Talking to many people who have been around high school sports WAY longer than I have, all said that the situation is WAY better than it used to be - in fact many said it is extraordinary how far it has come even though a lot more work needs to be done.
My DD's school is lucky - they are not quite on even par with the baseball team, but in terms of equal opportunity/similar facilities/etc there really is minimal differences. For all the programs the school runs I have no doubt they would pass a TitleIX audit with out any issues...
Of all our opponents, I would say 4 or 5 other programs were in similar situations.
Here are some of the things I saw this season:
- 3 schools played and practiced off campus at city fields while baseball had on campus (and updated) facilities. In fairness, in 2 of these cases these are older schools with limited space based on decisions probably made in the 60's or 70;s. The other school has no excuse
- At most schools it was easy to find the softball field... it was in the corner of the school furthest away from anything. Just keep walk away from everything else
- We had to play at 4pm at two schools because they don't have lights... unlike the baseball fields which are lit up like it is daylight and this was still better than...
- one school has lights but they haven't worked for several years officially because of 'funding' but really because baseball doesn't like the girls playing or practicing at the same time they are doing things
- One school has for baseball what amounts to a minor league facility on campus with sponsors, hall of fame billboards, stands down both lines, all new equipment with a storage shed, new lockers,scoreboards and a lot of other great things... softball is right next to it with no stands, uncovered dugouts and half a shipping container for storage. And the outfield is a mess. I actually hesitate to call it a softball field. It was like baseball was taunting softball.
- 3 schools require you to off-road to the softball field parking
- Two outfield fences backed on to the baseball fences so were... uneven. One actually bowed in to follow the baseball CF fence. So it was probably200' down both lines and to CLF and LCRF... but about 170' in center field as it came in.
- One school had to have a security guard drive out to the field when the game finished in his car so he could use his headlights to light up a way out. We were so far in the corner of the school that there was a 600 yard walk in complete dark back to civilization and no lights or defined paths to get there. Sorry - that is slightly wrong - you could see on the way in because the baseball team was practicing, but they had finished before the game was over and they turned the lights off when they were done. I mean it was PITCH black walking back
- One field was basically a large open field where they have dug out circles to put bases in and put in clay and a backstop fence. Everything else was grass and they put up a temp fence to play.
- I would say well over 50% of the infields were not up to standard (especially when compared to the baseball field). Outfields were mostly ok, though one was very,, ah.. hilly might be the best way to describe it.
- Several schools you had to walk how ever far it was to the baseball or football field for restroom facilities. Which on one occasion were locked because baseball wasn't playing or practicing and the softball coach couldn't be trusted with a key.
I am sure I am missing many things - these were some of the things that stood out.
My DD's school is lucky - they are not quite on even par with the baseball team, but in terms of equal opportunity/similar facilities/etc there really is minimal differences. For all the programs the school runs I have no doubt they would pass a TitleIX audit with out any issues...
Of all our opponents, I would say 4 or 5 other programs were in similar situations.
Here are some of the things I saw this season:
- 3 schools played and practiced off campus at city fields while baseball had on campus (and updated) facilities. In fairness, in 2 of these cases these are older schools with limited space based on decisions probably made in the 60's or 70;s. The other school has no excuse
- At most schools it was easy to find the softball field... it was in the corner of the school furthest away from anything. Just keep walk away from everything else
- We had to play at 4pm at two schools because they don't have lights... unlike the baseball fields which are lit up like it is daylight and this was still better than...
- one school has lights but they haven't worked for several years officially because of 'funding' but really because baseball doesn't like the girls playing or practicing at the same time they are doing things
- One school has for baseball what amounts to a minor league facility on campus with sponsors, hall of fame billboards, stands down both lines, all new equipment with a storage shed, new lockers,scoreboards and a lot of other great things... softball is right next to it with no stands, uncovered dugouts and half a shipping container for storage. And the outfield is a mess. I actually hesitate to call it a softball field. It was like baseball was taunting softball.
- 3 schools require you to off-road to the softball field parking
- Two outfield fences backed on to the baseball fences so were... uneven. One actually bowed in to follow the baseball CF fence. So it was probably200' down both lines and to CLF and LCRF... but about 170' in center field as it came in.
- One school had to have a security guard drive out to the field when the game finished in his car so he could use his headlights to light up a way out. We were so far in the corner of the school that there was a 600 yard walk in complete dark back to civilization and no lights or defined paths to get there. Sorry - that is slightly wrong - you could see on the way in because the baseball team was practicing, but they had finished before the game was over and they turned the lights off when they were done. I mean it was PITCH black walking back
- One field was basically a large open field where they have dug out circles to put bases in and put in clay and a backstop fence. Everything else was grass and they put up a temp fence to play.
- I would say well over 50% of the infields were not up to standard (especially when compared to the baseball field). Outfields were mostly ok, though one was very,, ah.. hilly might be the best way to describe it.
- Several schools you had to walk how ever far it was to the baseball or football field for restroom facilities. Which on one occasion were locked because baseball wasn't playing or practicing and the softball coach couldn't be trusted with a key.
I am sure I am missing many things - these were some of the things that stood out.
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