School Board Considers Adding Sideline Football, Slam Basketball to Comply with Title IX
At Monday's School Board Meeting, School Board officials declared that they would be seeking to add another girls sport to compensate for the low numbers of participation of female participation in athletics. This declaration came in the wake of a stinging report by WHS's committee to investigate Title IX compliance. "50.6 percent of the school population is female, but only 43.1% of the athletic population is. This discriminatory practice must be corrected," the report said. The committee recommended that a new sport be added to increase participation. "What we need to target is those girls that want to participate in sports but can't because of discrimination. Just because a girl doesn't like soccer, field hockey, water polo, golf, track, lacrosse, or cross country doesn't mean she isn't interested in sports. We just need to find a sport that these girls like," the committee chair explained. Some school board members were skeptical. Questioned one, "We've got seven sports. Are there any new sports left to offer?"
Apparently, there are. The committee's report listed 20 prospective sports that WHS could offer. Gym favorites, such as scooter hockey, handball, and dodgeball were recommended. Other recommendations were fishing, volleyball, pool, and slam basketball. "While we understand that few schools in the region or even in the entire country offer these sports," the report said, "we still believe that WHS should make a focused effort to add one or more of these recommendations to its athletic curriculum."