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Title IX Continues to Fuel Growth of Girls and Women’s Sports, Olympic Dominance
By
Karissa Niehoff
NFHS Executive Director
September 24, 2021
To say that American female athletes dominated the recent Olympics in Tokyo would be an understatement.
Among the 66 medals earned by American female Olympians – most by any country in the history of the Games – were gold-medal performances by the U.S. basketball, volleyball, water polo and beach volleyball teams. Eighteen medals were earned by the U.S. women swimmers, female track and field athletes claimed 15 medals, and the U.S. women’s softball and soccer teams won silver and bronze medals, respectively.
In the past 30 years of the Olympic Games, the United States has dominated the women’s team sports of basketball (nine golds), soccer (four golds, one silver, one bronze) and softball (three golds, two silvers) — not to mention the untold number of medals in track and field. And this past summer, the U.S. women’s volleyball team claimed its first gold medal.
These performances by some of our nation’s most skilled female athletes never would have been possible without the passage of Title IX and the offerings of these sports through our nation’s schools. With the chance to play afforded by the landmark Title IX legislation in 1972, girls participation in several high school sports skyrocketed in the years that followed.
When the NFHS conducted its first participation survey in 1971, basketball and outdoor track and field were the primary girls sports, comprising about two-thirds of the 294,000 total. However, with the opportunity to play additional sports, girls flocked to volleyball and softball first, along with cross country and eventually soccer.
Soccer, in fact, has had the most remarkable growth. In 1971, only 700 girls were playing high school soccer. Twenty-five years later, that number had climbed to almost 210,000; and as the 50th anniversary of Title IX approaches, there are now almost 400,000 girls playing high school soccer – a staggering 56,200 percentage increase in 50 years. Soccer now ranks fourth in popularity among girls high school sports – all because of that opportunity in 1972.
There are many other success stories, however. The pre-Title IX survey in 1971 indicated that 1,719 girls were participating in cross country. With increases every year until 2015, today, there are 219,345 girls competing in high school programs and the sport ranks sixth in popularity.
Although participation numbers have leveled a bit the past 10 years, fast-pitch softball is another sport that flourished after the passage of Title IX. With fewer than 10,000 participants in 1971, the numbers quickly rose to 220,000 by 1985 and 343,000 by 2000, and softball is currently fifth among girls sports with 362,038 participants.
Since track and field and basketball were the primary sports in the early days of girls sports programs, increases in those sports have not been as dramatic; however, they remain the first and third most-popular sports, respectively, today. Volleyball, however, much like soccer, continues its upward climb.
Without a doubt, volleyball has seen the steadiest increases among girls high school sports the past 50 years. After starting with 17,952 participants in 1971, the numbers jumped to 300,810 by 1990 and 409,332 by 2010 and 452,808 by 2018. During its climb, volleyball surpassed basketball as the No. 2 girls sport.
And among the top six girls sports from 2010 to 2018 (numbers are not available the past two years due to the pandemic), volleyball has gained the most participants (43,476), followed by soccer (32,549). And all of this has occurred thanks to legislation passed in 1972 that was not fundamentally meant to address opportunities for girls to participate in high school sports.
The NFHS is leading a yearlong celebration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX, which officially occurs on June 23, 2022. “Title IX at 50 – Celebrating and Growing Opportunities” is highlighting the law’s impact by celebrating the inspirational individuals and landmark moments in the history of Title IX, and continuing to grow the educational and competitive opportunities for the future.
More information, including a Title IX Timeline, Title IX Milestones, The History and Importance of Title IX, Title IX Fact Sheet, Title IX Frequently Asked Questions and several Title IX videos, can be accessed on the NFHS Website.
Dr. Karissa L. Niehoff is beginning her fourth year as executive director of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) in Indianapolis. She is the first female to head the national leadership organization for high school athletics and performing arts activities and the sixth full-time executive director of the NFHS. She previously was executive director of the Connecticut Association of Schools-Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference for seven years.
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MHSAA.TV Makeover Goes LIVE
August 26, 2014
A new look awaits visitors to the MHSAA.tv website this season, a makeover which will allow fans to clip and share highlights and easily track their favorite school.
MHSAA.tv is one of more than 40 states on the NFHS Network, powered by PlayOn! Sports. The highlights clip and share features, among others, are available with free basic memberships. Viewers can subscribe to watch live and freshly-uploaded sporting events, with a portion of the subscription going back to their school. Contests being aired involving schools using Digital Scout for statistics may also include live stats. Games become available for free viewing after 72 hours.
The MHSAA.tv re-launch coincides with the first full week of competition for the 2014-15 school year and fresh school-created content, plus the season debut of MHSAA Football Friday Overtime on FOX Sports Detroit and MHSAA Perspective on a statewide radio network.
The School Broadcast Program gives members an opportunity to showcase excellence in their schools by creating video programming of athletic and non-athletic events, with students gaining skills in announcing, camera operation, directing/producing and graphics. The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions. As many as 60 MHSAA member schools annually participate in the program, which is in its sixth year.
Here’s the schedule of School Broadcast Program members planning to cover varsity competition this week for broadcast at MHSAA.tv (As of Aug. 25):
- Comstock Park Invitational – Volleyball – LIVE – Wednesday, 3 p.m. - Subscription
- Cedar Springs at Comstock Park – Football - LIVE – Thursday, 7 p.m. – Subscription
- Fenton at Davison – Football – Thursday, 7 p.m. – Video on Demand available following game
- Mio at Whittemore-Prescott – Football – Thursday, 7 p.m. – Video on Demand available following game
- Northland Pines (Wis.) at Calumet – Football – Thursday, 7 p.m. – Video on Demand available following game
- St. Johns at East Lansing – Football – Thursday, 7 p.m. - Video on Demand beginning week of Sept. 1
Schools interested in becoming a part of the School Broadcast Program should contact John Johnson at the MHSAA Office.
Beginning this Friday and running for 13 weeks at midnight is MHSAA Football Friday Overtime on FOX Sports Detroit. Mickey York and Rob Rubick return to host the weekly 30-minute highlights show. The show will re-air Saturdays at 11 a.m. and Sunday mornings – check your local listings. (This week at Noon)
The following games are scheduled to be highlighted this week on Football Friday Overtime:
- Saginaw Swan Valley at Saginaw Nouvel
- Saginaw Arthur Hill at Saginaw Heritage
- Macomb Dakota at Clarkston
- Orchard Lake St. Mary’s vs. Southfield at Prep Kickoff Classic, Detroit
- Detroit Cass Tech vs. Oak Park at Prep Kickoff Classic, Detroit
- Ypsilanti Community at Ann Arbor Pioneer
- Westland John Glenn at Ann Arbor Skyline
Beginning its 10th season this week is the radio commentary MHSAA Perspective – presented by the Michigan Army National Guard, which will air on over 60 radio stations across the state generally during the local broadcasts of high school games. The program runs for 30 weeks through the end of the winter sports season. MHSAA Perspective can also be accessed from the home page of the MHSAA Website.
In this week's edition, John Johnson talks about new rules for practice and games in football this season: Safety Trumps Everything