The following story was written by the NYSPHSAA/Overtime Sports spring 2023 intern Colette Stone …
Since the passage of Title IX in 1972, girls have had an increased opportunity to participate in athletics. More and more girls are getting involved in athletics in a way which was not provided before.
“Opportunities for girls in sport have increased and continue to do so,” states Nina Van Erk, former Executive Director of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA). “During the time from 2000-2012, a state championship was created for Girls Golf and regional championships were started for Girls Ice Hockey and Cheerleading. Since 2012, even more events have been created for girls to compete at the high school level. These sports tend to have a level of specialization, therefore targeting student-athletes that may not have participated on a high school athletic team before.”
This idea challenges the findings of the Women’s Sports Foundation. It claims that girls have 1.3 million less opportunities to participate in high school athletics compared to boys across the country. While this may be the trend nationally, its clear New York State has been making strides to provide girls with numerous athletic opportunities. The 2004-2005 NYSPHSAA participation survey found that the total female participation in school sports was 232,300. According to the same survey, in 2021-2022 this number grew to 246,232. You can attribute the growth to a number of factors, with one being opportunities Van Erk feels caters to female athletes.
Cheerleading is a sport predominantly comprised of female participation. A Competitive Cheerleading Championship was established in 2016 and NYSPHSAA also established a Game Day Cheerleading Invitational in 2021. The latter of which was recently approved to be a state championship starting in the Fall of 2023.
“Game Day Cheerleading has certainly increased female involvement,” said Jen Simmons, Cheer State Sport Coordinator. “Schools that didn’t have cheer programs or lost their cheerleading programs at some point got back on board to participate and it really bolstered the numbers for female participation.”
Game Day Cheerleading allows athletes to participate if they are from a school that does not have the access to the equipment and skills necessary for Competitive Cheer. It is community orientated and is a sport in which “cuts” are less frequent than traditional sports, so most students who go out for the team, make it.
Wrestling is another sport that has seen booming growth among females.
“Two years ago, there was approximately 300 female wrestlers in the Track Wrestling system for NYSPHSAA, which shows the participation of a gender in that sport,” said Todd Nelson, Assistant Director of NYSPHSAA. “This year, there were over 1,100 girls in the system so it shows the great interest and desire out there for female athletes to participate in interscholastic athletics especially wrestling.”
As this interest began to grow, NYSPHSAA recognized that wrestling and cheer were positioning to be categorized as an “Emerging Sport”. For a sport to enter “emerging” status under NYSPHSAA, Regional championship and form a state committee. Sports are fully sponsored by NYSPHSAA and may conduct a state championship when there are six sections with four or more programs, then they are no longer “emerging” status.
On January 27th, NYSPHSAA hosted its first ever Girls Wrestling Invitational at SRC Arena in Syracuse. NYSPHSAA anticipates within two years there will be a state championship in this sport due to the quick growth.
Nelson and Van Erk worked together at NYSPHSAA for four years before Van Erk retired. During their time together, they honed in on increasing ways for females to participate in sports.
“If you provide an opportunity for girls, they will come,” Van Erk exclaimed. “We are in the business of providing opportunities for students and have to always be working toward that goal.”
After Van Erk’s retirement, NYSPHSAA continued to add opportunities. The Girls Tennis Team Championships started in 2021, not only another opportunity for females to join a team but one that allowed tennis athletes to compete on a large stage.
“When our membership expresses interest, we have to take a look at how we can develop programs,” said Nelson. “Girls have a great interest in playing sports. Its proven with the club programs and now we are witnessing the high school programs supporting them as well. That allows us to expand at the state level and I think we are doing a good job of doing so.”
Thanks to the support of the National Football League (NFL), NYSPHSAA launched a girls flag football pilot program in 2022. This growth accelerated in a short period of time. According to Nelson, the pilot program had 51 teams in 6 sections with each team holding between 15-25 players. With the blink of an eye discussion of a Girls Flag Football State Championships came about and on February 1, 2023, the NYSPHSAA Executive Committee approved a state championship for the 2024 season.
One wouldn’t think sports like football and wrestling, historically male dominated sports, would be places for girls opportunities to grow quickly. After all, the NFHS found that football (tackle) was the #1 most popular high school sport among males in 2021-2022 with 973,792 males across the country participating while wrestling was the #6 most popular sport in 2021-2022 with 231,874 participants. New York has proven, though, there is a place for them to exponentially grow for females.
Outside of NYSPHSAA’s foresight of what is happening at the club level and in high schools, it never hurts to see favorable media coverage contributing to the growth of girls sports.
“Television coverage of women’s events have exposed girls to opportunities. Just look at what the coverage of the Women’s World Cup has done for the sport of soccer,” Van Erk explains.
According to Forbes, the final match of the 2019 Women’s FIFA World Cup drew 1.12 billion viewers, becoming the most watched match in history. Millions of young girls are being exposed to this coverage and the positive image of female sports being portrayed. They may realize the opportunities they have to be like the idols they are watching on the big screen.
College volleyball has also experienced an increase in coverage and viewership. According to Front Office Sports, in 2021, the NCAA championship match between Wisconsin and Nebraska brought in 1.19 million viewers, making it the most viewed women’s college volleyball game on any ESPN network. This resulted in the Big Ten having greater leverage to negotiate TV deals with women’s volleyball, bringing even more positive coverage to female athletes.
With this being the March Madness season for college basketball, its also clear television coverage of the women’s NCAA tournament has been in the forefront. Coverage mirrors that of the men’s tournament but on opposite days. ESPN conducts similar studio shows for each tournament showing the equity and importance the women’s side has compared to the men’s.
Providing these opportunities to girls is so important, since athletics provides many life benefits. These include obtaining skills relating to teamwork, leadership, and confidence. Performing better academically is also a benefit. This can relate to being more likely to graduate college, land competitive jobs, and work in male-dominated fields. Health benefits are significant. According to the Women’s Sport Foundation, females are 20% less likely to develop breast cancer by being active in sports at a young age. The Women’s Sport Foundation also found that three- fourths of working women believe that sport participation corresponds to the enhancement of self-image.
“There is value of being a part of a team and it will serve you the rest of your life, regardless of what role you had on the team,” claims Simmons. “High school athletics transforms into the next layer. Leadership roles for females in athletics still needs to grow and this process starts at the bottom.”
It is undeniable the importance of obtaining and retaining these skills for future purposes in life. By continuing to provide opportunities to females in athletics, they will have the opportunity to gain and enhance these skills while participating in something they enjoy.