Title IX Changes

There seems to be some changes afoot on Title IX. Eric at Offwing Opinion has been all over the story.

My view is that Title IX is not a bad thing in and of itself but some of the repercussions have been bad. Schools with scholarship football programs have had smaller men's programs like wrestling wiped out because of the need for Title IX compliance. Title IX has had the net effect of giving more scholarships to girls at the cost of smaller mens programs or schools dropping football because that one program will cause a disparity in scholarships.

Some schools have sorta skirted Title IX compliance by making football a non-scholarship sport with players given needs based financial assistance that happens to total up to 100% of the cost to attend the school (wink, wink).

I have long felt that the spirit of the law was equal participation - which is actually in the school's best interest. Students involved in sports tend to do better and also remember the school more fondly after graduation (i.e. more money from alumni giving).

The solution in my eyes has always been to make cheerleading a varsity sport.

OK - are you done laughing or thinking I'm a chauvinist pig?

I'm serious. Cheerleading is not easy. My sister in law teaches gymnastics and is also a high school cheerleading coach. Her cheerleaders work just as hard as most of the varsity players they cheer and their practice is just as physically demanding. Most cheerleaders but not all will be girls whereas 100% of football scholarships go to the guys. All the other seasonal sports match up equally. Men's basketball and women's basketball, baseball and softball, men's and women's volleyball, etc, etc. It is football that throws things out of whack. If cheerleading was a varsity sport then the number of football scholarships could be equaled off with cheerleader scholarships.

Hey if cheerleading was good enough for the President then it should be good enough for Title IX compliance.