Female Football Players and the effects of Title IX

Female Football Players and the effects of Title IX

Friday night games, athletic, agile, and dedicated are words commonly used to describe high school football. These words evoke images of young men playing through broken bones, heartaches from defeat and the overall thrill of the game. Given this image, there are a handful of girls that feel the desire to play on these teams without thought of injury or persecution from others. The dangers associated with girls playing football on what has been known as a male dominated sport are far less when players, students, faculty and parents are made aware of the advantages that come to a team with no gender bias. Although some find female athletes to be distracting for their male teammates, female athletes are as qualified as male athletes because ability, endurance, agility and TITLE IX allow female athletes to play. Male players dominate the sport of high school football; although there are more girls choosing to playing today than in the past.
      Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 is a federal law that 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 education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance"(Brand, 2005). “Title IX applies to all educational institutions, both public and private, that receive federal funds. All institutions of higher learning abide by Title IX regulations because they receive federal funding through federal financial aid programs used by their students. Athletics programs are considered educational programs and activities. There are three basic parts of Title IX as it applies to athletics: Participation: Title IX requires that women and men be provided equitable opportunities to participate in sports. Title IX does not require institutions to offer identical sports but an equal opportunity to play; Scholarships: Title IX requires that female and male student-athletes receive...