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Editorial: Sioux Falls school board didn't consider the boys
By:JON M. HUNTER , Publisher 12/10/2002
The Sioux Falls School Board has decided to let a 14-year-old girl join the Lincoln High School wrestling team (see story in Tuesday's Madison Daily Leader).
Federal rules allow schools to bar girls from high-contact sports such as wrestling. In addition, the South Dakota High School Athletic Association (SDHSAA) has a rule that doesn't allow gender mixing on teams. The SDHSAA modified its rule for this case, and the board chose not to use the federal guideline.
While girls have been allowed to play on many other boys' teams across the country, we think wrestling is a different situation and should be treated differently.
Wrestling involves close physical contact, and certain moves involve touching in very sensitive areas, such as the upper thigh, buttocks and chest.
We understand that the Sioux Falls girl is all right with that physical contact, that she likes to wrestle and that she hasn't had bad experiences. But there are other people to consider -- the boys. Despite stereotypes, some boys will feel uncomfortable touching an adolescent girl in certain places. And there is no question that many opponents will wrestle differently, either targeting or avoiding certain areas.
The bottom line is that some of this physical contact is not appropriate for a school-sanctioned sport. Physical exercise and extracurricular activities are important, but we think there are limits to mixing genders in sports.
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By BRENDA WADE SCHMIDT
Argus Leader published: 12/10/2002
With the first match tonight, ninth-grader Erin McKeown is an official member of the Lincoln High School wrestling team.
The Sioux Falls School Board in a split decision voted Monday night to let the 14-year-old girl to compete on the Lincoln boys wrestling team. The action follows a ruling by the South Dakota High School Activities Association in November to ignore a bylaw that prohibits a gender mix on teams.
McKeown, a freshman who wrestles in the 130-pound weight class, will wrestle in a city match at 6 tonight at Lincoln. She attended Monday night's meeting but did not address the board.
"I enjoy doing it," she said in an interview afterward. "I learn new things, and it's physical fitness. I just like wrestling."
Pat and Cheri McKeown approached the activities association about letting their daughter wrestle and then made the same request of the Sioux Falls district.
"She's not a girl wrestler. She's a wrestler. That's how she wants to be treated," Pat McKeown said. The family moved to Sioux Falls from Colorado, where Erin had wrestled on mixed gender teams.
Superintendent Jack Keegan recommended allowing girls to wrestle because the district would probably be sued if it did not. He told board members to approve the policy they felt they could best defend.
"You've got to deal with what the law says and what is right," he said. "The issue is, do you really want to spend a lot of time dealing with this issue?"
The district's lawyer, Bob Hayes, said people on either side of the decision could sue, but it would be more difficult to successfully sue as a participant who didn't want girls on the team.
Federal Title IX rules allow districts to prohibit girls from participating in high-contact sports such as wrestling with boys. Instead of following that guideline, the activities association simply decided to ignore its own broad rule that doesn't allow any gender mix on teams, Hayes said.
On the other hand, the activities association did specify that boys wouldn't be allowed to join volleyball and gymnastic teams, which are girls-only sports.
The activities association has said it will review its bylaws at its annual meeting in April.
The Sioux Falls policy eliminates the sentence, "Boys will participate only on boys' teams, girls on girls' teams."
The new policy says, "If the district offers a boys' team and a girls' team in the same sport, whether the seasons are the same or not, boys must participate on boys' teams and girls must participate on girls' teams." That leaves the door open for girls to wrestle.
Board members Roger Risty, Sam Amato and Sheri Meister voted in favor of the change. Debbie Hoffman voted against it. Board member Joy Smolnisky was absent.
Hoffman said the decision was a difficult one and the board is charged with making policies that affect all students, not just one student.
"In all things in life, there are limits on what we can do," she said. "We're making a decision about a whole set of things I can't imagine."
She said the issue is bigger than one girl who wants to wrestle, and the decision to allow that is inconsistent.
"We're saying ... it's OK for the girls to go out and play on the boys' team, but it's not OK for boys to go play on the girls' team," she said.
Risty also said the decision was difficult.
"I empathize with the young lady that would like to participate in her sport of choice, but there are other options," he said.
Two people spoke in opposition of the rule change, while Cheri McKeown spoke in favor of it.
Brad Hall, who attended Lincoln in the 1970s, said boys had to get enough other boys interested in gymnastics in order to have a male team. What has changed now? he asked.
He said he's talked to several people who do not want the change.
"We don't know how a male-female wrestling match could be realistically entertained," Hall said.
John Marshall, who wrestled and has a son who wrestled, said the sport is too intimate to have people of two sexes compete against each other. Wrestling moves require that athletes touch each other on the inside upper thigh, buttocks and chest.
"Many of the moves, I don't think are appropriate between boys and girls in a high school spectator sport," Marshall said. "I know there are boys out there who will enjoy practicing too much, working out with a girl."
But Erin McKeown, who has wrestled three years, said her teammates have treated her well and she doesn't think about where she is touching an opponent.
"It's just wrestling," she said. "The guys are really great about it. They teach me stuff. They improve me. I'm just part of the team."
She also doesn't care what others think about her. "If they don't want to wrestle me, that's their problem," she said.
Cheri McKeown said her daughter has had no problems during training for the meets. She said the law says her daughter has the right to equality.
"The coach says she's ready to compete," she said.
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Randy L. Hope Alcester
published: 12/6/2002
On the surface, the question of "Should the Sioux Falls School Board allow a female to join the wrestling team?" sounds like a no-brainer.
However, I know of people who have wrestled females before. It's a very uncomfortable situation for many reasons, not counting the grabbing of body parts that are necessary to obtain a pin.
In a world today, where sexual harassment cases are out of control, this is a Pandora's Box. Let boys wrestle boys with a male coach, and let girls wrestle girls with a female coach.
And since the latter isn't exactly going to happen, I think we should close the door on this idea.
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Olympics parings still possible
By Jim Kernaghan, Free Press Sports Columnist 12/10/02
Since we often characterize the International Olympic Committee as fat-backed troughers, it's only fair to comment on them trying to slim down.
Down from the sort of growth that, like the dinosaur, threatens to render the august body immobile and extinct. Down from a burgeoning sports program that seemed on course to one day include hopscotch and double-Dutch skipping.
But down is where a special panel was shot at an IOC meeting last week when it sought to eliminate baseball, softball and modern pentathlon from its 28-sport program. It's not over yet, promises Walter Sieber, Canadian member of the IOC program commission.
"After the next Games, we'll come together and review the program," Sieber said from Montreal. "One change might be in the number of events in each sport."
No outright lopping of sports, in other words, but some selective paring.
There are 28 sports in the Summer Olympics, seven in the Winter Games. But when you consider that aquatics alone takes in swimming, diving, synchronized diving, synchronized swimming and water polo and skiing takes in five events on skis and one on snowboards, the events begin to stretch out.
Sieber was vice-president sports at the Montreal Olympics in 1976. There were 21 sports and 196 events in total. All told, there were 6,800 athletes. About 25,000 volunteers helped run the show.
At Sydney two years ago, there were 300 events in 28 sports and 75,000 volunteers.
"Sydney was stretched to the limit," Sieber said. "The Olympic charter says 10,000 athletes but there were 10,900 athletes there. We can't go over 10,500 athletes. That number can be achieved. Beijing (2008 Olympics) won't have a volunteer problem but we can't get to the day when we need 200,000 volunteers."
The problem facing the Olympic people is trying to keep traditional sports happy while remaining current with world interest in other sports. What was big for the gentry in the 1896 Olympics -- equestrian events, for example -- is not a pastime for the masses that, say, golf has become.
Interestingly, golf is one of the sports the Olympic program people are considering adding, along with seven-a-side rugby. Both rugby and golf were part of early Olympic Games.
Mark Lowry of the Canadian Olympic Commission felt part of the criteria for removing a discipline from the Olympics ought to conform in some way to the participation levels around the world. "If it is clearly widespread, that should be an indicator (as to whether it be retained)."
Becoming an Olympic sport or remaining one is a valuable stamp of approval to the sport and everyone associated with it. Equipment suppliers, naturally, help fund the people to whom they sell goods in their lobbying campaigns for inclusion. All they need, Sieber notes, is a simple majority of IOC members to vote them in.
So, which sports are going to be curtailed and which ones maintain their status quo?
Athletics could lose the steeplechase. In wrestling, where greco-roman and freestyle account for 20 gold medals, there will be only one of the disciplines.
On the range, expect some of the gun events to be dropped.
One is inclined to wonder how many people worldwide care much about sled events outside the bobsleigh.
Skeleton has provided some droll lines but the day somebody manages to send a stiff down in medal-winning time is the day the IOC really undertakes a review.
Speaking of which, with the Athens Games now less than two years away, what are the views of an informed guy like Sieber?
"From the sports point of view, it will be OK," he said. "But the infrastructure, the roads and railways might not be finished. For the athletes, it will be OK. For the spectators and the media, I'm not sure."
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Title IX Panel Contemplates
Easing 'Proportionality' Test
By Michelle R. Davis 12/11/02
A Department of Education panel studying Title IX floated ideas last week that, if put into place, could drastically alter the way colleges and universities determine if they're fairly providing athletic opportunities to both men and women.
At a Dec. 3-4 meeting in Philadelphia that focused primarily on higher education, the 15-member Commission on Opportunities in Athletics talked about ways to correct what some believe are problems with the 30-year-old statute that prohibits sex discrimination at educational institutions that accept federal funds. At a previous meeting, in September, the board heard testimony from precollegiate officials indicating that, while some girls lag behind in the quality of athletic facilities, opportunities for participation are generally more equitable than in higher education.
The meeting last week was the latest in a series of discussions since this past summer that will culminate in a report containing recommendations for changes, due to Secretary of Education Rod Paige by Jan. 31. The panel is scheduled to meet again in Washington Jan. 8.
Currently, most colleges and universities use a proportionality test to determine whether they're complying with the law. Generally, the test requires that the percentage of female athletics on a school's teams be roughly equal to the percentage of females in the overall school population.
But some male athletes have complained that the approach has led colleges and universities to make cuts in men's sports—including the elimination of some entire teams in sports such as wrestling and gymnastics—to get the percentages right. But some women's advocates say female athletes still aren't treated equally to their male counterparts.
During the Philadelphia meeting, some commissioners proposed that schools use surveys instead of proportionality to gauge the level of female interest in athletics and use the results as a guide for setting the threshold proportions.
Commissioner Deborah A. Yow, the athletics director at the University of Maryland College Park, suggested that a 50-50 ratio, regardless of enrollment figures, might be the way to go, while allowing some percentage of variation, possibly a 55-to-45 range.
Other ideas were to count only college students of "traditional age" in calculating proportionality. Some colleges have a high percentage of older students, many of them women, who likely would not participate in athletics, but who are currently included in Title IX-related calculations.
"This was a very preliminary draft of what someday might be recommendations," said commission co-chairman Ted Leland, the director of athletics at Stanford University. "I thought there was some really exciting and maybe even scary stuff."
'Extremely Dangerous'
But Cary Groth, a commission member and the athletic director at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, said she'd like to see more emphasis placed on the other ways schools can comply with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
Schools may also demonstrate compliance by having expanded women's sports in response to interest on campus, or by showing that female athletes have been fully accommodated by existing programs. But many schools do not use those approaches because proportionality is currently the only method considered impervious to legal challenges.
Ms. Groth said she would like to see the Education Department issue more definitive guidance on how schools can meet these tests instead of relying solely on proportionality. But she cautioned that none of the proposals discussed in Philadelphia would prevent men's teams from being cut for financial reasons. "If you change Title IX, it doesn't guarantee that those programs aren't going to continue to be dropped," she said.
Some of those watching the process said they were uncomfortable with the direction the panel seemed to be taking. Jocelyn Samuels, the vice president of the National Women's Law Center, based in Washington, said changes being discussed could have negative impacts on women and girls, both on the athletic field and in the classroom
"I was just appalled by the tone and tenor of it," she said of the possible direction. "A lot of what they're proposing is extremely dangerous."
On the other side of the debate, Mike Moyer, the executive director of the National Wrestling Coaches Association, also has concerns.
The discussions in Philadelphia were wide-ranging, said Commissioner Percy Bates, a professor of education at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He said he ultimately did not expect everyone on the panel to agree on the recommendations that will be made to Secretary Paige.
"The only thing we're all in agreement on," he said, "is that Title IX is a good thing."
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RHS matmen (and women) begin season
12/10/02
Scott Herpst, sports editor
The Ridgeland wrestling program has a long tradition of success. And like most traditionally strong programs, down periods usually don’t last very long.
In just his second-year at the helm, head coach John Teater is quickly putting the pieces together to return the Panthers back to the upper echelon of Region 7-AAAA.
“Our numbers are up, which is good,” Teater explained before a recent match. “We’re still jostling a few of the weights around to see who is going to go where. We’re also working the middle schools. We’re not completely settled yet, but we’re getting close.”
“The big thing this year is restructuring after losing such good senior leadership last year,” Teater added. “It’s hard to replace guys like that. Most of our freshmen are first-year wrestlers, just a few have any experience. We have made a lot of changes to get people out. We have new uniforms and we’ve refurbished the wrestling room in the gym. We might be a year away from being a force.”
This year’s version of the Panthers will be led by five seniors, three of whom have varsity experience. Jon Elliott (140) and Bradley Walters (160) are the most experienced of the group. Another senior Jon Young (125) has improved from a year ago while Tyler Kelley (189) and Clay Patterson (215) are physical and aggressive, but new to the sport.
J.D. Halfacre (130), Shawn Woodward (145) and Joey Traywick (275) make up the junior class. The sophomores have some good talent, including Jeremiah Gilliam (112), Matt Broom (119), David Logan (135) and Ben Skyles (135).
Among the freshmen that may see varsity experience are Greg Yancy (145), Terrell Russell (152), Justin Burnham (171) and Brad Bowman (215).
Another item of note is that Ridgeland is fielding three female wrestlers on the squad this year. Teriah Walters (103), Chastity Young (112) and Shanna Wilson (119) are all first-year wrestlers.
Walters has already wrestled on the varsity this season while Young and Wilson will wrestle on the junior varsity squad. Walters is the younger sister of 160-pounder Bradley Walters.
Also new to the Ridgeland wrestling program is the appearance of cheerleaders lining the mats. Senior Jennifer Martin, whose older brother Jason wrestled at Ridgeland and whose younger brother Corey is a wrestler at Chattanooga Valley Middle, is the captain of the first-year squad.
“I love the sport,” Martin explained. “I’ve watched Jason wrestled since I was in fourth grade. This is just another way for us to show our support for the guys.”
Other squad members include senior Amanda Ramsey, junior Tiffany Smith, sophomore Amber Morrow and freshman Jennifer Smith.
The Panthers have a record of 2-3 after the first five matches of the season. They opened the year with a 66-10 home loss to Fort Payne on Nov. 22. Halfacre recorded a win for Ridgeland with a 1:20 pin. Logan got the other win with a 19-6 decision.
Four days later, the Panthers, split a pair of matches at Dade County. They fell to LFO by a 66-18 count. Bradley Walters got the lone pin for the Panthers. Burnham and Traywick each won by forfeit.
Ridgeland rebounded with a 48-29 win over the Wolverines. Broom, Elliott, Woodward, Russell and Kelley all recorded pins in the win. Burnham, Bowman and Traywick all won by forfeit.
This past Thursday, Ridgeland traveled to Notre Dame for a tri-meet with McMinn County and the Fighting Irish.
Ridgeland picked up three pins and eight forfeits to beat the Cherokees 66-14. Gilliam, Elliott and Bradley Walters all the pinfalls for the Panthers. Elliott had the easiest time with a 24-second win.
In the final matches of the night, the Irish, one of the best teams in Chattanooga, beat the Panthers 76-0.
Ridgeland also picked up 29.5 points at the Keith Johnson Invitational Tournament at Ooltewah this past Saturday. Soddy-Daisy won the event with 230 points.
The Panthers will take the mat next on Tuesday with a quad-match at Howard. Ridgeland will face off against Chattanooga Christian, Southeast Whitfield and the host Tigers.
They will join cross county rival LaFayette at the Brett Warren Invitational at Dade County this weekend.
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Published December 8, 2002
Dakota Comment is a regular feature on Sunday's opinion pages. The Argus Leader has a diverse panel of 20 people statewide who have agreed to share their comments on important issues of the day.
Today's Question:
The South Dakota High School Activities Association decided Monday it will ignore a bylaw that prohibits a gender mix on teams, opening the door for girls to participate in wrestling. A Sioux Falls girl, a freshman at Lincoln High School, likely will be the first. Should high school girls be allowed to compete on boys’ teams?
Yes, girls should be allowed to participate on boys’ teams if they so desire. However, the Sioux Falls School District should take a long hard look at how they phrase this new rule. By ignoring the gender bylaw, this should also allow boys to participate on girls’ teams. While I do not see a problem with making sports such as wrestling, volleyball, gymnastics, and football open to athletes of both genders, some people may strongly disagree. I personally feel this decision is a step in the right direction for gender equity, provided the rule allows boys to participate on girls’ teams as well as vice versa. However, this new rule may cause turmoil, and I hope the Sioux Falls School District is prepared for a rough road ahead.
Jacqueline Wilber, 17, Sioux Falls, Roosevelt High School senior
There is something familiar about this question. Time was when allowing girls attend school was considered just too radical … and later the question became "… with boys?" There have been times when the question was "Should females be allowed into a male profession like teaching school … or earning a professional degree … or voting … or training for combat?" The naysayers, clinging to the past and voicing fear for the future, sounded convincing - until some female actually did it.
Walls that have stood for many generations are slow to come down. When they do, people look around at the new view and ask, "Why not? What were we afraid of?"
Harlan Norem, 78, Sioux Falls, retired pastor
Girls should not be allowed to compete on boys’ teams. Any participation by females in male sports must lead to allowing males to play female sports. Thus, boys who are taller and can jump higher than girls will be able to play volleyball and basketball better and beat out girls for the squad positions. High school sports are designed to be gender segregated. Any infraction of this rule will lead to male domination of female activities.
Juli Lommel, 18, Sioux Falls, Roosevelt High School student
There are times that I feel like Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof," who sees one tradition after another fall during the course of the story. But this week’s situation is like that.
On one hand, girls in a contact sport such as wrestling does not seem appropriate by any stretch of the imagination.
But on the other hand, formerly gender specific roles in our society have been changing over many years. This specific student has been allowed to wrestle in other school systems in the past and not to allow her to compete in South Dakota is not fair. But should the South Dakota High School Activities Association choose to change this rule, then the door opens and the distinction between boys’ and girls’ teams seems to be gone. Are we ready for that as a state?
Greg Morrissey, 53, Brandon, air traffic controller at the Sioux Falls Regional Airport
If they are mentally prepared and physically capable, then yes girls should be allowed to play on boy’s teams. Athletes of any race, religion or gender who have ability should be given the opportunity to test it against the toughest of competition. The problem with the SDHSAA’s decision is that a rule on the books cannot be arbitrarily disregarded. If the bylaw is wrong enough to be ignored than it is wrong enough to be changed.
Michael J. Groetken, 25, Sioux Falls, customer service
The South Dakota High School Activities Association has opened Pandora’s box by allowing a gender mix on sports teams. This shouldn’t be allowed. The issues that raise a red flag are the possibilities of inappropriate touching on genitalia, sexual harassment, eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia, being too thin, sharing the same locker and shower facilities, and the extra cost.
Shirley A. Wieman, 55, Sioux Falls, non-traditional college student and Nikken wellness consultant
Perhaps the more significant question would be if high school girls are allowed to compete on boy’s teams, will the boys be allowed to compete on girl’s teams? If the rules are adjusted for one gender, then it would seem appropriate that the changes would affect both genders and all sports. The original intent of Title IX was to provide equitable opportunities for both genders. At some point, common sense must prevail.
Chloe Powell, 54, Sioux Falls, retail display
The activities association’s bylaws appear to be in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 which forbids excluding any person on the basis of sex from any program or activity that receives federal funds. Since Title IX, girls’ participation in sports has increased by 700 percent. In any case, South Dakota’s underfunded public schools can not add new sports so allowing girls to participate on boys’ teams where there is no girls’ equivalent is a good idea.
Mary Speece, 46, Sioux Falls, homemaker and volunteer
Girls should not be allowed to participate in wrestling or football. However, combining boys’ and girls’ basketball into one sport would save money and allow more time for academics. When I attended high school in the 1940’s there were rumors that co-ed wrestling existed. It was a night "sport" that didn’t require a referee or a time-keeper. That program was not sanctioned by the South Dakota High School Activities Association.
Lawrence "Andy" Andersen, 70, Milbank, retired newspaper publisher
In principal, I agree that the young lady should be allowed to wrestle with the boys if no girls wrestling team exists. In a sport like wrestling, however, which contains so much physical contact between the participants, it needs to be monitored very closely by the coaches. As a former taekwondo and boxing participant, I often sparred with women in class. Just like with any opponent in a class situation, be they male or female, I would ratchet up or down my effort based on their skill level. I sparred women who were better than me and men who were worse than me. The important things were safety and being respectful of your opponent. The same was true for my grade school-aged daughter - she sparred boys and girls. The boys typically used good sense but my daughter was also tough as nails and could take a shot as well as she could give one. What I don’t want to see happen is unisex teams. Boys and girls need to be able to participate in more activities, not fewer. Separate boys and girls team allow more students to have meaningful athletic experiences. So, bottom line, let the young lady participate and see if there is the interest and the budget for a girls wrestling team next year.
Todd D. Epp, 44, Harrisburg, lawyer
This particular issue will require the skills of a magician if it is to be solved. I believe any girl has the right to participate in any sport - as long as any boy has that same right. I know this is probably a simplistic viewpoint, but how about those boys who want to play volleyball instead of football? Many states have boys’ volleyball - South Dakota does not.
Mike Elsberry, 56, Woonsocket, Artesian-Letcher School District superintendent
My personal opinion is that if girls are allowed to compete on boys teams, then the reverse will also be open for discussion: that boys should be allowed to compete on girls teams. The differences in physical strength between teenage boys and girls become more apparent at this age. This makes the possibility of injury greater for the girls. Then it becomes an issue of having separate facilities for the female player to change in, shower in, and sleep in, if on a stayover athletic trip. Are the schools willing to pay that extra financial cost, considering the recent cuts in education? I think not.
Belva Weston, 48, Flandreau, nurse
It struck me while thinking about this question that there are currently two sports which still seem to be exclusively male: wrestling and football. The solution in the past has always been to create a female team for the sport rather than a co-ed team for the sport ... separate but equal. But is this always feasible? I, personally, would have no desire to wrestle or play football on male teams. But those females who understand and want to take the risk of doing so should be allowed to participate equally with the males.
Gretchen King, 32, Sioux Falls, homemaker
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