No, I think we have to look more deeply at ourselves and our sports system. “It’s this predominantly male, macho culture that doesn’t want to open this door,” says Donna Lopiano, a longtime activist for gender equity in sports, former All-American athlete and current president of Sports Management Resources, a consulting firm. “It’s sacred ground for guys.
“There is no physical reason why women shouldn’t be participating,” she added.
As a more practical matter, Rapoport says, coaches and athletic directors worry about having to share their facilities, which already may be overtaxed.
Rich Daniel, general manager of the D.C. Divas, the local women’s pro football team, says that until colleges begin to offer scholarships to girls who want to play football, parents will steer their athletes toward sports that hold that reward.
As “an active young female, you and your parents are focused on where you’re going next,” he said. “If you want your education to be paid for, you have to focus on a sport that has a scholarship associated with it.”
Until things change, girls’ options in this area are limited to private organizations. Koa Sports, a Montgomery County nonprofit, for example, has 70 girls from kindergarten through 10th grade playing flag football in the second year of its league. And Candace Love, a former D.C. Diva, has started a traveling team based at the SEED charter school in the District, Daniel said. There is word that District schools will offer flag football as a varsity sport in the spring, but I couldn’t reach anyone to confirm that.
“We sort of thought there would be a market to have girls play. The first year, we were laughed at,” said Wayne Cohen, one of Koa’s founders. “People said, ‘Girls aren’t going to come out and play. It’s never going to happen.’
“We were shocked at what [we] actually saw,” he added. “They were very competitive, and they really wanted to do it.”
Jeannine Shavitz of Bethesda signed up her tiny 8-year-old, Maddie. Her 6-year-old, Alexandra, joined after seeing how much fun her sister was having. “We live in a neighborhood with mostly boys her age, and they come home from school and start throwing the football around,” Shavitz said of Maddie’s interest.
“For whatever reason, she got herself focused on football, and she couldn’t wait for the season to get started.”
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