By EMILY SAKOWSKI
More young girls are playing hockey and soccer on local sports teams, and Ramapo College students agree that girls should be encouraged to play on boys’ sports teams.
In recent years, stories have emerged about young girls playing on boys’ sports teams. The integration of girls onto boys’ teams has ultimately received positive feedback, especially since Title IX requires gender fairness for boys and girls in all federally-funded educational programs. Many of Ramapo’s student athletes believe this is a step in the right direction.
“I played on a co-ed team when I was that age and when girls play against boys, it makes them better players and more aggressive,” said Kelsey Sutherland, 20 of Edison and a member of the women’s soccer team at Ramapo.
Today in a gender neutral society, it’s not uncommon for boys to play with Barbies and girls to play with monster trucks. Labels are becoming unisex in toy stores. The same can be applied to elementary sports.
PHOTO/CREATIVE COMMONS
Stereotypically, young boys are known to be more assertive when it comes to contact sports like soccer or hockey. Allowing girls to play on boy teams at a younger age can arguably teach them to have tougher skin when they play. It’s not about being good for a girl’s standards, it’s about being a great player in general.
Under Title IX, boys and girls must receive gender equity in all educational programs that are federally funded, which includes athletics, too.
“Today more than 100,000 girls play sports once considered to be ‘guys only,'” Kathy Satterfield, author of “Should Girls Play on Boys’ Sports Teams,” wrote. “Female athletes, thanks to laws that require leagues to welcome girls, have opportunities to play virtually any sport they want.”
The segregated reality of elementary-aged girls and boys playing on separate teams has been evolving to become a thing of the past.
Another member of the women’s soccer team at Ramapo, 21-year-old Lo Laskowski of Metuchen, agreed with Sutherland about it being a benefit for girls to play on boys’ teams.
“I honestly think that’s why I’m the soccer player I am today. It made me tougher,” she said. “In elementary school physical differences wouldn’t be an issue because they’re not significant yet.”
The idea of girls playing on boys’ teams is becoming more common, and news broadcasters are noticing. Last year, the Huffington Post reported on how WNBA players were in support of girls on boys’ teams.
A ways to go
While many people support co-ed sports teams for young students, there is still some backlash directed at girls joining boy teams. In 2013, Fox published a story about sixth grader Maddy Baxter, who was kicked off her school’s football team after playing for a year as First String Defensive Tackle.
Despite the negative reception from some, even Ramapo College’s male athletes believe the integration of young girls onto boys’ teams is a good thing.
“I definitely think boys and girls should play soccer together in elementary school, ” said Brady O’Connor, 21, of Livingston, a former men’s soccer player. “In my elementary school, some of the girls played with us and they were better than a lot of the boys.”
I didn’t know the extent to which girls were playing with boys. The figure in the story of 100,000, whether that was estimated or not, shows significant progress in this issue. I had an idea about the push for gender equality in sports, but did not think that there were that many girls getting involved on boys teams.
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