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Monday, January 22, 2007

Law - "An NCAA committee wants to ban the widespread use of male practice players in women's sports"

On March 5, 2004, the ILB had an entry headed "Not law but interesting - A feature on the practice players for the UConn women's team." It quoted from a NY Times story that began:

Their classmates notice that they are invited to the popular athletes' parties on campus. They wear exclusive athletic logo apparel, and they hang around the athletic complex. Once in a while, they even sign an autograph.

So it is natural when a classmate eventually asks: What sport do you play?

''And that's when I tell them I'm a practice player on the women's basketball team,'' Mike Cofrancesco, a junior at the University of Connecticut, said. ''I get the weirdest looks. People say: 'But you're a guy? Is that allowed?' ''

Well, now it has become a "law" issue, as the NCAA's Committee on Women's Athletics last month:
issued a position statement calling for a ban on the grounds the spirit of Title IX is being violated "contrary to the association's principles of gender equity, non-discrimination and competitive equity."
That quote is from this comprehensive story today by Steve Ballard in the Indianapolis Star. Another quote from the story, which should be read in full:
Michigan State coach Joanne P. McCallie said she never has had a player who didn't benefit from competing against males or one who complained about losing practice time to them.

"This is political correctness gone awry," she said. "To suggest opportunities are being taken away from women is coming from someone who does not coach, has never been to a practice and has not played."

Today's story is accompanied by a good "Point-Counterpoint" sdiebar.

See also this April 2, 2006 ILB entry headed "NCAA Leadership Isn't Matching the Talent of Its Women Players."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 22, 2007 07:49 AM
Posted to General Law Related