day without as much hoopla surrounding the male events. Now looking back at those moments, I would have to say that my coaches back way then probably displayed similar attitudes towards the female athletes as Don Imus did during his derogatory comments he broadcasted throughout the sports world. Was this coincidence? Perhaps. Or maybe it was just that during the time he was growing up and involved with sports, the female sports were near to non-existent, and the black and white barrier was still very dominant in the race culture. Could it be that my coaches have gone through that same transitional period that enabled them to have that mind set? As I got older and the sporting world got more competitive, the gender sporting bias gets much less conspicuous. Women are taking a more main stream display in the sporting world and being pushed to the back of the bus happens no more. The race and gender card is a hand that I am sure that will be dealt many times over in the coming years. The sporting world always dissects statements and actions of such sort. Maybe one day, whether or not we get a female president, race and gender won�??t matter. Hopefully what would matter is that we all share the playing field.

Growing up with 2 other sisters, sports was not something of a competetive nature or a priority. It was more of a recreation or past time, not to be taken seriously. Maybe it was because we were girls, at the time I never really thought about it that way. Now that I look back, that could have been the case. First, my younger sister never played any sports, my older sister, who was six years older, was the captain of the cheerleading squad, that was her claim to fame. I was the one who played a variety of sports, not one in particular, just to get different experiences. Now my older sister was taken more seriously when she was on the cheerleading squad and then made captain and I remember my mother being really proud and happy about it, but do not remember any reactions from my father. My mom tried to go to some of her games and I wanted to be just like her and practiced with her and learned all the cheers. I think for the most part, not to be stereotyping, mothers are supportive of their daughters no matter what it is they choose to do when it comes to extracurricular activities. Maybe because of the my mom was not of the competetive nature, but I am not sure if my father is or ever was. If we had a brother I think that would have changed. I never remember my father going to any of her games in her entire four years in high school. Maybe he did I just do not remember, and most likely it was only one or two games.
Now me on the other hand, played a different sport for every season. I never played anything more than once. Maybe that was the reason it was never taken seriously by my father. But whatever you enjoy or want to do should be acknowledged or taken seriously by any parent just because you want your childen to be happy at whatever they do. Again, I do not remember my father going to any of my games. My mother tried to come to a few, especially the bigger ones. I recall one time running in the relay race in track and field and running around the track passing by the stands and for the first time in that sport seeing my mother. I felt really proud, and I started to run faster and ending up coming in third that day. It was the best I had ever performed in that sport. It certainly proves that supportive parents make a huge difference in childrens sport experiences. I know I probably would have performed my best or put in the most effort every time that my parents were there. That is kind of sad to say that I pushed myself harder when my mom was watching. It really shows that support by either parent in any activity is very important in a childs life. It can make a huge impact in their sporting experiences and for the rest of their lives. And by the way, I made the cheerleading team the first time I tried out and the coach remembered my sister very well. I only did it for one season, but it was the most fun I ever had in all of my sporting experiences throughout high school.

Growing up a male in a male dominated society I never had much of a problem adjusting to the rough and tough sports every father raises his son to play. I started out playing baseball and soccer like every other kid in my town, and as a naturally competitive person I was always annoyed every time I would have girls on my team, because normally at that age, girls just didn�??t have the same physical ability as boys did. Most girls were made to play sports such as tee-ball or soccer because there parents may have thought it a good way to get the child some exercise, or socially involve themselves in the suburbia circle. However it made playing with girls very hard for me, because I hated to lose, and when a young girl stepped up the plate and held the bat upside down and kicked the dirt it was pretty disheartening for a devoted athlete such as myself. Now, im not one to put down women�??s sports, but im also not one to watch women�??s sports. I find it a little difficult to sit down and watch sports such as women�??s basketball and softball just because of the intensity level. As the sports are on the rise, until you have windmill dunks and 50 home-run seasons, along with steroid and gambling scandals, the fan base will just never be there.
In high school I played against a football team with a girl as the starting safety. I remember all the kids on my team talking about her nonstop doing the warm-ups, wondering if she was cute and how none of them could tackle her because she was �??a girl�?�. The opening kickoff was interesting, as everyone was scared to hit her she ran down field and made the open tackle, causing a fumble and led to them scoring the first touchdown. The stereotype that was given to this girl before the game was proven wrong, and we spent the rest of the game trying to hit her as hard as we could. I do know, that as a father I would never have let me daughter play football, no matter how hard she begged, just because of the danger of the game. Everyone looks the other way when guys walk into school after a game with bruises, black eyes, and missing teeth, because that�??s just part of the game. But no guy wants to be responsible for doing those things to girls even if it is part of the game. I know that I was raised in a family where women are cherished, not beaten on, and the idea of watching someone pummel a girl in a football game or hit her with a fastball just doesn�??t seem appealing to me.
I actually am experiencing something similar to gender misconception in sport now. My little brother, who is now 8, has decided to quit playing baseball because all the neighborhood kids are doing gymnastics. Notice I didn�??t say �??playing�?� gymnastics. If I wanted my son to do gymnastics I would teach him healthy stretches to do on the sideline before a game. My mother says that she has afraid to let him play football because of the chance he may get hurt. But if I am not mistaken, ide rather take a few bumps and bruises on the football then break my neck falling off a balance beam. I can still remember the look on my dads face when my brother asked to do gymnastics. When I was growing up he worked night shifts, and never got to see my playing football and baseball as a youth, so this was his chance to catch up on that experience. Now my brother is involved in gymnastics and horseback riding and given up on soccer and baseball. This has led to much scrutiny from the rest of the kids at school, and as sad as it sounds, that seems to be the trend these days.
Now I can�??s say that I never watch women�??s sports as I do enjoy a good Wimbledon match or will occasionally tune into the softball world series, however I don�??t blame people for not watching. Aside from the two storylines Professor White stated in his blog, the rest of is just flat out boring. As the fan base may be growing, I think it will be some time before we can correct that statement that �??gender equity in sport has not been reached�?� (Shakib, 2001, p. 3)

I agree with msookdeo a lot in his claims that the male high school sports got the most attention during Homecoming. The assessment on the Homecoming observation furthers my point I was trying to make about my school. It was on days like the Homecoming parade, where our football team was given the main spotlight and the longest spotlight. I am glad to see that someone was able to draw the same observations as myself.

Sports have always been an important part of my life in so many ways and I feel like they have helped shape me as the person that I am today. Growing up in a household with a father, mother, and brother, it was safe to say that there was a strong male presence in my house growing up. Between my dad and my brother, I always had sports that I could play or watch, and that is what I spent my life growing up doing. My mom, being the only female in the house, was often stuck watching sports that we either played or had on TV. She always went along with the program and learned bits and pieces of sports as we grew up.
I would say that my parents were very supportive of me playing any sports I wanted and it did not matter if a sport was �??girly�?� or not. One of the main sports I played growing up and into high school was soccer. Soccer is the sport that every kid plays growing up, and then suddenly it becomes a �??girly�?� sport as we grow up. Playing in high school, the team and myself were subjected to the usual �??fag�?� and �??fairy�?� comments and had to hear about how much more supreme football was. The problem was that soccer is a sport that requires a high level of fitness and there are plenty of collisions and physical play to go around. One observation that I have made over time is that it seems once males get to high school, they must choose whether to play football and be the true men that they should be, or they can play something else and then be viewed differently for not fitting into the popular and manly sport.
Another observation that I was able to make in high school was the level of difference in the respect given to men�??s and women�??s sports. Maybe this was a problem isolated to my high school, but I feel like it goes on in other schools, and is a problem that is one of the great injustices in our school system. After reading the article from Donna Lopiano it was able to confirm some of the same things that had happened in my high school. In the article Lopiano writes that �??a football team spent over $50,000 on summer catering, while the entire team budget for a woman�??s team was only $20,000�?�. While my example is not as drastic as the example presented in the reading, it still made me realize how prevalent these occurrences are. For example, at my high school the baseball and football teams were able to get any equipment or field treatment they needed, when they needed it. Yet the girls teams were forced to practice on fields on the other side of the school and on unkept fields that even increased the risk of injury.
Before the class last week, I had never thought about how good I really have it, being a male and participating in sports. Yet after this class, I have been able to take a closer look and have a deeper appreciation for my status in the sports world. It would just be a hope of mine that each individual could take a step back and appreciate their spot in the sports world.

I wouldn�??t say that I was ever encouraged to play a particular sport. My family was never huge sport fans, so getting me active in sports was never a major concern for my mother and father. Even though I was born into a sports family, basketball and football were what I enjoyed so no one really questioned me. I must say that I was positively reinforced for doing well while playing them. I always enjoyed coming to the sideline and everyone giving you a high five for something you did well on the field. I enjoyed my parents telling me how well I played or my dad making fun of me for missing a layup or dropping an easy pass. I can not really say that I saw a difference in how my parents treated my sisters for particular sporting events because they were never active in sports.

It is particularly easy to see how sport is differentiated because of gender at the high school level however. During my senior year of varsity basketball, we were a .500 team. For the most part, we were competitive but it wasn�??t like we were going to win the conference or compete for a state championship. Although we were not dominant, we continued to play in front of particularly large crowds at home and especially during inter county play. As a high school basketball player in my county, that is what I expected. The most surprising thing about that season was that our girls basketball team was extremely talented led by 3 amazing freshmen. They were undefeated for a long period of time and were in contention for a conference championship all year. The weird thing was, their home games were barely filled half of the gym. It wasn�??t until our boy�??s team was eliminated from playoff contention that the girl�??s team finally received the recognition that they deserved. They played so well as a team but were not given any credit for their accomplishments because their games were slower paced and don�??t have the excitement of the slam dunk. It is almost a completely different game, because of the lack of players who play above the rim. It�??s just the nature of the game, it is not a bad thing it�??s just different. What I noticed in high school is only reinforced after reading Messner�??s The Televised Sports Manhood Formula. After research that they conducted, they showed that �??Images or discussion of women athletes is almost entirely absent in
the sports programs that boys watch most. �??SportsCenter�??s mere 2.9% of
news time devoted to women�??s sports is slightly lower than the 5% to 6% of
women�??s sports coverage commonly found in other sports news studies(Duncan & Messner, 1998). �?�

Another thing that separated gender in high school was the sports that we were allowed to play. I do know that in high school, girls were allowed to play predominantly male dominated sports such as football and wrestling. We had boys and girl�??s basketball, soccer and lacrosse. We didn�??t have any sports that would allow only males could play. However, there was a girl�??s volleyball team that boys were not allowed to play. Field Hockey was allowed to have boys on the team during the season, but I recall hearing that the boys weren�??t able to play during the playoffs.

I never intended on playing field hockey, but I did question that ruling. I have a feeling that if I wanted to play I would not have been able to and maybe made fun of. I actually feel that a guy trying to play a �??girl dominated�?� would have a harder time, then if a girl were to play a �??guy dominated�?� sport. With that being said, I still believe that the girls are getting screwed because no matter how many accomplishments that they achieve, I feel that if their male counterparts were to achieve the same thing their accomplishments would be recognized to a greater extent.

In reference to cari04r comment..Its funny how we wrote about the same thing about growing up in a family of all girls. My father was the exactly the same. He treats me and my sister differently because she wasn't interested in sports like I was.

Society today is based on gender. I believe that we still live in a semi-patriarchal society. Men usually are in a power position in the workplace. Females usually have to prove themselves to get the acknowledgment that men do. Gender plays a huge role in sports. Many issues happen in both playing and participating in sport or making a career out of it. To succeed in sport women constantly must show everyone that they can do a certain task and prove to everyone they can achieve a goal. To make a career in the sports world, women have to fight to get what they want. Most high power positions are occupied by men. When reading the Sports Business Journal�??s Top 40 under 40, they listed and wrote about the most successful people in the sporting industry. Out of the 40 people under 40, two of them were women. Women are not represented in sports like men are. Not only for a career but representation on television and teams. In Messner�??s article called, �??The Televised Sports Manhood Formula�?� he stated, �??The idea that sport�??s is a man�??s world is reinforced by gender composition and imagery in commercials. Women almost never appear in commercials unless they are in the company of men.�?� The representation of women are lacking on television as well as in coaching. In female sports there are not as many women coaches and a lot more men are coaching female teams. On the other side, you will never find a women coach for a men�??s team.
My sporting experience was both positive and negative based on gender. Since I grew up in a family of all girls, my father made a lot of decisions in my sporting experience. I believe since he didn�??t have any sons, he wanted us to do as much as we could to fit his son requirement. I immediately fell in love with sports when I was younger. My father got involved as much as he could by being my coach and my number one fan. Because of my gender however, there has been some setbacks. When participating in sports for fun, in either gym class or recreationally, as a girl, I am picked usually last or one of the lasts. Also, being a women majoring in Sports Management I am constantly being told that it will be hard to make it in this business. The numbers of opportunities are very slim. Although there are negative aspects being a woman in the sports world, there are positives. As a woman, I am able to challenge myself to prove to everyone that I belong here. The feeling after accomplishing something that large is amazing. The sports industry needs women as much as men.

I see karagoodwin25's frustration. I liked watching my high school football team, but since it was a "football" school, all the other sports got the shaft. I played soccer at the same time as the football season, and we would always get passed over for them. All the girl teams were put secondary as well.

My experience with sports over the years has not really changed like how the sport is played or whoever played the sport. I know growing up though with sports, such sports like baseball and basketball girls wouldn�??t be allowed to play with the boys. Softball was definitely a sport for girls to play and was frowned upon if a boy would play it. During my elementary and middle school times there was softball and baseball, in which boys played baseball and the girls would have to play softball. If one gender was seen playing the other gender �??classified�?� sport adults will judge and frown upon that. In school for gym however there has to be a common ground for both boys and girls to play, so the school and teachers have to come up with a common ground of rules and equipment to be used. When growing up sports are a huge part and if you as a young child do not play any sports are definitely looked down at by society and those around you as �??pathetic�?� and a �??loser�?� and so on. I know I started to receive that treatment as a I got older and grew away from sports because of no improvement and that schooling was very important to me. As an African American, of course I was looked upon as one of either playing basketball or football. Basketball I had grown apart and stopped playing at a high school level because of my physical fitness and the room for not improving much or at a rapid pace. Football was a different story because I had no interest or understanding in the sport. I had played however non-physical sport, which was bowling. Bowling isn�??t considered a sport though to some just for throwing a ball down the lane, but then again is basketball and football much different? No you are basically aiming a ball to a goal point, they all share the same goal but have different ways of getting there. Bowling could consist of both men and women where basketball, baseball, football, and soccer all have to have two separate types for males and females. This is because I believe the mens is much more of a physical contact sport than women�??s because of probably what men think women as danty and fragile and also important to the human race. This is just a speculation I have on the difference of rules and such between males and females. Bowling however is not physical contact but is competitive with a bowling ball that has a goal of knocking down all pins. Just like businesses there are sports that do not appear entertaining to the public and will die, so to put a new twist on it there might be changes made such as making it a female sport with competitive edge. For example, cheerleading is a huge example of this because it was originally a male driven sport, but in turn didn�??t become very manly and was �??cut�?� from sports and then females picked up on it and is now popular for males and females on different speculations. These speculations can affect universities and colleges but is not all truth when an institution starts pointing fingers. �??Whenever a men�??s sport is eliminated, these educational institutions blame Title IX and women�??s sports. They say they can�??t afford to add new women�??s sports programs as required by federal gender equity laws and keep men�??s Olympic sports.�?� (Lopiano, pg295) Ever since Title IX was created such institutions and such are blaming it for the fact of loosing Olympic sports or women�??s sports. This is not entirely true because it is because of places like Division I athletic programs that do not support and are cutting these sports out of the program like swimming, gymnastics, and wrestling. (Lopiano, pg295) In the end sports that are not considered �??Macho�?� enough for testosterone are being cut by the rich and powerful.

I grew up with an older brother and an older sister, so I saw the differences in the sports and activities that boys and girls participated in at a young age. I was probably urged to follow my brother�??s path more than my sister�??s before I even realized it. My brother tried baseball and football before deciding on basketball. On the other hand, my sister was always in to ballet and books. Go figure, I ended up playing mostly just basketball. Other factors, especially money, played into what I participated in, but I think trying to be like my male sibling was a huge part of my decision.
I don�??t know if I was ever steered away from my sister�??s choice of ballet because it is considered a feminine activity. However, I�??m pretty sure I wasn�??t pushed towards it either. When my parents were still together in my early years, they didn�??t seem like the kind of parents to push their kids really hard in a sports direction. They didn�??t discredit what we wanted to play or do, but sometimes it was limited by other means. I can honestly say that I hated watching the ballet recitals without having anything to do with it being a �??girl�?� activity. I liked watching my brother play sports more. I liked watching sports on TV more than both though.
As I was growing up, there weren�??t many female sports on television (unless you say that figure skating or tennis are, but they both are coed). I didn�??t like watching figure skating as my sister did, but my siblings and I all enjoyed watching tennis occasionally. The sports on TV always seemed to be played by men and male-oriented. Messner, Dunbar, and Hunt studied this phenomenon in-depth and described their findings in �??The Televised Sports Manhood Formula�?�. Although there are more female sporting events on television, they still don�??t receive much credit. The findings of the study showed that the most watched sports were all male dominated within the game and on the sidelines. I have to admit that I rarely watch a sport that is just women playing. Even most of the girls I know would rather watch a man-played sport. If the advertizing and marketing were different, then I believe that many more people, especially women, would watch and demand more female sports. The corporate world will probably never really allow that though. I would love to see more coed sports televised, but hockey and football would be difficult to integrate completely.

I agree with A Bennett-males and females are just built differently and it is better for us to be seperate in some sports and activities

When I was younger my parents never really encouraged or discouraged me from playing a sport, they emphasized more on getting good grades in school, going to college and getting a good job. I did play one sport in school which was soccer for my elementary school team. I can not remember my parents every saying anything bad about me playing. They have always let me do what I wanted to do and they have supported me. If I wanted to play football, field hockey or even softball for example my parents would have stood by me. When it came to sports my parents did not and do not have the slightest idea. They are from two different countries all that was taught to them was work. Because of where my parents came from and their ignorance to sport I was never discouraged from playing any sport.

It was not until I started middle school and making more friends when I was learning what sports became socially acceptable for guys and girls to play. During recess one day in sixth day the guys wanted to play baseball and the girls wanted to play softball me not knowing the difference I said give the girls what they wanted and play softball that�??s when the guys told me softball is for girls because they throw underhand and use a bigger ball. That is when I started to learn what sports was ok for me to play because I was guy and what sports were not ok to play because I was guy. Guys played football, basketball, baseball and hockey while girls cheerlead, dance, play softball, field hockey or watched they guys play the sports. Learning what sports to play and what sports not to play was all new to me but it never really affected the sport I wanted to play which was soccer. I played on a coed team and the girls and guys had an equal amount of playing time, we were all treated the same the only difference was the girls did not have to wear cups.

Finishing up middle school and continuing through high school I was learning the sport is mainly male dominated thing. During homecoming it was the male sports that got most if not all the attention everyone would go to see the guys football game the whole school would turn out. There would be so much hype about the game, you would hear announcements the weeks leading up to the game saying support your school and bring your school spirit to the game that kind of stuff yet you rarely heard anything about the girls' soccer game that was going on the same day as the guys' homecoming football game. In the article "THE TELEVISED SPORTS MANHOOD FORMULA" by Micheael A messner he says "Sports Center's mere 2.9% of news time is dedicated to women's sports�?�" Even on ESPN they rarely show or talked women sports.

I agree with A Bennett - I think as daughters that come before sons we were pushed a little bit more towards the aggressive and tough sports, and a little less towards the other sports. I think we all felt a need to prove ourselves, and show that we could be just like the boys, and I have to say, I enjoyed it!

As I have said before, I went to an all girls high school, so its pretty hard for me to come up with stories of gender discrimination there. I was never considered a girly-girl, and played the rough-and-tumble positions on the team, like goalie and catcher. I think this probably stemmed from my childhood. I grew up on a farm, and my older sister and I were expected to help out, and do just as much work as the next person. My brother is four years younger than I, so for a good many years, my sister and I helped our parents and were the �??manpower�?� behind the farm. My mom never supported the idea that we were going to be prissy girls, but insisted that we learn to be independent, and not have to depend on others. She continually said �??If you want something done, do it yourself.�?� She didn�??t think that we needed to wait on a man to make hay, drive a tractor, or change the oil, and always bragged that her girls could throw more bales of hay than the other farm boys. Growing up in this environment, I was aware that we were an anomaly, as most girls my age didn�??t even know what a bale of hay was, but I never really gave it much thought because I was happy in that environment, and didn�??t feel cut out to be a girly-girl anyway. When I went to high school, I was pretty strong and tough, because that was what I was expected to be. So it was completely natural for me to gravitate towards the positions on the team that were physically demanding and usually ended up leaving me bruised and sore. In my mind, I think physically demanding equaled a job well done, as it often had on the farm. I didn�??t really suffer discrimination for my positions or for the sports I chose to play, but I do know that I was considered a bit more manly than my teammates, especially as they ran around in their hockey kilts, and I was decked out in goalie gear.
I can�??t imagine how different my life would have been without Title IX. If I was �??denied legal access to participate in athletic programs�?� like the Title IX article states, I truly wouldn�??t have had some great experiences, and wouldn�??t have learned as much as I had (Shakib, 1). I know I wouldn�??t have been as healthy overall, and I truly believe my academics would have suffered, especially in high school as sports offered an outlet for stress and excess energy.

in response to karagoodwin25-Although I feel girls do need to have a fair opportunity in sports, I do still agree with your opinion-there are some sports girls just aren't meant to play in a competetive situation. That is a shame, but males and females are just built differently and it is better for us to be seperate in some sports and activities.

I didn�??t become involved in a competitive, year-round sport until I was almost 8 years old. My brother, on the other hand, had started sports such as basketball, soccer, and lacrosse earlier in his childhood. I wasn�??t rushed into sports by my parents and neither was my brother. I do remember him being encouraged to try new clinics for sports to see what he liked, and although I also loved playing different sports outside with my brother and father, it didn�??t seem to be a concern to my parents that I got involved in sports right away. I took up running and swimming competitively both on my own just out of interest, which was welcomed with open arms by my parents. They wanted me to pick interests that I would be motivated to continue as long as I wanted to and I don�??t know whether I wasn�??t pushed into sports simply because I was a girl, or if it was just because my parents wanted me to chose something I wanted to participate in. As Shakib states in the article about Title IX Myths and Reality, �??overall, girls are less physically active than boys.�?� That could partly be because girls, in general, have other responsibilities or activities that they can choose besides sports. Despite the fact that women were not allowed to be involved in sports before, and �??gender equity in sport has not been reached�?� (Shakib, 2001, p. 3) swimming and running, as they are viewed today, weren�??t specifically deemed �??boys sports�??, so I never had a problem with facing difficulties because I was a female. In fact, we really aren�??t directly compared to males at all in either running or swimming because everything is separate: our time standards to get into higher level championship meets are different, we swim at different times (some meets in different pools all together), and males and females results are not scored and posted together, we are split up. So there really is no reason to compare if a female is weaker than a male because, besides practice, males and females don�??t run or swim together at competitions. Another good thing about swimming is you are in the water with a cap and goggles, so looks are really not significant in the water because if you take time to �??look good�?? no one will notice anyway. And actually most of time, if we do see swimmers wearing make up and stuff around at meets, they get mad fun of because that is not a top priority in our sport. This is the opposite from what we were discussing in class, as we had said that looks are often more important than ability in female athletes. As a female athlete, you only get on the cover of a sports magazine, like Sports Illustrated, if you are attractive. �??Such accounts represent a precursor to reportage of an athlete like Anna Kournikova where the dress style adopted and the �??look�?? of an athlete is often deemed more important than her athletic competence.�?� (Harris, 2002, p. 3) If you happen to make it to the Olympics, and are sponsored by a few big-time companies, you may be treated a little different. Swimmers who one, make it to the Olympics, and two, do something significant when they get there, and three look good for the awards stand and interviews, then venture into the world of becoming a swimmer model. Very few swimmers get the opportunity to model in the latest swim suit for Speedo or TYR, but even less become know as the �??World�??s Sexiest Athlete�?�, like Amanda Beard. �??As the world�??s sexiest athlete, a Playboy cover girl and a world champion swimmer known �??round the globe,�?� Amanda now stars in Go Daddy commercials showing off her looks. (�??Amanda Beard�?�, 2007) Swimmers, although know for their excellent physic, rarely take this path of stardom and to my knowledge, her and Michael Phelps are, for now, the only two US Olympic swimmers who have expanded their career to make a living off their body in other environments than swimming environments.

Being female in a male dominated society definitely has its down falls. I was encouraged to play sports that typically females play; softball, field hockey, and soccer. I have two brothers both of which played football and baseball. I always looked up to and wanted to be just like my older brother. As a result I was pretty much a tomboy until high school. I remember being in elementary or early middle school probably the fifth or sixth grade and asking my mom and dad if I could play football. This was the first time that my parents had ever told me I could not play a sport that I wanted to play. My dad�??s response was basically that pretty girls don�??t play that kind of sport because it is to rough and I would just end up hurt. I remember being angry that I couldn't play because I had always played backyard football with the neighborhood boys and my brothers and never gotten hurt. However, I quickly got over it when I realized that my dad was right, girls don't play football. Today I am very glad that my parents did not let me play football because I could have gotten hurt it is a very aggressive sport. In my opinion girls are not made to play football. When I got to high school my freshman year there was a girl who was on the football team and I remember all the boys being so angry that she made the team, she wasn�??t very good and didn�??t get much playing time. My junior year my friend tried out for the wrestling team and made it. She was actually really good but some guys would refuse to wrestle her because she was a girl. She made it to states but lost. I still find it admirable that she played a sport that was typically a male sport. At the beginning of the season she had no support from her team mates and frequently was called derogatory terms by her opponents. However, as she began to dominate her weight class she gained respect from her teammates and opponents.
When I read "The Real Culprit in the cutting of Men's Olympic Sports" much of what was said was old news to me. For example it should be public knowledge that football teams get more money from the school than any girl�??s sports. There are significant difference in playing fields and uniforms. In my high school the football team got new uniforms every two years. They also had practice uniforms and a very nice stadium. While the jv. Field hockey uniforms were ten years old. When I asked the football coach how his team got new uniforms every year his response was because football brings in money for the school. People come to see football games they don�??t come to watch field hockey. We had to walk a half mile to our holey field hockey field and every time it rained the softball field which doubled as the girls soccer field would be saturated with water, so much that we would be unable to practice on it for at least a day after it rained. The football team however had a practice field and a game field that was located in a stadium with lights.
I love watching football just as much as the next person but I would get so frustrated with the fact that they got new uniforms and great equipment and not one field but two, and as a female I was stuck with ugly old uniforms and crappy fields.

As a child, all of the sports I started to get involved with were my choice. Although my parents encouraged me to play some sport or participate in activity to be active, meet people, etc, I always had the freedom to choose. Up until I was about seven years old, I usually played with all the kids in my neighborhood. They all happened to be boys, with the exception of my little sister. Needless to say, we didn�??t act particularly �??girly�?�. This rougher introduction to the sporting world allowed my sister and I to be more aggressive in our future years of soccer and lacrosse. We participated in dance classes for a few years, but both eventually opted to stop to allow more time for other sports for a while. We also tried out gymnastics off and on for a brief period. I will openly say we were never really encouraged to do things such as cheerleading, but that was probably partially due to the fact that there weren�??t many recreational cheerleading leagues around our area at that point in time. I feel that we wouldn�??t have wanted to anyways. The two of us both enjoyed the physical exertion of our sports and my parents were fine with that. My dad got rather excited when the aggression came out. My little brother is four years younger than my little sister and six years younger than me, so for a while, Dad kind of pushed us to be extra tough. When my brother came along, the pressure remained, but in a different way. Now he wanted my brother to see that his older sisters could keep up with the rest of them. We would teach him and be hard on him when we played together to �??toughen him up�?� when he was younger.
When I got to high school and began weight training, the coaches in charge didn�??t baby anyone because we were girls. They pushed us to push ourselves and again, �??be tough�?�. This carried over to the games, and most of our team was less than prissy. Playing with boys early on, and training with them later has certainly added to how I feel about how I, as well as other girls, should perform. I feel that if you�??re going to play a contact sport and do it well, you should be prepared to play against the best of them. Well, practicing against bigger guys will certainly aid in that.

I grew up in a family of all girls. I am the youngest out of 3 and all of my sisters and i were treated completely differently when it came to sports. When we were little before we really had a choice as to what sports we liked and actually wanted to play or before we really knew what we were good at, we were all put into the same sports. It wasn't until we got older that our differences really started to show. Having us involved in sports and athletics was a huge thing for my dad. He did not have any sons so he sort of tried to treat us as if we were his sons. By the time we were all in elementary school it was obvious that both me and my oldest sister were not exactly living up to my dad's athletic dreams. We played sports but we did the very stereotypical girl appropriate sports. We both danced competitively and for our high school, we both played field hockey and softball. But my middle sister was treated as the son my dad never had. She excelled in soccer and basketball, and set many records for our school in running and strength training. She was probably one of the best female athletes of my high school. My dad expected a lot more out of her than us. He pushed her harder and always expected her to play college sports. I remember one event very clearly. When my sister graduated high school my dad said half joking "Cari, you are going to have to start playing basketball so I have a reason to go to the games again' and my response to that was " Dad, you can go to the games because I dance at them remember." It wasn't that he wasn't supportive of my choice of athletics because he was the one who financed my competitive dance, but to him dance wasn't a sport. And because I enjoyed dance every since I was little and my sister enjoyed basketball he treated us very differently. He treated me and still does as his little girl who is very fragile, and he treats my sister like she doesn't need any help with anything and that she's so tough. Also, I remember when I was in middle school I went through a phase where all I wanted to do was play hockey. All of my cousins were playing and my brother in law played and I loved playing with them for fun, I wanted to join a league that was in my county but my Dad absolutely refused to let me play because he was very worried that I would get hurt. But he was very supportive of my 8 year old nephew playing this year. Not that he didn't think I had skills and talent but because he was worried about me getting hurt. Looking back it was probably a good decision and I am sure he was just looking out for me. But that is the only time I can ever really remember being refused from a sport because I was a girl.
I think that my dad just grew up in a family that women are vulnerable and need to be taken care of so he was very cautious with me and actually still is. I just think it's so ironic because my sister showed him a different side of her than I showed him, she is now treated in a completely different way. You always hear about that with brothers and sisters but not sister and sister. Now as I am older, my dad is more supportive of things and new sports i want to try out. Me and him have even taken boxing classes together and he is trying to teach me how to shoot in a range with him which is something I never thought he would allow me to do. It also took him years to be open to the idea. But I think that as I get older and show him that I can be on my own and I am responsible enough to take care of myself, he is learning to let go and it's just a small act but taking me to a shooting range with him is actually a huge deal to me. It shows that he is coming around about his idea of me being someone who needs him to take care of me.