Aaron Crouse - Conclusion

In Sport and Gender SM 4250 we covered topics such as gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and physical disabilities as they related to sport.  While progress has been made throughout the past century in providing equal opportunities for all individuals to be able to participate in sport, there is clearly still work to be done.  These issues exist at all levels of sport including youth, high school, college, and professionally.  As sport managers, it is our role to make sure that the opportunity to participate in sport is provided to all willing participants while at the same time making sure that there is a safe and competitive environment available for individuals that face unique challenges to play in.

The information in the class that I found most useful were the articles and examples discussing athletes playing with the opposite gender, especially in youth and high school.  The stories of athletes such as Keeling Pilaro (Field Hockey), Erin DiMeglio (Football), and even Sam Gordon (football) have really made me think about the issue of mixing sport and gender, especially considering that I will most likely be faced with many of these issues in the future.  While I believe it is easy to support and cheer on these athletics from a fan’s perspective, it is a much different viewpoint when looking at these situations from the shoes of an athletic director or administrator.  As we watched videos and went over the articles in class relating to these athletes, I constantly asked myself “What would I do in these situations?”.  I think hearing about these athletes, their stories, and arguments in favor of playing with the opposite gender have definitely helped me to face a similar situation in the future.  While there are obviously certain Title IX and MSHAA/OHSAA guidelines that must also be followed in high school athletics, these athletes make a great case to why mixing sport and gender can be acceptable.

The reading that was most interesting to me was The Athletic Director’s Dilemma: $$$ & Women’s Sports written by Charles Kennedy.  I found his team index ratings based upon participation, scholarship, operating expenses, recruitment budget, and coaching salaries to be quite intriguing as he discussed the amount of money that is wasted in collegiate athletics.  As I want to be a high school or college AD in the future, I enjoyed working on the high school budgeting activity and making sure I was able to not cut any sports while taking care of the basic needs and accommodations necessary for student athletes to participate in sport.  It was an assignment that I definitely took personal pride in and put in a good amount of time to complete.  While I feel as if many other students felt it would not be a huge deal to cut certain sports or only providing funding for more successful or notable teams, I truly believe that a high school athletic program should be about providing opportunities for students to engage in an extracurricular competitive environment.  All successful high school athletic programs are able to develop student athletes by promoting high standards of academic excellence, character, and citizenship and this should be taken into higher consideration than winning, team record, or profitability when preparing a budget.

Keeping a blog helped me to provide my own opinion on the concepts discussed in class.  In writing blogs, I was able to review the articles that were talked about in class and also find additional resources that either shared the same opinion or provided a counter argument to what we had gone over.  I think there was a definite advantage to writing blogs in that I was able to receive feedback and comments from my classmates while also being able to see what they had to write about.  Obviously, there are a wide number of opinions on issues as many of us come from different athletic backgrounds and parts of the country.  Personally, I really enjoyed hearing the different sides to every argument and I would suggest that blogs become mandatory going forward rather than having a journal option available.

My favorite presentation was the topic focused around the question: “Are Athletes Overpaid?”.  As fans, I think it is very easy for us to complain about a professional athlete who is making millions of dollars for playing a game that we may have in our youth, high school, or college days.  However, when you look deeper into the situation and analyze sports as a business, the injury risks, time spend in training, and time athletes must spend away from their families the massive salaries suddenly appear more justified.  After analyzing the sacrifices that these athletes make, I have actually changed my viewpoint and now believe that most salaries, provided that the athlete performs, are justified.  As the presentation stated, as long as we (as fans) continue to purchase tickets, team apparel, and provide television ratings then we cannot complain about how much money goes into professional sports leagues.

As previously stated, the information from this class that I will be especially useful in my career are the guidelines and cases that have been made in support of and against mixing gender in sport.  Having discussed Title IX litigation along with the high school state rulings from around the country (Michigan, Ohio, New York, Florida) I know more about the legal aspects of having boy and girls play together on the same field at the high school level.  Almost more importantly, we have viewed the specific individual stories based upon these issues and have I have heard how the governing rules have had impacts on individuals, teams, and families. I am sure that at some point in my future I will be forced to handle a similar situation and I now have a better idea of how I am going to handle it as a result of taking this class.