Nearly 50 years after Title IX was enacted, girls still have fewer opportunities to participate in high school sports than boys did in 1972.
That is one of the key findings from a new report published by the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF) on Wednesday, 50 days ahead the 50th anniversary of Title IX on June 23.
The WSF report, titled “50 Years of Title IX: We’re Not Done Yet,” found that girls in 2018-19 (the most recent reporting year) had 3.4 million opportunities to participate in high school sports, which is 200,000 fewer than the 3.6 million opportunities boys had in 1972 and approximately 1.1 million fewer than the 4.5 million opportunities boys have today.
The report also found that, at high schools across the county, only 60% of girls are participating in sports compared to 75% of their male peers.
This opportunity gap persists at the collegiate level.
Under Title IX, girls and women are supposed to receive opportunities that are proportional to their enrollment — but that isn’t happening. Women account for nearly 60 percent of the college population, but only 43 percent of college sports opportunities.
According to the WSF report, 86 percent of NCAA institutions are offering a disproportionate number of opportunities to male athletes as compared to their enrollment. During the 2019-20 school year, this resulted in 60,000 missed opportunities for female athletes.
Women are also receiving less in athletic scholarships — by a massive $252 million margin.
“We should absolutely celebrate the fact that girls’ participation in high school sports is nearly 12x higher than it was when Title IX was passed, but we cannot rest on it,” said WSF founder Billie Jean King. “The mere existence of Title IX does not ensure equal opportunities unless it is enforced for everyone, particularly among girls and women of color, those with disabilities, and the LGBTQ+ community – where the gap is consistently the widest.”
The WSF report found that at high schools where the majority of students are Black and/or Hispanic, girls receive 67 percent of the opportunities that are available to boys. In comparison, at predominantly white high schools, girls have 82 percent of the opportunities that boys do.
Despite these staggering disparities, fifty years after Title IX, most recent legislation about women’s sports has been targeted at excluding transgender youth (almost always in the name of protecting or safeguarding women’s sports).
One of the recommendations the WSF makes is for the U.S. Department of Education to “issue specific policy guidelines confirming that Title IX should be interpreted to provide opportunities to transgender and nonbinary students to participate in sports in a manner consistent with their gender identities” and for state policymakers to implement “inclusive policies for transgender and nonbinary athletes.”
Given that most sports are still designated as either “boys’/men’s” or “girls’/women’s” — labels that can be exclusionary to nonbinary athletes — the WSF supports schools that are interested in creating “gender-free” sports. The WSF also recommends that nonbinary athletes “should always, at a minimum, retain the right to join the team in accordance with their sex assigned at birth.”
Other recommendations include the development of a new federal reporting system that would provide better data on Title IX compliance, encouraging colleges to hire more women and nonbinary individuals into administrative positions, and ending the Title IX “contact sports exemption” (a policy that prohibits girls and women from trying out for some sports teams).
The full Women’s Sports Foundation report — which includes recommendations for policymakers, school administrators, coaches, and others — can be found here. Additionally, the WSF has compiled a list of “Fast Facts” about Title IX that can be found here.
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WASHINGTON — It was a fun night to be a Portland Thorn.
Portland defeated the Kansas City Current, 2-0, to win the 2022 NWSL Championship at Audi Field. With the victory, Portland becomes the first NWSL team to win three titles (2013, 2017, 2022).
“Not every game is that fun,” said Sophia Smith, who got things going in the fourth minute. Smith, who was named regular season MVP two days ago, made the most of a one-vs-one against Kansas City goalkeeper AD Franch and celebrated with a meme-worthy shrug (video below).
Cool, calm, collected. 😮 @sophsssmith
The NWSL MVP puts @ThornsFC ahead in under four minutes. 😤 pic.twitter.com/DQ68NPAQgm
— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) October 30, 2022
At 22, Smith also became the youngest player to score in an NWSL final.
“She can stop pushing now and she’d still be a very good player, one of the best players this country’s produced,” Portland head coach Rhian Wilkinson said of Smith. “My job is to keep pushing her and to make sure she’s the best player this country’s ever produced because she has that in her right now.”
“That’s always been one of my goals,” Smith said of Wilkinson’s remarks on her potential. “Every coach that I’ve played for understands that. I make that very clear to them that I feel like I can be (the best player) but that I need to be pushed and I need to be held to high standards every single day. And she does a really good job of that.”
Portland sealed the win after a Kansas City own goal in the 56th minute (video below).
Everything is coming up roses 🌹 pic.twitter.com/bM1B6dBLxj
— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) October 30, 2022
Kansas City created a handful of opportunities midway through the second half, but wasn’t able to convert. On the other end of the field, Franch made a spectacular save (video below) to keep her team in it.
HUGE. SAVE. FROM. FRANCH. pic.twitter.com/Conz20T3a9
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) October 30, 2022
“We actually found our way into the game a little bit… but we lacked that kind of last piece,” said Kansas City head coach Matt Potter. “And then Portland showed why they’re Portland.”
Wilkinson cited the strength of her “leader-full” team. “We have incredible icons of the game on the field in Becky Sauerbrunn and Christine Sinclair… We knew Kansas’s very big threat was going to be transition and you could see (Sauerbrunn)’s leadership and how she was talking.”
Portland’s NWSL title win comes during a tumultuous time for the organization. The U.S. Soccer-commissioned Yates report, released on October 3, included damning evidence about how Portland’s front office failed to take action after former coach Paul Riley was accused of harassment and sexual coercion. Following the report’s release, President of Soccer Gavin Wilkinson and President of Business Mike Golub, were fired. Merritt Paulson, the owner of the Timbers and Thorns, stepped down as CEO of both organizations. Fan groups and some players — as well as all three of Oregon’s gubernatorial candidates — have called for Paulson to sell both teams.
Kansas City — in its second season as an NWSL franchise — had a historic run just to reach Saturday night’s final. No NWSL team had ever reached the championship game after finishing last in the standings one season earlier.
“Obviously it hurts,” said Lo’eau LaBonta, citing the Kansas City fans who backed the team this season. “When we were FC KC, we played for each other… (Now) we’ve got the support of the entire city behind us.”
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WASHINGTON, DC — The Portland Thorns and Kansas City Current meet tonight in the 2022 NWSL Championship. Audi Field — home of the Washington Spirit — is hosting this year’s NWSL Final. See below for a preview of the game, details on how to watch, NWSL Championship history, and what’s at stake for both teams.
RECAP: Portland wins 2022 NWSL Championship, MVP Smith scores game winner
How to watch the 2022 NWSL Championship
For the first time ever, the 2022 NWSL Championship will air in primetime on network TV. Kickoff is set for 8pm ET on CBS. Fans can also livestream the game on Paramount+.
You know what time it is… 😏
YOUR CHAMPIONSHIP STARTING XI ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/kjI5vNE3vz
— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) October 29, 2022
Kansas City’s Championship XI.#CurrentRising pic.twitter.com/HYDqDKy39D
— KC Current (@thekccurrent) October 29, 2022
The Portland Thorns and Kansas City Current met twice in the regular season. Portland won the first game — the regular-season opener — 3-0, while the two teams drew 1-1 in their most recent meeting (September 18).
“We are a different team now than we were then,” Kansas City defender Alex Loera told On Her Turf. “I think the whole group is just like, ‘Why not us? Why can’t we be the ones to win it all? We’re here.’ I think everyone knows we have such a great opportunity in front of us.”
Portland Thorns: While Portland just missed out on the NWSL Shield, the team earned a bye to the NWSL Semifinals as the No. 2 seed. The Thorns qualified for the NWSL Final by winning last week’s semifinal against the San Diego Wave, 2-1, with Crystal Dunn scoring the game-winner in stoppage time.
Kansas City Current: After finishing last in 2021, Kansas City had a slow start to the 2022 regular season, going winless in their first five games. They then went on a 13-game undefeated streak, the second-longest in NWSL history, and qualified for the NWSL Playoffs as the No. 5 seed.
To reach the NWSL Final, Kansas City had to win back-to-back away games. In the quarterfinal round, the Current defeated the Houston Dash, 2-1, with a thrilling stoppage time goal from Kate del Fava. They extended their historic playoff run with a 2-0 semifinal win vs. the OL Reign, with Alex Loera and Kristen Hamilton tallying goals.
“I think we headed to every year expecting to play in this (NWSL Championship) game tomorrow, expecting to be challenging for the Shield. But the thing about this team is — those young players that have come in, whether they’re rookies, whether it’s their second or third year — they’ve had such an impact on this team and have a unique combination of experience and youth. It’s a joy to go to work every day and be around this team and how tight we have become over the course of the season. It’s an exciting group and definitely one of the most talented ones I’ve ever been a part of, but we have one more game to go.”
“In preseason, I kept saying, ‘Something feels different’… We went to Florida for a month and within the first couple days, I just had this feeling, for me, something’s very different about this season.”
“I think when you go into a championship match, everything’s so heightened and there’s so many extra things that are happening around the squad. As a veteran player, it’s kind of (my job) to bring us back to play soccer. We all know how to do this job. We’ve been doing it all season and obviously we’ve done it well enough to get to this point.”
“Obviously, coming off a not-so-great season previously, I think a lot of people wouldn’t have thought that we could get here. But as the season continued… I think that belief continued to grow with our winning streaks happening, just the way we were playing … We thought we can get here and here we are.”
“We’ve both been fortunate to play in some pretty big games in our careers and this added exposure is exactly what the women’s game needs… I was fortunate to play in the first championship game and I think — outside of the people in Portland — no one knew that the game was happening. So I’d say it’s what this league, it’s what us as players deserve. This, women’s sports, in general, all they need is a chance. People will watch, people will come if given the opportunity to do so. For this game to be on primetime — on a major network — it’s just going to continue to grow the game to continue to inspire those youngsters watching. I’m a firm believer that young kids need to be able to see to believe that it can happen.”
Follow Alex Azzi on Twitter @AlexAzziNBC