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Is There Equity in the CHS Sports Program for Girls AND Boys? By Audrey Buffi
If there is no equivalent girls’ team, a girl may join the boys’ team in a sport. Football, for example, is a co-ed sport at the high school, although Hobin said it’s uncommon for a girl to join the football team.
A Look at CHS Boys’ and Girls’ Sports Culture: Is There Equity?
By Audrey Buffi
Female students and teachers at CHS have recently been questioning whether or not there is equity in treatment of girls’ vs. boys sports at CHS. Questions such as these have surfaced: “Why do girls have to play in the off-season?” “Why are there so many announcements about boys’ sports and so few about girls’ sports?”
Complaints about the inequality of male and female sports have sparked controversial discussions in classes. But to what extent are these criticisms actually true?
Tiffany Risch is a science teacher and PBGR coordinator for the high school. In addition to her academic responsibilities, she is the coach of the CHS boys’ and girls’ tennis teams. Risch is one of an estimated 20-30 coaches in the state who coach the boys’ and girls’ teams of any sport.
The process for making morning announcements on behalf of a sports team is “pretty simple,” Risch explained.
It’s “up to the coaches” whether or not they wish to include an excerpt about their team. Risch said she typically makes announcements in order to “promote the team, invite students to attend the games, and inform everyone about what’s going on.”
Statistics and updates on CHS sports are provided by the coaches, not administrators, and it is the coach’s responsibility to provide the information to be announced in advance. The decisions of each coach account for the abundance of updates for some teams and lack thereof for others.
Risch also explained that the sports program that CHS participates in determines the seasons for the sport, and the seasons are subject to change. For example, the girls’ volleyball season was in the spring, while the boys’ season was in the fall. However, the seasons switched about ten years ago so that boys now play during the spring and girls during the fall.
While the spring is considered the traditional sport for tennis, “most tennis programs put [the girls’ teams] in the fall” due to general scheduling decisions, therefore any discrepancies in the seasons are the results of the program.
The principal of CHS, Michael Hobin, also commented on the different seasons saying, “If there is a conflict with another sport, boys can join the girls’ team, and vice versa”, but he adds that such combining rarely happens. “The student usually chooses his or her sport of preference,” Hobin said.
Hobin went on to mention that there have been recent efforts to form all-girls’ teams in additional sports, such as hockey. Coventry has combined with Smithfield in order to have enough female hockey players for a team.
If there is no equivalent girls’ team, a girl may join the boys’ team in a sport. Football, for example, is a co-ed sport at the high school, although Hobin said it’s uncommon for a girl to join the football team.
Yet despite the limited female interest in co-ed football, Powder Puff at CHS has seen much success and popularity in past years. Powder Puff is an all-female football event that takes place annually among high school students.
“Powder Puff initially started as a fundraiser for the Physical Education Department,” Hobin explained. “Ms. Pacheco [PE curriculum coordinator] brought up the idea to bring it to CHS about 5-6 years ago.”
According to him, the tradition has been successful at the high school because it’s “something different”, and it encourages “class camaraderie”, along with his observation that students simply enjoy it.
While there are undeniable differences in boys’ and girls’ sports traditions, Hobin believes CHS has made an effort to be fair to all sports teams. There are also challenges and benefits to these differences, as described by Tiffany Risch.
“It’s different coaching girls than boys,” Risch said. “With the girls, they tend to wear their heart on their sleeve, and you can really see the passion and the emotion when they’re playing in the matches”, whereas “the guys mask it”.
Coaching for both boys’ and girls’ teams at CHS has taught her “to be a good reader of what’s going on emotionally”, and the importance of learning to coach to all personalities. Risch summarized her experience by saying, “I like to see both sides of the situation.”