Four more women’s sports have been added to Leesville’s athletic program this school year. The addition of these four teams will create an opportunity for girls of different skill levels to be involved with the athletic programs.
Creating a women’s freshman volleyball team has given ninth grade girls the chance to experience being on a sports team for their school, even if they aren’t at the skill level to be on JV or varsity yet.
Women’s JV tennis and JV lacrosse were both created for the same reason. Teens can be discouraged when they aren’t able to make their school team and will decide not to try out the next year . With an extra team made for these sports, their programs can now hold around 40 players rather than 20.
STUNT is a new spring sport offered at Leesville and other Wake County schools. It is a blend of cheerleading and gymnastics. Athletes will compete throughout the spring season. STUNT can hopef
ully attract over 20 female participants.
Jack Rogers, athletic director, said, “There is more of a need for it. Giving these girls more opportunities is important.”
In 2012 Wake County was looked at by the Office of Civil Rights after a suit was issued by the National Women’s Law Center. This concluded that the number of boys participating in school sports was too high compared to the number of girls participating in school sports. These numbers did not meet the Title IX requirement.
I asked if these additions had anything to do with the previous problem Wake County had with an imbalance of male to female sports.
Rogers described the imbalance as a “gray area,” meaning an activity one person calls a sport is not what someone else would consider a sport. Rogers also said, “The new teams were not only made to meet the requirement, it was also to enhance our athletic programs.”
“Being proactive is most important for our programs to be successful,” Rogers concluded.
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