Boys participating in girl's sports

Recently in class, we discussed whether or not boys should participate in females' sports teams. A lot of times, some high schools have eliminated sports because of Title IX (or simply do not offer the sports to boys) so many boys have turned to competing with girls on their teams.


In class, we watched a video that showed a boy competing on a girl's field hockey team. The boy was a hockey player looking for a sport to work on his skills in the off-season; field hockey seemed to be the perfect choice for him. Too bad field hockey is only offered to females in the United States. Despite this fact, he still joined the team and was one of the star players. Most of his female teammate's parents were extremely upset about this. Some of the arguments against him joining the team were that he would easily injure the girls but at that point of the season, there was not one incident. Many were also upset because he was taking playing time away from their daughters that were now sitting on the bench because he was a starter. Although this may be true, he was good enough to play over them; the coach of the team was quoted saying that she would give her team the best shot to win playing the best players, even if they were a boy.

I agree that boys should be able to compete with girls in high school, as I also agree girls should be able to compete with boys. This should only be if the sport, or equivalent to that sport, is offered at their high school. Therefore, boys should not be able to compete in girl's basketball if boy's basketball is offered. If there Isn't a volleyball team offered for boys but there is a girls team, males interested in the sport should be able to play. It's the only fair way. People argue for girls to compete on boy's teams, why shouldn't boys be able to do the same if they are not offered the sport?

Females playing "rough" sports

In class last week we discussed whether females should play in rougher, contact sports that are usually only played by boys. Some of these sports include football and wrestling. I'm going to be honest, before class I thought that girls should not be allowed to compete against boys in most of these sports. The two girls discussed were: Holley Mangold who plays lineman for Keetering Alter High School in Ohio and a girl wrestler (not sure of her name) who made it to states in her weight class. Both of these girls were very good at their respective sports and could compete. They didn't want to be treated any differently than their teammates because they were girls.

The wrestler was a dominant force in her weight class. Holley Mangold, sister of New York Jets and former Ohio State Buckeye, Nick Mangold, loved hitting and could hold her own on the field.
Although these girls may be different than most female athletes, I think that if a girl wants to play a "rougher" sport, she should be able to. One thing is that they should not be treated differently than the rest of the boys. If they are aware of the consequences in the sport (being tackled and pushed around in football) and the pain that comes with contact sports, they shouldn't be able to receive special attention because of their gender.

These two females are just a couple examples of many girls who can compete and want to play contact sports with boys. Both opened my eyes to girls that can compete with boys in sports. Again, I think if the girls can compete, really want to try to play, are aware of the risks in the sport and won't receive special attention, they should be able to do whatever they want to do.