Mead High School opened in 2009, and since then it has been excelling in the sports department, especially our basketball teams. The boys’s team is ranked third in Northern Colorado, and the girls are ranked second. Recently, the girls team made it to the final four at CHSAA.
It is impressive to see the extreme changes in women’s sports throughout the years; going from seemingly non-existent, to almost every high school having their own teams. In 1896, the first women’s basketball team was created at Stanford University and, three years later, destroyed. After that, women’s sports were quiet until 1972 when Title IX was enacted, with the purpose of the law being to provide equal opportunity and funding in athletics to both genders. From then on, women’s sports flourished. Since then, almost all sports have been adapted to have female counterparts.
Currently, Mead High School’s basketball season has ended. I have attempted to go to almost every game. There are larger differences between the two teams. The men’s team had a large number of students attending the games, while the girls had a much smaller number. Even as the girls went to the final four, the student section barely took up three rows. The girls worked extremely hard to get where they are, yet they seemed to get little recognition.
Female athletes are hard-working, and take determination to get where they are. They work just as hard as male athletes, but still, they don’t get as much appreciation.
Women have just recently been able to play sports, so watching a girls game is a privilege that people in the past would have fought for. We are in a world where we attempt to end sexism, but something as simple as sports still exists. Women have fought for their rights and recognition for years, and they have successfully achieved their goals. But still, women’s sports are on the sidelines compared to mens.
That is ridiculous.
Mead’s girls sports cost the same, and the only difference is the time. But merely coming an hour earlier isn’t that much effort. Tickets for the girls team are the exact same as for the boys. It doesn’t take much to support our girls team. If you have money for the boys games, you have money for the girls games. When you buy a girls ticket, you can always stay and also go to the boys game. It doesn’t cost extra money to support both teams.
This school talks about what it means to be a Maverick, and if we are true Mavericks, we would support all of our teams. When you have a chance, go watch a girls softball game, cheer on our volleyball team, and go support our basketball team. Go cheer and have fun at the events. Take your friends and appreciate how hard the girls have worked.
Women in the past would kill to be able to watch an all-girls team play basketball, so take advantage of that privilege.
