Adsactly Sports - Should girls be allowed to play on boy’s teams?

Adsactly Sports: Should girls be allowed to play on boy's teams?

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Every athlete's dream is to play at the highest level and with the best players. Young players are always being scouted and moved up the ranks as they start to show the skills necessary to play at more elite levels. This allows these players to continue their development in leagues that are more competitive and against players that will challenge them to be better. What happens when this player who is showing skill beyond that of their peers is a girl? More and more we are seeing young girls and women demonstrating elite level skills and strength. These talented athletes want to play with the best and develop at higher levels. Should these female athletes be able to play on teams and in leagues with male athletes?

Pitcher Mo'Ne Davis, one of two girls at the Little League World Series

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Over the past several years in our school district, there have been a few situations that have created a great deal of controversy among some people. Educator, parents and administrators have been faced with some tough decisions and have engaged in some very heated discussion.

Back in 2010 in our school district, we had a young girl in grade 5 who was an exceptional basketball player. She was so good that she was better than the boys at her school. She wanted to play on the boy's basketball team and her parents requested that this happen. This became a controversial topic that had o be discussed all the way up to the upper levels of the school board. There were some people who were ok with this happening because she was clearly good enough to play at that level. However, there were a significant number of people who had concerns about her playing for the boy's team and the concerns were made quite vocally. The debate even made it into the mainstream media.

Eve Uwayesu who is a gifted basketball player in Grade 5 had her request to play for the junior boys team at her Ottawa school denied by the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.
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Her ability to compete with the boys was never really an issue, it was clear that she was better than them in most cases. There were many other issues that people had concerns with. This was completely uncharted waters for our school district and there was no precedent for how to deal with a situation like this. From coaches to parents to students and administrators, there were lots of opinions and people were not afraid to share them.

First of all, there were the flat-out opinions that boys should play with boys and girls should play with girls. The ability and skill level of the players should not matter. If you are a girl then you should play on the girl's team. It has always been that way and there is no reason that there should be an exception made for one athlete. If you let this one girl play on the boy's team, even if she is as good as them, then you potentially open the door for other girls to want to play on the boy's team.

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This argument is fair enough but does it give consideration to the reasons why the girl is asking to play on the boy's team? I get that traditionally boys play with boys and girls with girls but I feel like you must consider each case for its own merits. There might be some legitimate arguments against letting her play but the * just girls should play with girls* argument is not a strong enough on its own.

There were people who were critical of letting her play on the boy's team because she not physically as strong as the boys and they claimed that there was a strong chance of her getting hurt. This point is one that has merit and should be discussed. The physical differences between men and women can be significant, especially for adults.

The physiological differences between men and women are so great that elite male and female athletes rarely compete with each other. These differences generally give men a competitive edge in sports that reward absolute strength, acceleration and speed.
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There are some exceptions to this and in cases where women are physically more dominant than men but for the most part, due to genetic make up, men will have some advantages physically. Is this a strong enough reason for a woman to not compete with men? There is also the sport that must be part of the determination. If the sport is a contact sport like Hockey of Football then it could potentially be dangerous for women to play at a competitive level with men. There are several examples of women playing goalie in hockey at some pretty high levels but never a skater who would be subject to the repeated physical contact.

In 1992, Rheaume became the first woman to play in an NHL game when she played in goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning against the St. Louis Blues in an exhibition contest. She allowed two goals on nine shots. She played one more exhibition game, against the Boston Bruins in 1993. Since then, no woman has played in an NHL game of any kind.
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The physicality of the game might be an issue at older ages but is it an issue during childhood or adolescent years? This is where things might get tricky because the rate at which children develop and grow can be vastly different from one child to another. There can easily be situations during these years where boys and girls are on an equal playing field when it comes to size and strength. There is a lot to think about and consider when looking at the possibility for a female athlete to play with a boys team. It is not as simple as sticking her on the team and moving on.

When weighing up the situation, there can be no “one size fits all” solution. Age and gender are not always the best indicators of ability. Each case needs to be considered on its merits. In deliberating whether a girl should play in a boys’ team, parents, administrators and coaches all need to assess a number of factors.
Parents need to weigh up not only their child’s physiological capabilities, but her motivation for playing, skill level, competitiveness, and whether there is support from within the club. They also need to know how to support their child’s confidence and resilience in the face of any direct or indirect criticism.
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Finally, there are those that outright feel that it is not fair for a girl to take a spot on a boys team even if she is good enough to play with the boys. The argument is that the girl would be taking a spot away from a boy when she already has the ability to play on a girls team. Comments included the controversy that would be created if they tried to do this the other way. What if the boy was trying to play on a girls team? Would that be considered fair? There is this great quest to find gender equality in sports when it comes to girls but if you switched it up the response might be just as big and resistance.

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In the end, the young grade 5 female player in question here in our district was not allowed to play for the boy's team. The board did make some compromises and allowed her to play at a higher girls level but some say it was not enough and that the experience was not the same. This also meant that she got to play for two different teams which brings up the question of fairness yet again.

the Grade 5 student's request to play for the boys basketball team at her Ottawa elementary school was denied by the board, even though her coach, and boys on the team, said she would have been their best player. Instead, she was allowed to play up a level against intermediate girls in Grades 6 to 8.
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There is no simple solution to this debate and by no means is it going away. More and more, young female athletes are fighting for their chance to compete with boys and play at an elite level. Shortly after the issue with the young basketball player in Ottawa, the Ontario association that governs high school sports ruled that a female player would be allowed to play with the boys if they were capable of making the team. This was a big step, although not followed by all provinces in Canada. It is not a full solution as there is still the issue of how these decisions are made and the fairness of them but it is progress. As for how Eve Uwayesu has done in her quest to basketball, she is currently playing Varsity basketball for the University of Windsor in Ontario with women.

What do you think about the idea of women playing sports in men's leagues? Should girls be able to play in these leagues or not? What would your opinion be if it were reversed and boys were trying to play in girl’s leagues? I look forward to reading your thoughts and opinions.

Authored by @broncofan99

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