Ashley Rad Mrs. Selinger English II December 16, 2016 Professional sports aren’t only meant for men Women and girls want to play in male dominated sports activities, they should have the same access to play as men or boys. Highschool sports play a big role in a student’s life. Many girls in highschool want to play a rougher sport like football and wrestling, but the majority of schools don’t encourage girls to tryout for the sports they want to participate in or the schools do not even offer the sport to girls.
Some people argue that women’s bodies are not as strong as a men’s and cannot be capable of playing on men’s sports but “approximately women are 52%-66% as strong as the men in the upper and lower body” (Miller et al, 1993). “Sports for girls at highschool age is very important and has many benefits, including better grades, better body image, less cases of depressed teens and higher chance of graduating from high school. ” (Women’s Sports Foundation, 2016).
Experts know that discrimination for any reason, especially in sports can affect someone’s self esteem and overall performance performance. When girls can compete with and against boys it enhances their view of themselves and makes them more resilient. Having boys and girls play sports together builds friendships that would not come together without a shared love for a sport are learning how to cope with different attitudes towards winning or losing. Everyone learns how to accept each other as a friend or team mate, which is is something kids can carry with them for life.
Although there is a federal law that mandates equal participation opportunities for male and female students in secondary and post-secondary institutions of higher education”, the real reason we want equal opportunity for our daughters to play sports is so they too can derive the psychological, physiological and sociological benefits of sports participation” (King, 2016). Experts also know that players tend to behave more responsibly when they play with or against the opposite sex” (DJAMA, 2009). Co-ed games are generally slower than men’s games and faster than women’s games, making it a safer game with fewer injuries (DJAMA, 2009).
Some players may join a Co-Ed team to try harder and play better to help them get better (DJAMA, 2009) at their sport. In men’s lacrosse it is a more physical sport, but women’s lacrosse it is not. The difference is that men’s lacrosse allows aggressive and physical contact, different play equipment, number of active players on a field, and style of play (Lax World, 2016). However, women’s lacrosse requires goggles and mouth guards, while helmets and protective padding are reserved for goalies. Women’s lacrosse only offers padding for goalies but in men’s lacrosse everyone on the team gets padding.
Shoulder padding, knee padding, chest padding, and extremely protective cups. Men’s lacrosse is meant for all physical contact, but is illegal in the women’s version of the game. While female players can stick-check one another, they are not allowed to body-check each other. Hockey is another physical contact sport and allows women to play professionally on men’s teams. The first women to make a professional team was In 1992, with Manon Rheaume becoming “the first woman to play in an NHL game when she played in goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning against the St. Louis Blues” (Wakiji, 2009) and she went on to set a path way to encourage women to play professional on a men’s team.
And Meghan Agosta who led Canada to its third straight Olympic gold medal in 2010. Then Jennifer Botterill set and holds the “record for most goals and most assists per game in her two years at Harvard. She still holds the single-game record for most assists in a game” (Shmoop, 2016) And then there’s Caroline Ouellette who is among the top ten all-time scorers in women’s hockey.
Ms. Ouellette is also one of three women to have won four Olympic gold medals as a member of Canada’s national team. ” (Wakiji, 2011). Hockey might be one of the top most violent sports out there. Players can be at a higher injury risk that comes from contact sports. In any game, a player can end up with bruises or broken bones, or hamstring and ankle injuries can happen to you if you don’t properly stretch out. Players have to watch out for opposing players sticks, because they can also cause bruises and broken bones and “pucks can knock out a tooth or two as well” (Wakiji, 2011).
Women that play hockey are aware of the risk, but want to play anyway. With the increase in popularity, hockey is a sport that has included young girls, so coaches should really focus on developing the female players, just like they do the male players (Francisco, 2012). “Star players in men’s leagues can earn over $1 million in European leagues, and the average NHL salary as of 2013 was around $1. 3 million” (Burke, 2012). Yet in North America, women are pros in name only since they earn no money and often have to provide their own equipment.
Since hockey is slowly starting to bring in women players, it’s time think about them as professional players, just like the men. There are be places for women in other the men’s leagues, like football. “Former Packers vice president Andrew Brandt said a woman might be able to play as a kicker” (McManus, 2011). For instance, “a woman might break into baseball as a knuckleballer (McManus, 2011). And the first women to sign with NFL was Jen Welter, who stepped onto the field in the third quarter of a game and is believed to be the first woman to appear in a men’s pro game in a non-kicking position (Collman, 2014).
Without these strong and powerful women taking risks in sports, we would never be able to do what was considered impossible or acceptable before. It’s easy to see how from these examples that women are valuable players in their sports. More women and girls should be encouraged and supported if they want to play. And if they become professional players, they should be able to make the same amount of money and recognition of men. This would be good for the sports industry and all of society when both women and men play sports.