Hurt Girls (NTTimes on another downside to Title IX)
Former Member
Anyone catch the NY Times Sunday Magazine Article "Hurt Girls" two weeks ago which posited the politically incorrect fact that female athletes propelled by Title IX are ending up as physical wrecks by the time they are young adults? Dealing mostly with girls in soccer, lacrosse, and basketball, there were some hard figures showing, for example, that female athletes in soccer get ACT tears at five times the rate of males. (As expected, swimming did not come up as a source of injury). Most of the letters published this week in response were the reflexive defense of Title IX by the Title IX athletic establishment.
Parents
Former Member
Or is it because girls are tougher than boys and tend to train harder?
My experience of having coached track on-and-off for over 33 years is that the women who tend to be serious about a sport ARE tougher than the guys. There is a certain Darwinism of having to overcome more hurdles to participate and it really winnows out the wanna-bes from the athletes. I think this was more the case 30 years ago, but still somewhat true. The first time I coached high school (Waterville, Maine 1975), the guys on the team were in awe of how hard the women would train. Me too.
It also taught me that the women's locker room is far, far scarier than the men's.
If women are getting hurt despite good coaching and equipment, well, it's the luck of the draw and I don't think that we should deny them the chance to compete out of knee-jerk nanny-ism.
-LBJ
Or is it because girls are tougher than boys and tend to train harder?
My experience of having coached track on-and-off for over 33 years is that the women who tend to be serious about a sport ARE tougher than the guys. There is a certain Darwinism of having to overcome more hurdles to participate and it really winnows out the wanna-bes from the athletes. I think this was more the case 30 years ago, but still somewhat true. The first time I coached high school (Waterville, Maine 1975), the guys on the team were in awe of how hard the women would train. Me too.
It also taught me that the women's locker room is far, far scarier than the men's.
If women are getting hurt despite good coaching and equipment, well, it's the luck of the draw and I don't think that we should deny them the chance to compete out of knee-jerk nanny-ism.
-LBJ
