A group of runners dodge piles of snow on the track outside of the Wade King Recreation Center on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019. Photo by Ella Banken // AS Review
Western claims to have a zero tolerance policy for sexism on campus, but unbeknownst to many students at Western, it is happening right under our noses. The gender inequity and denial of Title IX rules — which claims that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance” is occuring at Western on the cross country and track teams.
Did you know that the names of girls who have not shown up to practice for months, and in the past, who have not been on the team for over a year, have been kept on the cross country roster just to keep the officials satisfied to ‘increase’ the appearance of the number of girls on the team? That there are 32 boys on the cross country team and barely 12 girls? That as of March, there were already three male recruits for the 2019 to 2020 school year and zero females? That in 2017, there were almost 30 male recruits and a measly five girls, two of whom were not recruited at all and had done their own research, and begged to be on the team, only to be reluctantly allowed on the summer before, one of whom transferred because of how distant they felt the coaches were? That the girls team has had to practically coach themselves because of how preoccupied the coaches are with the male athletes?
The coaches put faith into male high school recruitments that have not yet reached their full potential, yet only allow a select few girls with very successful high school running careers to be allowed onto the team. Not only is this sexist, but additionally, if girls get injured, they must choose among themselves who will race, potentially enduring further injury and sacrificing their entire season, leaving the girls team with virtually no backup support.
Every year, the top few runners have the privilege to go to California to run a coveted race and enjoy a free trip to California. This year six boys went and only two girls. Our bodies work insanely differently, yet the workout regimens are exactly the same for both the girls and the boys and follow a plan best suited and designed for male athletes. There are eight coaches to roughly 120 student athletes on the track team, with only one of those coaches being female and who solely works with pole vaulters. Of the four distance coaches, all are male. This year, the girls team was very adamant about how necessary it is to have a female coach and were willing to do just about anything to make that happen. After much discussion, they were told the only way this would be a possibility is if they fundraised enough money to pay for the position themselves, which was roughly $600/athlete. Despite the urges of the entire girls team and a select few of the boys, the majority of the boys were not willing to have any of their fundraising money go towards a female coach, despite the fact that another coach (regardless of their sex) would greatly benefit everyone. Instead, they get something for free, that the girls team has to work their asses off for, and get to spend all of the money they earned fundraising on even more travel spots for the boys as well as new gear.
The girls’ team doesn’t get any of that. They don’t even for sure get a female coach, and if they do she will certainly not be paid anything close to what the head coach is paid. The girls team raised $6,335, 90% of their goal and approximately $530 per person between the 12 athletes. The boys team, on the other hand, raised $8,286, 54% of their goal, and roughly $260 per person amongst the 32 of them.
The boys team has had numerous recruits come to tour this year. The girls team has had one. More and more girls are getting injured and in the past three years, 12 girls have quit — that is the same number as the entire girls team currently. Next year, over half of the girls team will be graduating with no real hope for replacements coming in. This is a real and extremely sexist issue happening at Western, unknown to the vast majority of students not on the track and cross country teams. Because recruitment for additional athletes begins in the fall, there is no time like the present to bring awareness to this issue and reach out to start a conversation and promote change. It is time to be the feminists we claim to be and do something that actually matters.