The Problem of Discrimination in Youth Sports, and What to Do About It
Despite ongoing efforts to create diversity among athletes, a wide gap still remains.
Alexis McClain is a woman of color who grew up around diversity. Her mother was white, and she attended a high school with kids of different races and backgrounds.
It wasn’t until she enrolled at Colorado University that exclusion became real to her. It was quite an eye-opener.
“I was like, ‘what is going on?’” recalled McClain, who now works at the school as a coordinator for their community center. “It was weird. It didn’t match my house, which was very mixed. Now, understanding what students (go through) coming onto these campuses and even in high schools, not fitting in, not finding community… It became a passion point.”
McClain was an athletic trainer at several schools, including CU. While studying for her Master’s degree in sports management at Seattle University, she competed on the crew team. She currently serves as a co-organizer for the Inclusion in Teen Sports program with Youth Celebrate Diversity, a nonprofit dedicated to making teams and groups inclusive and welcoming to everyone.
The Cold, Hard Facts
Despite Title IX and other legislation aimed at creating fair and equal opportunities for all athletes, a wide gap remains. The numbers speak for themselves.
· 40% of teen girls are not actively participating in sport. (WSF Teen Sport Report, 2018)
· Annually, boys get 1.13 million more sport opportunities than girls. (National Federation of State High School Associations 2018–2019)
· Schools are providing 1.3 million fewer chances for girls to play sports in high school than boys. (National Federation of State High School Associations)
· Less than two-thirds of Black and Hispanic girls play sports, while more than three quarters of white girls do. Three quarters of boys from immigrant families are involved in athletics, while less than half of girls from immigrant families are. (Women’s Sports Foundation)
· The typical family with kids who play sports spends about $700 a year on fees, equipment and more, but some spend up to $35,000. (The Aspen Institute)
· 56% of LGBTQ+ team members and 66% of team leaders competing in high school sports report feeling a positive sense of belonging at school. (GLSEN)
· 77% of female leaders cite lack of exposure to female role models as a reason for limiting participation. (Female Leaders In Sport)
The percentage of girls in high school and college sports has grown dramatically since Title IX was enacted in 1972. But the gap is still too wide, says Karen Issokson-Silver, Vice President of Research and Education for the Women’s Sports Foundation. Issokson-Silver has spent the past five years working with community leaders to educate groups on the importance of equality for women in sports.
“What the data doesn’t tell you is that girls enter sports later than their male counterparts, and they drop out earlier,” Issokson-Silver explained. “Earlier exposure plants that seed at a developmental time when they have a chance to experience their own joy and motivation.”
The Hijab Controversy
Discrimination against religious customs has also entered the picture. One of the most blatant cases of this occurred in 2019. Noor Alexandria Abukaram, a cross-country runner at Sylvania Northview High School in Eastern Ohio, ran her fastest 5K of the season during a district meet. Shortly after the race, she was disqualified for wearing a hijab, a head covering worn by many Muslim women.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association had a rule against athletes wearing head coverings and caps, requiring a waiver for exceptions. Up to that point, Abukaram had never been asked to provide a waiver before a meet.
A week after her disqualification, Abukaram’s coach obtained the necessary waiver for the next race, where she set a new personal record.
The school district has since changed their policy, and athletes are no longer required to request a waiver for headwear. But Abukaram’s story caught the attention of numerous media outlets across the country, including Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and HuffPost. According to Abukaram, cases like this are quite common.
“It happens every single day to Muslim athletes around the country,” she told Religion News Service. “This is bigger than me.”
The Heart of the Matter
So why do discrimination and inequality still persist in sports? It’s the same question general society has been asking for years.
McClain believes the problem stems from a reluctance by the dominant culture to relinquish their positions of power.
“That’s not what’s mirrored in society now,” she said. “It’s like, ‘all-for-me. Share? Why would I share’?”
At the collegiate level, 83% of coaches say they have never received formal Title IX training, according to a 2013 report by Maurowsky and Weight.
“The Women’s Sports Foundation did a poll not too long ago to gauge the public’s awareness of Title IX, and it was abysmally low,” Issoksson-Silver explained. “Awareness, education and compliance… those are the three critical pieces to ensure that this mighty and powerful piece of legislation actually is carried through.”
Mental health is another factor often overlooked by coaches and administrators. Sports and physical activity provide huge benefits to one’s mental and physical well-being. When opportunities to participate are limited or taken away altogether, depression and a sense of worthlessness often set in.
“Girls and boys want to feel welcomed in a sport environment,” Issokson-Silver said. “A lot of that has to do with the power of coaches and program leaders, and the kind of environments they create for young people. If they don’t feel welcome, they’re less likely to persist.”
The Solution
What can be done to ensure kids of all races and backgrounds get equal chances to compete? Fortunately, there are examples of people and groups taking the lead to make sure full inclusion is a top priority.
Children with disabilities are often underserved when it comes to sports. One group trying to change this is the National Center on Health and Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD). Through a partnership with the Women’s Sports Foundation, NCHPAD has developed a curriculum called We Play Interactive. The initiative, set to launch this spring, ensures that kids with physical, emotional and developmental disabilities have equal access to activities.
“We want to make sure (through this program) that inclusion and access is not an afterthought, but really baked in to all of our work,” Issokson-Silver explained. “We Play Interactive is really exciting. It’s part of our DNA to make sure we do that from the get-go with everything we do.”
Youth Celebrate Diversity partners with Cherry Creek High School in Greenwood Village, Colorado for an annual event each February. Area colleges and universities give presentations and hold discussions among students about diversity. Other organizations take part, including Creative Strategies for Change, which focuses on mobilizing arts and education for social justice.
“Collaborating with different organizations helps bring a perspective,” McClain said. “Some of these conversations could not be facilitated by the dominanat culture. They need to be facilitated by others.”
Positive Coaching Alliance, a nonprofit devoted to developing better athletes and individuals through youth sports, offers a number of ways coaches can create an inclusive environment on their teams.
- Always give the same level of respect to everyone.
- Never tolerate negative behavior among players.
- Listen and display empathy to everyone.
- Respect all assistive devices such as canes and wheelchairs, and always ask before moving such devices.
- Remember that not all disabilities are noticeable and can be hidden, such as dyslexia and ADHD.
A Ray of Hope
Will there ever come a day when the equality gap no longer exists?
Not likely, says McClain. But she hopes progress will continue at a faster pace.
“The reality is for all the students that we work with that are open to these discussions, there are counterparts that aren’t,” she said. “You can’t escape the upbringing that some have versus others. There’s always going to be that space. Hopefully, more accountability comes to be, that people lose the fear of the cancel culture, and understand that you have the right to say what you want, but you will be held accountable for what you say.”
Issokson-Silver believes brighter days are around the corner.
“I’m an optimist,” she said. “I focus as much as I can on the progress that we’ve made. I know it’s possible. We see incredible examples of people breaking boundaries and working toward equity. I think we (should) keep our eye on the prize. Nothing short of equity is acceptable. We’re going to keep working and make sure we’re making that kind of transformational change.”
If that happens, the impact will be felt beyond sports. Society’s entire structure will change for the better.
