April 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 16

Front Page

The Next Title IX

Gender Equity in Community Athletics
By Kim Turner

s unassuming as a neighborhood park might be, it can make all the
difference in a young girl's life. Serena and Venus Williams honed their
tennis talents on the courts of a local park in Compton, California.
Playing at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center in South Bend, Indiana,
Notre Dame star guard and WNBA basketball prospect Skylar Diggins perfected her shots and steals.

But park and recreation programs
do more than nurture budding Olympians and professional athletes. Athletics benefit all those who participate
while strengthening our communities.
Female athletes in particular earn better grades, are more likely to graduate
from high school and attend college,
and have higher wages in the workplace. Clearly, girls and women value
athletics and will participate when
given the chance. High school female
sports participation jumped from below 300,000 in 1972 to more than 3
million today, after the passage of the
landmark sports equality law Title IX.
We now find ourselves at a similar
turning point for girls' participation
in park and recreation sports programs. While involvement is growing, a huge gap remains between
boys' and girls' engagement in these
activities. The need for transformation could not be clearer:
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Parks & Recreation

% A study of 50,000 Boston youths
showed that girls participate at half
the rate of boys in community-based
sports and physical activity programs.
% A study compiling data from six
states, from Maryland to Minnesota, found that parks with basketball
courts, running tracks, and other
sports-related amenities are associated with higher physical activity
levels among adolescent girls.
% A survey of 100 inner-city and suburban parks in Southern California
revealed that girls are generally less
satisfied than boys with available
park equipment and programs, suggesting a need to shift and broaden
activities to better incorporate girls.
To address disparities in community
youth athletics, California passed AB
2404 in 2004 and Washington state
implemented Fair Play in Community
Sports in 2009. These legislative steps
extend Title IX-like standards to park
and recreation programming, where
many children first discover their love
of sports. California's law requires equity in youth leagues hosted by cities
and counties, while Washington takes a
step further, calling for equitable sports
opportunities in all athletics, including
adult sports. Both laws provide a right
of action, allowing individuals to bring
a lawsuit over inequities. Programs
run by third parties that use park and
recreation space are also considered in

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assessing whether the department is
compliant with the state laws.
In addition to California and Washington's groundbreaking policies,
various state constitutions and equal
rights amendments provide bases to
guarantee equal sports opportunities
in community athletics nationwide.
Certain cities have been proactive in
implementing gender-equity policies.
For example, Los Angeles' " Raise
the Bar " initiative focuses on increasing opportunities for girls (previously
afforded only 20 percent of athletic
opportunities in the city). Boston conducted a self-assessment that revealed
only 33 percent of local athletic participation opportunities were filled by
girls, despite the fact that females account for 49 percent of Boston's youth
population. As a result, municipal
officials and nonprofit partners have
begun to address and close the gaps.
Park and recreation sports programs
represent the new frontier for ensuring
equality in athletics. The National Recreation and Park Association's Board
of Trustees recognized this through
its " Gender Equity in Recreation and
Sports " 2002 policy statement, calling for
gender-equitable standards in parks and
recreation athletic programming. Just as
girls' involvement in sports soared after
the passage of Title IX, laws and policies
mandating equal access to neighborhood
athletic opportunities are necessary to
ensure that everyone can reap the lifelong benefits of sports participation.
Kim Turner is the John and Terry Levin
Fellow at the Fair Play for Girls in Sports-
Gender/LGBT Program of the Legal Aid
Society-Employment Law Center in San
Francisco (kturner@las-elc.org).

April 2013 - Parks & Recreation

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