Collierville sets up group to review gender issues in sports

The Collierville school system has formed a high-level committee to address gender issues in its sports programs. The decision comes days after a group of adults and girls complained at a Collierville school board meeting that the schools were unfairly favoring boys' athletics.

The working group will consist of Superintendent John S. Aitken, Chief of Staff Jeff Jones, Athletic Director Jeff Curtis and Nancy Kelley who handles student Title IX compliance issues.

"We want to have a collaborative and thorough review of what our current practices are," Jones said. "And if there are deficiencies in those practices, we are certainly going to take steps to comply. Not just with the law, but with community standards."

Collierville High graduate Paige Eubank, 23, and her father Jay Eubank , 54, were among leaders of the group that brought complaints about treatment of girls' athletic programs to a March 21 school board meeting. They raised concerns about issues including disparities in fees charged to parents, quality of facilities as well as scheduling of practices and game times.  Paige Eubank's younger sister Sydney, 17, is a current high school senior and participant in soccer and softball.

"Our intent was never to cause a fuss or cause legal action," Jay Eubank said Thursday. "We wanted to raise awareness and place it in their hands and we trust that they'll get it done."

Eubank points to the requirements of Title IX, a 1972 measure that aims to prohibit sex discrimination in programs and activities at institutions that receive federal funding. The law covers various programs, including sports.

Funding of sports matters because sports change lives, said Barbara Osborne, who teaches sports law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Sports teach people teamwork, sportsmanship, persistence and how to rise above failure, and they lead to a real edge in the workplace, she said.

"To not offer girls the same opportunities that boys have to learn those same things in sports harms girls from being competitive in society," she said.

The law establishes three tests for whether institutions are in compliance with Title IX, she said.

First, does the proportion of male and female athletic opportunities match the student enrollment? Second, if it's not proportionate, is there a history of expansion of opportunities for the underrepresented sex - that is, is the school adding teams? Third, is the school already offering all the programs that female athletes want?

In addition to that three-part test, the regulations address a "laundry list" of other factors, Osborne said. Among them: do boys and girls receive similar equipment and supplies? Is the quality and quantity of coaching equal? What about the facilities and the playing and practice times – for instance, do the boys get all the premiere time slots for games?

The scheduling of sports seasons can play a role, too. A lawsuit was filed in 1998 against the Michigan High School Athletic Association over its scheduling practices: boys' teams were scheduled to play during traditional seasons, while girls' teams were scheduled for off-times: girls' basketball took place in the fall, for instance.

That resulted in girls missing chances for college scholarships, Osborne said. After years of litigation, the athletic association lost and the girls' seasons were moved to more favorable times.

Money may well become a focus of the discussion of sports in Collierville, where various booster clubs raise money for the different sports offered. And parents are expected to pay fees: for instance, football costs $300 per year, boys' and girls' basketball costs $350, softball costs $1,200 and baseball costs $1,600.

Osborne says the law requires schools to distribute money fairly. Obviously, a sport like football costs more than a sport like running, but the law says each of the athletes should have similar chances to participate.

It's far easier for a popular sport like football to raise money through gate receipts and other fundraising than it is for a girls' volleyball team, she said.

"You can't say 'we'll use all the football money on football.' You have to take the income and distribute it equitably so that all of your student athletes have the same experience."

Booster clubs can cause a number of issues, she said.

"What the law says is 'We really don't care what you get your funding. You're not allowed to discriminate.' So when I advise schools, I basically explain to them that having separate booster clubs for each team is an invitation for discrimination."

She said it's better to have one single booster club to support all of the athletic teams.

The review of gender issues in sports isn't the only issue related to extracurricular activities coming before the Collierville school board. This spring, the board is expected to approve an updated list of fees, an issue that's likely to generate more discussion.