Story by Kayla Carpenter and Sophia Scheller
It’s the day before the girls basketball team's home game. The team asks Lafayette Superfans to tweet a reminder about their game, but there is no tweet posted; however, for the boy's game, a tweet with several emojis and GIFs is posted, and as a result, the boy's game has an overflowing, tumultuous student section compared to the few parents and administration staff at the girl's game.
In fact, so far this season, four out of five of the boys team's home games were tweeted about by Superfans and given a student section theme. The game not tweeted about by Superfans was the Student Council Pack the Stands home game which was given a separate theme. In contrast, one out of five of the girls team's home games were tweeted about by Superfans. The one tweet that was posted was for the girls team's Senior Night, and it was the second part of a thread and not given a student section theme, giving it the appearance of an afterthought.
"It’s disheartening and it’s frustrating to see your friends go to watch only the guys because 'that’s the game everyone goes to.' If everyone had that mindset for girls sports then everyone would be at that game too," senior point guard Sydnie Wolf said.
It’s the day of a home softball game. Junior Callie Harrison walks down the halls sporting her LHS softball jersey and is referred to as a “dyke” by a classmate, a slang term for lesbian.
“It has always just been little comments like that,” Harrison said. “Honestly hearing it now, I feel numb to it, and it doesn’t really phase me, but when it first started happening, I definitely felt offended.”
Several female athletes at LHS have experienced some kind of disrespect towards their sport and even towards themselves. Additionally, a majority of female sports at LHS don’t receive the same amount of student support as their male counterparts.
“I think the size of girl student sections is really sad. I wish the LHS community would support all LHS athletics instead of just boys basketball and football,” Harrison said.
This problem, however, isn’t restricted to LHS. Whether it’s tennis star Serena Williams being mocked for arguing with a referee or Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) players being told they belong in kitchens rather that the basketball court on social media, female athletes being degraded by their peers is not an uncommon occurrence.
A University of Southern California (USC) study found that much of the disrespect and lack of support towards female sports is rooted in the amount of media attention that they receive compared to male athletes.
The study found that in 2010, only 1.4 percent of ESPN’s television program SportsCenter’s airtime was devoted to coverage of women’s sports which is a decline compared to their 2.2 percent of coverage devoted to women’s athletics in 1999 and 2.1 percent in 2004.
Furthermore, in July of 2010, at the peak of the WNBA season and off-season of the National Basketball Association (NBA), SportsCenter reported a total of 22 stories on the WNBA and a total of 24 NBA stories.
Despite the minimal support of female sports both nationwide and at LHS, the amount of participation of high school athletics is on the rise.
According to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), participation in both high school athletics and female high school athletics are at an all time high and have continued to increase for 29 straight years. The main source for this increase in Title IX.
What is Title IX?
On June 23, 1972, President Richard Nixon signed Title IX of the Education Amendments into law. The law prohibits sex discrimination in any educational program that receives federal funds and ensures the equal treatment of males and females in scholarships, financial aid, employment assistance, housing, health and athletics.
The law states that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."
Title IX impacts several aspects of the education system including providing equal access to a higher education for both men and women by restricting colleges and universities from refusing to admit women and requiring equal career education by restricting school administrators from dictating the classes each gender can take.
Title IX requires that both male and female athletes obtain the same benefits of athletic participation including equal funds for equipment, equal access to training rooms and practice facilities, the same size and quality of locker rooms and facilities, the same quality of coaches as male teams as well as the requirement of cheerleaders and band performances at girls games as well as boys games.
Since the signing of Title IX in 1972, participation in female athletics has increased substantially.
According to the president of the Women’s Sports Foundation, Donna de Varona, since the introduction of Title IX in 1972, there has been a 545 percent increase in the percentage of women playing college sports and a 990 percent increase in the percentage of women playing high school sports, and female participation is continuing to grow as a result of the law.
During the 2017-2018 school year, there were 7,980,886 total participants in high school athletics nationwide and of those participants, 42.8 percent were female athletes. NFHS predicts participation in high school athletics to continue increasing.
Participation in athletics at LHS is similar to nationwide sports participation statistics. During the 2016-2017 school year, a total of 622 students participated in school sponsored athletics with 53.4 percent male participants and 46.6 percent female participants.
During the 2017-2018 school year, however, participation didn’t completely mirror nationwide results, as there were more female participants than male participants at LHS. A total of 644 students participated in athletics with 47.9 percent of participants being male and 52.1 percent of participants being female.
According to a 2018 study conducted by the Women’s Sports Foundation, participation in athletics is immensely beneficial to all teenagers.
The study found that students who compete in a sport tend to earn higher grades in school and have a significantly lower risk of illnesses such as heart disease, cancers, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia.
Playing a sport is also proven to have several physiological benefits due to endorphins released during exercise. These endorphins help manage stress, regulate sleep and even aid in neuron repair. Thus, athletes tend to have lower levels of anger, depression and fatigue compared to non-athletes.
“There’s definitely a direct proportion between girls who participate in sports and those who have positive self esteem and positive body image,” Denise Meyer, head girls basketball coach, said.
Although there is increased participation in both male and female high school athletics, at LHS, there is still a large gap in the amount of student support that each gender receives.
Perspective of a female athlete
Column written by Katherine Goddin, senior
I think the gap [in male and female athletics] is rooted in how people have historically participated in and viewed athletics. Since Olympic times, only men were the competitors. Traditionally, people saw athletics as being paired with masculinity. In fact, in 1896, the head of the Olympics thought women “were not cut out to sustain certain shocks.” Now, although there has been progress, in the 2016 Olympics, there were 161 events for men and only 136 for women. Even today, some believe that male sports are more entertaining and physical, and that guys are better athletes.
In our school, the structure of athletics still seems to reflect these skewed beliefs. For example, male sports are more advertised by the school and seem to be given priority over female sports. The senior night field hockey posters were taken down two days after the game while the football senior pictures were up for the remainder of the season.
It is worth noting that field hockey had morning practice, beginning at 6:30 a.m., two to three times a week in order to get turf time, while the male sports’ were allotted the normal after school turf time.
I believe that girls’ sports deserve equal prioritization in the school. I feel there needs to be a change because activities of any type succeed more with a larger fan base, support and resources. The mindset between women and sports also needs to change. We need to be equally recognized for our dedication, skills and strength.
Women’s athletics provide such an important venue to compete and meet people. Being part of a high school team brings great confidence and pride with success. It helps women connect socially and be pushed physically beyond what is thought to be attainable. It is also encouraging that now there are many sports teams that include both women and men working together, including ice hockey and football.
Our school does not intentionally place boys sports over girls. There is a great opportunity, with Lafayette taking the lead in St. Louis, for high schools to update their approach to viewing sports, paralleling a more equalized gender society that acknowledges women’s athletic strengths and capabilities. I hope our school will make a greater effort to recognize and promote female sports. Often the women have better seasonal records than the men, and that is news that is not often shared.
We definitely need more students, parents and community members in the stands. We need a bigger fan base so women athletes feel more encouraged and enthused for games. Creating more awareness of games days and times will help and so will extending the Super Fan group to support more than the traditional men sports. Beginning women’s games with the National Anthem and player introductions will also help. Although cheerleading does a fantastic job supporting women’s basketball, other cheering and/or band support could bring a lot of enthusiasm to other women’s teams. Spreading awareness and attention for girls’ sports will result in greater participation which will create more school spirit.
Perspective of a male athlete
Column written by Jake Nelson, junior
Sports provide a very important dynamic at Lafayette; they serve as entertainment for non participants, an opportunity to play against high level competition for those involved and bring abundant school spirit. However, there is a large difference between the support given to men’s and women’s athletics in our school, which should not be the case.
Part of this is that there is more publicity given to men’s events. There are many more advertisements around school for men’s games than there are for women’s games of the same sport. Furthermore, the timing of these games greatly impacts support. For example, if men’s and women’s basketball games are played on the same day, the women’s game will begin about two hours before the men’s, with the men’s following directly after. The timing of the women’s game conflicts with the time many students do homework or eat dinner, often times resulting in less attendance.
A lot of our perceptions on these sports are influenced by the media and professional sports. The media focuses far more on the NFL, MLB, NBA and male accomplishments than it does on WNBA, women’s soccer or other female sports and the accomplishments of their athletes. We only hear about male athletes in the media, such as LeBron James or Tom Brady, and hardly ever hear of female athletes like Diana Taurasi, who are working just as hard. This conditions the majority of students to pay more attention to men’s athletics.
While it won’t happen overnight, the gap in support can easily be lessened or even eliminated over time. In order for this to happen, more attention needs to be given to the accomplishments of the women athletes. We see numerous posters and banners around school encouraging football or men’s basketball to defeat their opponent, but not much more than a team picture for the women. Increased announcements, posters and social media publicity will attract many new spectators to women’s sports.
Another way we can raise engagement is by simply going to one game. If a student from every club at school decides to attend and gets a couple of their friends to go as well, the environment will be extremely engaging and entertaining, likely causing these people to continue going in the future. Ultimately, both men and women work equally as hard to prepare for their sports and both provide highly entertaining matches and as a Lafayette student community, we can work together to better support our women’s athletics.
Attending a Lafayette girls basketball game, one is almost certain to see parents and maybe a few friends. An hour later, for the boys basketball game, a crowd of students form the student section; the bleachers fill quickly with parents and even an opposing teams student section.
“Since some of the girls teams are doing so well during the season and going as far as the guys teams, I think it’s important to show support where support is due,” senior field hockey and lacrosse player Anna Reynolds said.
The girls lacrosse team finished fourth in the State Tournament last year. They finished second the year before.
“We should get the same support especially if you go to the State Finals or Semi-Finals. It’s nice looking into the stands and seeing your school wrap around you,” senior lacrosse player Mia Uetrecht said.
Sydnie Wolf, senior point guard, and her team also notice the benefits of student support at their basketball games.
"The student section is such an important part of the game and is an opportunity for the school as a whole to be connected," Wolf said. "It’s so important to the players who get to feed off that energy and hear verbal support from their classmates, and it’s fun to get to perform in front of them. It also makes you feel like you have people on your side rooting for you."
However, not everyone thinks there is a difference in the support each gender receives.
“I don't think either gender gets more support,” junior lacrosse player Braeden Williams said.
Unlike Reynolds, Uetrecht and Wolf who think the gap lies in age old stereotypes, Williams believes that there is not enough attention on sports in the first place.
“The way sports are run; all of the coaches are teachers. It kinda impedes athletes drive,” Williams said.
Uetrecht has further insight on the issue as she transferred to Lafayette from Nerinx Hall, an all girls private school in Webster Groves, Missouri.
“There’s definitely more support for guys sports, but compared to lacrosse [at Nerinx], we did have a lot of our school come out to almost all of our home games,” Uetrecht said. “We had Spirit Club and they would come out and they’d have signs and there would be a theme. There was definitely a lot more support there, but it was a smaller school, so the word could get around easier.”
Several Lancer teams attempt to advertise their upcoming games. Football, ice hockey and basketball all use social media to relay game day messages. Wrestling takes a different approach to getting fans to attend their meets.
“I know that everyone always brings a friend or calls their parent to get support,” Jaylen Carson, senior, said.
"I think it’s important to show support where support is due," Anna Reynolds, senior
Despite the noticeable difference between male and female athletic support at LHS, there is continuous growth in female sports both in LHS and across the nation. Feb. 6, 2019 is National Girls and Women in Sports Day which an annual day to recognize the influence of female sports participation and its continuous growth.
And although there has been significant growth among female athletics at LHS, Meyer believes that regardless of the sport or if Lancers or Lady Lancers are competing, there is a paramount need for increased student support at all LHS athletic events.
"Any sport within the school setting can add to positive student body morale," Meyer said. "It really shouldn’t matter what sport is being played or what gender is playing it, we would like to see everyone in this student body coming out and supporting each other."