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Title IX is at it again with sand volleyball

Thank you Doug!

I wanted to applaude the author before the droves of naysayers come in.

It is amazing to me that in society the concept of fair is extraordinarly hard to implement.

What also makes me infuriated is that the number of scholarships being offered to women, multitudes of those are going to foreign players rather than home grown students who could use an education just as much as a female Russian tennis player (BTW, check out the roster of most of the D-I programs in tennis, lots of foreign players).

You're right on with the overall analysis, but there's another factor you're forgetting about beach volleyball. The attire typically worn by the women in that sport can also draw a crowd. Any sport that draws a crowd, regardless of gender, can stand on its own economically.

The worst part of title 9 is the way it destroys men's sports teams. The U lost their men's x-country and track teams. BYU lost their top-ranked wrestling team.
Why can't they just give scholarships proportionally based on applications/interest in sports. If more women try out at a school, give more scholarships to women. Can all-girls/all-boys schools legally even field a sports team?

Whenever the government gets involved in something, anything, it gets goofy. This was never about equality anyway, just like affirmative action is not about equality.

Can we paleeze get the federal government out of education?? And all this stupidity would go away.

title 9 good intent, horrible application. It's ok to back up the truck and say, "whoops, we might have been wrong on this." Title 9 is now code for DISCRIMINATION. The very thing it arrogantly was trying to prevent.

Will we be seeing "sand volleyball" teams at BYU or UVU?

It's sad that the goverment has to take the lead in so many of these issues because they do a poor job implementing "solutions". Yet if the government doesn't get involved one feels that black slaves might still be picken' cotton and girls would still be stuck with cheer & pep club.
The solution may be for people at the grassroots level to instigate change when needed. But don't hold your breath.

I think is a joke, how many people pay to watch women play sports. I am not sexest by any means, I am just saying the quality is just not there as much, example the WNBA, the only reason there still around is because the NBA keeps putting money into it, eventually it will fail.

The real problem with Title IX is simple: football. It is a giant, money-eating monster for which there is simply no female equivalent. I know folks will jump in and say there is far more interest in football than other sports, but the bottom line is that 60 percent of Division I football programs lose money -- that is, they require institutional and/or student fees support. With 85 players on scholarship, plus the "arms race" in facilities (every D-1 program that wants to contend has to have a state of the art weight room, lockerooms and indoor practice facility), football chews up incredible amounts of resources. Not to mention the huge, 7-figure salaries coaches at major institutions are drawing in football and basketball. Bottom line is that football and basketball at the D-1 level now require such huge commitments from institutions, it's nearly impossible for any of the "minor sports" -- men's or women's -- to survive at a lot of the NCAA institutions. Sure, implementation of Title IX has gotten goofy, but the real problem is putting football back into perspective.

Title 9 is a joke

High School Students who play Soccer, Volleyball, Hockey, Lacrosse or Rugby cannot get a lettermans jacket. They have to be considered a club sport. What is the reasoning for that. It is not like the schools are not giving girls soccer, volleyball and even lacrosse teams The school would give them rugby football and hockey teams if girls were interested in them.

Sas

I think title 9 is a complete joke! Like it was stated, it's just another case of legalized discrimination. I could never get a scholarship because I'm a 20+ white male! The further this thing goes the more ridiculous it's become. Title 9 needs some major tweaking!

What are you talking about. Have you seen what they wear in beach volley ball. :)

My buddy was a phenomenal wrestler that got axed when his college had to drop wrestling. The next year they added Womens golf. His girlfriend and eventually wife was one of the women golfers. He was a little resentful at first because he saw how little his wife worked at golf compared to how much he sacrificed to wrestle. In the end he thought it was worth it since he wouldnt have met his wife had she not taken his scholarship, so to speak. Still, Title IX is a travesty, but thats what you get with government meddling.

I'm as irritated about the modern application of title IX as the next guy, but comparing sand volleyball (an olympic sport) to hopscotch is absurd. This article is riddled with internal inconsistencies. If sand volleyball is not a legitimate sport then why complain about the NCAA not sponsoring the same sport for men? If it's not a legitimate sport and you don't like title IX then isn't this a great way for the NCAA to allow universities to economically add another womens team and, therefore, another mens team? I agree that they should also sponsor mens sand volleyball teams, but asserting that states without a beach are at some kind of competitive disadvantage is silly. Have you been to just about any large park in Utah and seen the sand volleyball courts which are very busy all the time? Come on.

Title 9 is ridiculous. Females from other countries and people that never even played the sport they are being recruited for get scholarships while they cut Wrestling programs throughout the country.

3 girls at the school I attend are on full girls rowing scholarships and never even heard of the sport before being recruited for it at a HS Track event.

Its pathetic.

Refer to it as an athletic event, since they are often the best athletes anywhere, and count all of those women participating against the overall calculation.

Title 9 has been terrible. I went to 1 year of HS in Utah, then moved to CA to finish. I played boys volleyball, which was fairly well supported, and went on to play in college. Now, my boys won't even have that chance here in Utah - despite the fact the BYU has one of the top men's programs in the country. Very sad indeed.

You're crazy. Sand volleyball- even with their "attire" will never even come close to covering its own costs.

The idea behind title 9 is good, and at the time was needed. However the interpretation and implementation has gone way too far.

I am a female college athlete... and I definitely appreciate my scholarship, but I feel bad for boys who can't play the same sport as me because all of the scholarships are "used up" on the football team.

when a sport like football has so many 'participants' (kids that are on the team but never play) it skews the numbers.