THE PERPLEXING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TITLE IX AND BOOSTER CLUBS

I have two issues I want to discuss with you, because they are very often intertwined with each other.

The first one is the impact of Title IX, and what that 50-year-old federal law really means at the grass roots level – especially when it comes to making sure that HS sports are fair and equal across the board.

And the second issue that I want to cover is the impact that HS athletic booster clubs can often have when it comes to the implementation of Title IX.

Let’s start with the basics: Title IX was passed in order to make sure that all boys and girls have an equal and level playing field when it comes to sports.From what I can tell, everybody cheers this law, and for the most part, it was worked extremely well over the years.

For example, it means that all high schools which receive federal funding must make certain that there is no favoritism ever shown to one sports program over another, especially when these are programs where girls and boys are included. That is, if the boys HS basketball team gets new uniforms for the upcoming season, well, the girls definitely should be getting new uniforms. That’s the impact of Title IX: equal means equal.

You get the idea.

But what happens when a bunch of eager sports parents decide to start a booster club for their kids’ HS sports team? Like, say, the football or baseball team? You all know about booster clubs: traditionally, they are started by active and enthusiastic sports parents who want to show their support for their kid’s team by doing fundraisers or just providing monetary donations to the booster club.

Nothing wrong with that, right? But let me ask you this.

Do all of the financial proceeds from that booster club go solely and only to that team? That is, you and a bunch of parents start a booster club to primarily benefit the HS football team. Under Title IX, should a good chunk of that cash be directed and shared by ALL of the school’s teams? Judging from the calls this morning, there’s a lot of confusion about all of this.

This is admittedly complicated stuff. But it;s important. As one caller pointed out, there was a recent survey by a major women’s athletic organization that contended that 80-90 percent of all schools administrators do not understand this issue well. That’s surprising and disappointing. Take a listen here: The Sports Edge With Rick Wolff