While the enactment of a federal gender-equity law 35 years ago has spurred significant growth in women’s intercollegiate athletics, certain racial disparities persist. Chief among them: Few black women participate in sports other than basketball and track.
Since Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 became law, black female participation has soared 955 percent. The growth, however, has been confined to basketball and track and field. In fact, nine of every 10 black female college athletes participate in one of those sports.
In recent years, the racial gap has widened. Between 1999 and 2005, the number of black women participating in collegiate sports increased by only 336, compared with 2,666 for white women. International athletes even surpassed black women, gaining nearly 1,000 spots.
What’s to blame? Sports such as soccer, lacrosse, and rowing, which have seen the biggest participation gains for female athletes, require enormous investments of money and time that many black athletes cannot make, says Emmett L. Gill Jr., an assistant professor at Rutgers University’s School of Social Work, who studies race and gender in sports.
“Oftentimes females of color, specifically black females, don’t have the financial means to participate, and their parents are limited by time constraints in terms of getting them to practice, games, and tournaments,” he says. “Black females need some assistance with that investment.”
Cultural issues also hold black women back. On largely white teams, many black women complain about not fitting in or not feeling like part of the team, says Mr. Gill. When a player feels more accepted, she performs better, but if she never feels like part of the team, she may walk away from the sport.
“We can’t think we can wave a magic wand and put these girls on soccer and lacrosse teams and expect them to fit in,” says Mr. Gill. But if high-school and club coaches recruited more black women in sports other than basketball and track, he says, that would help.
“Certainly there are black females out there that have the athletic prowess to compete,” he says, “and with a little training could become good players.”
Adding Opportunities
To help boost minority participation in sports outside of basketball and track, college coaches could sponsor camps and clinics in communities with a large concentration of minority female athletes, says Richard E. Lapchick, director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports at the University of Central Florida.
Professional leagues and other organizations could also make an impact by providing training, equipment, transportation, and team fees for minority athletes. The U.S. Soccer Foundation, for example, recently gave $2-million to young athletes in disadvantaged urban communities. Increased support for minority female athletes from women’s professional golf and tennis associations in recent years could also pay dividends down the road.
Star athletes like the golfer Michelle Wie and the tennis players Venus and Serena Williams provide role models that could encourage more minority girls to participate. But Mr. Lapchick says symbolic victories of great minority athletes do not necessarily change participation levels because social barriers are too difficult to overcome.
When Tiger Woods won the Masters 10 years ago, “there was an expectation that you’d see more African-Americans participating at the pro level, but he’s still the only one on the tour,” Mr. Lapchick says.
While Title IX does not apply only to white women, they have benefited from it the most because of their access to a greater variety of sports. If more black women started playing college sports, it would have the same effect, Mr. Gill says.
“They will have an increase in educational opportunities,” he says, “and I think the number of degrees awarded to black females would greatly increase.”
http://chronicle.com Section: Athletics Volume 53, Issue 43, Page A34
