Basketball, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis and volleyball are all of the sports at Arapahoe High School that are available to women, but many of them might not exist if not for the passing of the federal law known as Title IX in 1972.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which was signed into law by President Richard Nixon, states: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
This act has had a wide-reaching effect on public education from elementary schools to the secondary level and colleges or universities. It ensures that any activity intended for one gender has the same funding and treatment as programs intended for the other.
Though Title IX has influenced all school programs, the greatest impact has been on sports. It opened up more athletic opportunities to females, which up to that point had been predominantly reserved for males.
This effect is clearly evident at Arapahoe High School, where as of this year there are eight women’s sports, as opposed to in 1972, when there were only three female sports: Tom Toms, flag twirling and girls swimming.
“We fill out an equity service every year for the district and for [Colorado High School Athletic Association],” Athletic Director Steve Sisler said. “We try to be equitable with staffing. Obviously there’s still more boys involved in sports than girls, but I’d say needs are met for everybody and funding is definitely fair.”
Many Arapahoe students feel that there is currently little inequality between men’s and women’s sports.
“It takes the same amount of hard work,” senior Austin Harris said. “Everybody has their own opinion [on girls sports], but generally I think people have the same view.”
In the 2010-2011 school year, 576 girls participated in sports and 791 boys at AHS, according to the Colorado High School Athletics Association.
The higher ratio of male to female participation is not unique to Arapahoe. According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, in 2010-2011 males outnumbered females nationally in high school sports programs. 4,494,406 males participated as compared to 3,173,549 females.
However, the number of females who participate in public school athletics has greatly increased from the 1971-1972 school year, when the total number in America was just 294,015. The number has also increased to over 300,000 from just ten years ago in the 2000-2001 school year.
Arapahoe has taken many measures to ensure that there are many opportunities for girls to participate in athletics.
“[Looking] around the state, I’d say our girl athletic programs are healthier than the majority of schools,” Sisler said. “We still offer a full sports and activities list for girls. We have multiple levels. Many of the schools we participate against only have varsity and junior varsity [teams], where we’ll have varsity, junior varsity and freshman/sophomore teams,” Sisler said.