Field conditions - is this normal?

[GIMNEPIWO]

Title IX keeps being thrown around and the educator in me can’t help but correct this point that several posters have made.

Title IX does not guarantee that the baseball and softball fields be equal. It actually doesn’t guarantee that any fields of like or similar sports between men and women to be equal/similar. It’s a across the whole athletic program.

Side note - the softball field and baseball field at my HS field are both very nice as far as the surfaces go. The softball field however, has a press box, locker room, and PA system that the baseball field does not have.

The "educator in you" is wrong.

"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."

And yes, the baseball program at your school could file a Title IX complaint.

 

[_MIA_]

Knock yourselves out...

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED400763.pdf

 

[radness]

It's a field that could use some TLC. Either put in the time and money to prepare it correctly or pick up rocks but guess what somewhere out there will be another field that's probably worse!

Definitely know of other teams that are happily practicing on the lawn and would be grateful to practice on that field with dirt.

 

[Towny9]

The "educator in you" is wrong.

"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."

And yes, the baseball program at your school could file a Title IX complaint.

Respectfully - you are wrong. Title IX does not ensure the baseball and softball facilities are equal. It’s all sports across both genders. My baseball team may file a complaint, but not only on the grounds that the softball field is better.

“There is no requirement under Title IX that men’s and women’s teams in the same sports or like sports have facilities of the same quality. The analysis for the Title IX program component of the “provision of locker rooms, practice and competitive facilities” is an overall approach that compares all of the facilities for women’s teams to all of the facilities for men’s teams. Schools can emphasize different teams for men and women. If the softball field is lesser quality than the baseball field, a school can still comply if, for example, the women’s soccer field is better quality than the men’s soccer field.”

 

[Dabears17]

Respectfully - you are wrong. Title IX does not ensure the baseball and softball facilities are equal. It’s all sports across both genders. My baseball team may file a complaint, but not only on the grounds that the softball field is better.

“There is no requirement under Title IX that men’s and women’s teams in the same sports or like sports have facilities of the same quality. The analysis for the Title IX program component of the “provision of locker rooms, practice and competitive facilities” is an overall approach that compares all of the facilities for women’s teams to all of the facilities for men’s teams. Schools can emphasize different teams for men and women. If the softball field is lesser quality than the baseball field, a school can still comply if, for example, the women’s soccer field is better quality than the men’s soccer field.”

And how many schools do you think where the softball facilities are lesser than the baseball facilities, the women's soccer field is better than the men's soccer field? Almost every school I'm aware of, the men's and women's teams share the same soccer field.

 

[_MIA_]

And how many schools do you think where the softball facilities are lesser than the baseball facilities, the women's soccer field is better than the men's soccer field? Almost every school I'm aware of, the men's and women's teams share the same soccer field.

I don't think he was arguing that all schools are in compliance, only that you cannot determine compliance in the way that was being described...

 

[GIMNEPIWO]

Respectfully - you are wrong. Title IX does not ensure the baseball and softball facilities are equal. It’s all sports across both genders. My baseball team may file a complaint, but not only on the grounds that the softball field is better.

“There is no requirement under Title IX that men’s and women’s teams in the same sports or like sports have facilities of the same quality. The analysis for the Title IX program component of the “provision of locker rooms, practice and competitive facilities” is an overall approach that compares all of the facilities for women’s teams to all of the facilities for men’s teams. Schools can emphasize different teams for men and women. If the softball field is lesser quality than the baseball field, a school can still comply if, for example, the women’s soccer field is better quality than the men’s soccer field.”

If you give or allow one gender (as in the OP in this case) a premium facility and deny the other gender the same in a like or similar sport, that is discrimination.

 

[Towny9]

I don't think he was arguing that all schools are in compliance, only that you cannot determine compliance in the way that was being described...

This is exactly what I was saying.

 

[Towny9]

If you give or allow one gender (as in the OP in this case) a premium facility and deny the other gender the same in a like or similar sport, that is discrimination.

They do not compare similar sports like that. I won’t argue with you anymore after this. If the baseball field is nicer than the softball field that is not automatically a title IX violation. Maybe the field hockey field is nicer than the mens soccer field to make up for it.

You are getting all defensive and protective (after attacking me first by the way). I’m not saying that women’s sports fields shouldn’t be equivalent to men’s sports fields. I think that schools should strive to have equal facilities in similar sports. It’s the right thing to do. I’m just saying that it’s not necessarily a title IX violation if they don’t.

 

[Towny9]

And how many schools do you think where the softball facilities are lesser than the baseball facilities, the women's soccer field is better than the men's soccer field? Almost every school I'm aware of, the men's and women's teams share the same soccer field.

My experience as a high school baseball coach and travel softball coach tells me that most schools baseball field is probably nicer then the softball field. I won’t deny that. You are also right that most other teams share facilities. That wasn’t my point. I was just merely stating the fact that differences in baseball and softball fields doesn’t constitute a Title IX violation on that comparison alone.