Maybe, for “rec league” or whatever, but school teams are usually meant to be competitive, and non-gendered sports would mean girls wouldn’t have equitable access to athletics.
But even for non-competitive teams, girls are unlikely to be able to access shared sports to the same level as boys. At a party school I worked at, there was a major challenge with girls being willing to access open gym time, feeling uncomfortable advocating for access to basketball nets for practice—even girls who were on the competitive team felt they couldn’t use open gym time.
TL;DR: Sexism runs deep. We need policies that recognize that and build equity, not just offer “equality” that perpetuates, or even magnifies, the problem.
I don’t see why bottom tier teams shouldn’t be co-ed. PE we did co ed sports days all the time and its more about getting exercise than winning.
Maybe, for “rec league” or whatever, but school teams are usually meant to be competitive, and non-gendered sports would mean girls wouldn’t have equitable access to athletics.
But even for non-competitive teams, girls are unlikely to be able to access shared sports to the same level as boys. At a party school I worked at, there was a major challenge with girls being willing to access open gym time, feeling uncomfortable advocating for access to basketball nets for practice—even girls who were on the competitive team felt they couldn’t use open gym time.
TL;DR: Sexism runs deep. We need policies that recognize that and build equity, not just offer “equality” that perpetuates, or even magnifies, the problem.
What’s a party school?
Maybe we just need new sports.