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What Others Are Saying…
Here's an assortment of opinions from
the sports section of different newspapers around the state regarding
the gender equity lawsuit the MHSAA is involved in:
"First of all, we don't believe the seasons in which girls
sports are played discriminates against girls, and the notion
that the MHSAA established these seasons to intentionally discriminate
against girls in ludicrous.
--Detroit Free Press, Sept. 13, 2001
"It's also argued that some girls sports
would get better media coverage if they were played during a
traditional season.
"The reality is coverage of girls and boys basketball, for example, would suffer under the change. Instead of each getting showcased - as they can be now during separate seasons - coverage would have to be divided among the two.
"It's also doubtful volleyball would benefit by moving to the fall. Big volleyball tournaments take place on Saturday and would have to compete head-to-head for media attention with college football."
--Bay City Times, June 29, 2001
"If the gender equity lawsuit, which will
be coming up in court next month, goes against the Michigan High
School Athletic Association, there could be major problems in
finding qualified coaches and officials.
"The suit wants high school sports seasons for girls to be the same as for colleges. In other words, girls' volleyball would be in the fall, girls basketball in the winter and, presumably, girls' tennis would switch to the spring as well.
"Since many high school coaches of boys' teams also coach girls' teams, there could be an instant shortage if coaches had to make a choice.
"Also, many officials work both boys' and girls' games. Again, they would have to make a choice.
"Without getting into all the legalities involved in the suit, we've always felt the suit was unjustified because the MHSAA only follows the wishes of its member schools. All the surveys have shown 80 percent or more of the schools favor the system now in place."
--Kalamazoo Gazette, July 5, 2001
"Equal opportunity? You want equal opportunity?
"If the lawsuit filed against the Michigan High School Athletic
Association seeking to switch when some sports are played does
produce that result, try this for some equal opportunity:
"Boys and girls will both have a greater chance of being
cut from a team.
"Those who make the team will not have as much time to practice
their skills.
"They will have a chance to play under coaches of lesser
quality than they do now.
"They will get to have their games worked by inferior officials.
"They can even play in front of smaller crowds and draw
less attention from the media.
"All in the name of what has sadly become the holy grail
of high school sports the college scholarship.
"Sounds like a winner, doesn't it?"
--Jackson Citizen Patriot, March 25, 2001
"We were astounded
by the number of people who reacted positively to our column
last week, in which we said a volleyball victory in the lawsuit
would have a horrible effect on high school sports in Michigan.
We received only two e-mails in support of the suit -- both concerning
college scholarships. Meanwhile, some of the e-mail raised new
concerns in this debate:
"As a golf coach who has coached boys from 1991-97 and girls since 1991, placing boys golf in the spring would hurt the girls program substantially! What golf course would take two high school teams at the same time? Our home course, Tanglewood GC in South Lyon, has treated us like kings and queens. That is not always the case. If boys went to the spring, who do you think would lose out?
"You forgot one important factor: officials for all these games. As an example: Most basketball officials work both boys and girls schedules. If this move happens, how many officials are going to work 4-5 games every week from December to March? Not many. We need more officials as it is. They can combine seasons, but if that happens, the next sound you hear will be from frantic athletic directors trying to find officials for these contests!
"If they move girls basketball to the winter, not only will coaches have to choose whether to coach the girls or the boys, many officials will have to choose as well. They most likely will not work both. For myself, I would give up working the girls because I also work college ball and would not want to work six nights a week.
"Thank you for saying what most parents
in the state of Michigan feel. I had a boy and a girl and it
was such a relief to have them playing in separate seasons. I
couldn't have imagined my varsity son playing basketball in one
gym and my JV daughter in another on the same night. This whole
thing is ridiculous. Does anyone pay attention to statistics?
Athletics is not about a free education. Sometimes we get lucky
and that can happen but reality is you are really there for the
EDUCATION."
-- Detroit Free Press, March 8, 2001
"The group (Communities for Equity) will
tell you that forcing girls to play volleyball in the winter
and basketball in the fall is costing them precious college scholarships.
"Hogwash!
"First of all, it is not the role of the MHSAA to make sure students have the opportunity to receive athletic scholarships. Less than 1 percent of our athletes are going to receive athletic scholarships anyway, so changing the athletic calendar for those few students is sheer lunacy.
"But pretend for a moment that athletic scholarships are priority No. 1 for the MHSAA. As it turns out, it is doing quite well in that area, thank you.
"Last year, the state produced the fifth-highest number of Division I volleyball scholarship athletes in the country and was No. 6 in the nation in women's basketball scholarship winners.
"This is why: Michigan's high school sporting schedule provides a tremendous advantage to basketball and volleyball players here.
"Ask yourself: When is the easiest time for a college coach to evaluate prospects? When that coach isn't coaching his/her college team.
"College coaches can come here to evaluate players and not have to worry about coaching their team or neglecting their home state in recruiting.
"You might say that since volleyball is played in the fall in other states, college coaches are finished recruiting by the time we even begin playing volleyball here.
"That is not true because college recruiting
has become so sophisticated, most college coaches know to whom
they are going to offer scholarships before the athlete's senior
season even begins. Most coaches spend the school season concentrating
on evaluating juniors, not seniors."
-- Detroit Free Press, March 1, 2001
"Nobody involved really seems to want
it, unless you count the three-headed monster of parental activists,
lawyers and politicians.
"Talk about your three most unpopular segments of society.
"Yet, somehow the three have combined to ignore the wishes
of the athletes, the coaches, the athletic officials and the
Michigan High School Athletic Association in their attempt to
force Michigan high school athletes to play in seasons they don't
want to play in.
--Saginaw News, March 1, 2001
“But remember this, fewer than 1 percent
of all high school athletes receive scholarships. We are on dangerous
ground if we are going to limit opportunities for our high school
kids to accommodate a couple of “on the bubble” college
players who might get overlooked because volleyball is played
a season later than most states.
“I focus on volleyball and girls basketball because that
was the catalyst for the lawsuit. But when you consider what
would happen to facility availability when you try to squeeze
two teams onto the same tennis courts or compete for access to
community golf courses or swimming pools, not only do girls lose,
but boys do, too.
“Athletic directors would be faced with the with the task
of cutting back on matches. Coaches might have to cut more just
to make the teams work.
“Small schools, already pressed with inadequate facilities
and inadequate funding, would have to eliminate sports altogether.
“But there is another aspect to this lawsuit that is misleading
as well. It has to do with the promotion of girls sports and
the idea that the MHSAA is not doing enough.
“I submit to you that the best form of promotion is the
local newspaper. And with the seasons the way they are, The Chronicle
is able to give both girls basketball and volleyball their due.
“Could we do better? Sure, we could. But switching the seasons
would make it impossible to provide the amount of coverage we
do now.
“Girls volleyball could not compete with college football
for front-page space on Sundays. And in basketball, with varsity
teams competing on the same night, we would be forced to cut
back on writeups for both, because, like it or not, there is
only so much space available in the newspaper.
“I’ve talked to a lot of female athletes and coaches
of girls sports over the years and, the bottom line is this,
they like the seasons they way they are.
“They don’t want to change.
“Wouldn’t it be a shame if we upset the entire apple
cart to save a couple apples?
“I am a longtime proponent of gender equity. But this lawsuit
is misguided.
“We shouldn't have to take a giant step backward before
we can start moving forward again.”
--Muskegon Chronicle - February 25, 2001
“The gender equity argument isn’t
with the MHSAA. It can nothing unless the member schools - your
school districts - tell it to.
“The MHSAA is simply an administrative organization that runs things based on the rules the schools give it.
“They don’t control your uniforms,
your programs, your bands, even your playing nights. There is
no MHSAA rule that says girls basketball can’t be played
on Friday nights. They are incapable of making such a rule."
(Sept. 27, 2000)
--Grand Rapids Press
"To me, the whole issue boils down to one thing: doing what
is best for all the kids.
"And, after finding the Women's NCAA Tournament buried and
lost in every newspaper I have read, it seems obvious that the
best thing for girls basketball is to keep it as far away from
boys basketball as possible.
"It also seems reasonable to me that if Michigan's girls'
high school games are being played when the colleges are not
in season, more colleges have a chance to look at and recruit
Michigan players.
"Change-the-season proponents have also made a big deal
out of the fact that girls basketball has to go up against football
for attention in the fall.
"To me, that's hogwash.
"First, basketball plays on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Football
plays on Friday.
"And, if you've been around sports a while, you know there
is a certain die-hard core of basketball fans, who will follow
hoop teams year round, whether they be boys or girls.
"Even the WNBA, the fledgling women's professional circuit,
has the sense to play its season when the NBA is off.
"The change-of-season backers need to put aside their own
personal agendas and do what is right and best for the game of
girls basketball." (April 2, 2000)
--Southgate News-Herald
"It seems to me, Communities for Equity,
the group of parents who filed the lawsuit, are looking at this
all wrong. Instead of suing the MHSAA for discrimination, it
should be holding the organization up as a model for other states
to follow.
"Indeed, Michigan has made great strides in its quest to
meet the mandates of Title IX. It has a strong record of sanctioning
an equal number of girls and boys sports while continually upgrading
facilities for its state tournaments.
"I am sorry but I don't believe that girls who play a basketball
finals game at Central Michigan's Rose Arena are being discriminated
against because boys play at Michigan State's Breslin Center.
"It has to do with crowds and boys games have drawn larger
crowds. That may change and when it does, the girls games should
be moved to a larger facility, as well." (September 17,
1998)
--Muskegon Chronicle
"We're lining
up in support of the MHSAA position, which has been established
through a vote of all member schools polled by its Representative
Council. If the majority of Michigan's high schools back the
current calendar of seasons, things should be left as they are."
--Kalamazoo Gazette
"Don't be fooled by the gender equity
lawsuit…recently filed against the Michigan High School
Athletic Association. It has nothing to do with gender equity,
but is simply a last gasp effort by frustrated people who have
failed for years to switch the two girls seasons (basketball
and volleyball) and are now hoping that putting that selfish
quest under the blanket of gender equity will do the job for
them."
"The MHSAA has no authority to deal with the majority of the complaints, imagined or otherwise. And the plaintiffs don't seem to have the stomach to take them up with the rightful entity, the local boards of education." (August 2)
"Eight of 10 school districts in the
state say things should stay the way they are. They don't need
a college coach or out-of-state lawyer telling them what's best
for their student athletes." (September 16, 1998)
--Grand Rapids Press
"In essence, a change is not warranted
- not if you're talking about what's best for the majority of
athletes and not just an elite few."
--Traverse City Record-Eagle
"Let's leave it as it is."
--Petoskey News Review
"This lawsuit, which claims the MHSAA
is discriminating against girls, is ludicrous and has no merit."
(August 27, 1998)
"The bottom line is this: If the schools
don't want to move seasons, a court of law has no right to order
the change. This is a no-brainer. Now, can we please have this
case thrown out of court?" (September 14, 1998)
--Detroit Free Press
"Switching seasons would be like robbing
Peter to pay Paul. Far too many would be hurt to satisfy the
wishes of a few."
--Marquette Mining Journal
"The bottom line is what's best for girls
high school athletes? What's best is keeping the seasons as they
are and leading the way instead of falling in line like the rest
of the lemmings around the country. Whoever said different is
bad?"
--Saginaw News
"The MHSAA sponsors the same amount of
state championships for girls as it does for boys. However, the
MHSAA can't tell schools which sports to sponsor. Which means
it's possible for a school to sponsor 10 boys sports and only
seven girls sports. If the lawsuit parents have a problem with
that, they're better off going after the offending school, not
the MHSAA." (June 30, 1998)
"The lawsuit has not only lost any momentum
it might have briefly had, but it continues to ask for changes
that aren't desired by the schools themselves. If the lawsuit
isn't thrown out, which is what it deserves, the two parties
are expected to meet in October before a magistrate to discuss
a possible settlement. The problem is, the issue doesn't need
to be settled." (September 15, 1998)
--Oakland Press
"Any high school can sanction a varsity
sport. All the MHSAA does is sponsor the state tournaments. And
it takes 10 percent of member schools to sponsor a sport for
the MHSAA to hold a state tournament. Boys or girls.
"And in the eight years I've covered
state high school tournaments in girls sports, I've not noticed
a difference in facilities - boys or girls."
--Lansing State Journal
"To at least one group in the minority...the MHSAA is
not fair because it makes girls compete in basketball in the
fall and volleyball in the winter.
"Wah, wah, wah.
"Give me a break.
"The MSHAA today is responding in Kalamazoo District Court
to a lawsuit filed by Grand Rapids-based Communities for Equity
contending that the association is unfair to girls. Here's hoping
the courts throw this one out on its proverbial ear.
"The folks behind the gender equity lawsuit
are pushing for something that few schools want. The most recent
survey of MHSAA-member schools showed that more than 82 perecent
of the schools did not want to see a changing of the seasons."
(September 15, 1998)
Jackson Citizen Patriot