Girls' and women's participation in sports gets boost in East Bay
Ali Fard
February 6, 2003
CORRESPONDENT OAKLAND -- When champion kickboxer Tracie McCants flexed her arms in front of dozens of Lockwood Elementary School girls Wednesday, a collective gasp filled the room.
"Don't be afraid to lift weights," said McCants to the attentive crowd of 6- to 11-year-olds. "It'll keep your body healthy and strong. You'll be able to do a whole lot of things."
McCants and other athletes came to the Girls Inc. after-school program for national "Girls and Women in Sports Day," celebrated each year to honor and encourage sports and fitness participation for girls and women.
The group sponsored similar events in San Leandro and San Francisco.
The event was hosted by Team-Up For Youth, a nonprofit organization which supports school sports around the Bay Area, with an emphasis on low-income children and girls.
"The idea is to bring more awareness that sports are fabulous for girls," said consultant Ann Kletz.
The day is also a reminder of Title IX, a 1972 law which protects people from sexual discrimination in all federally funded school activities and programs.
The law recently has been under review by the federal Commission on Opportunity in Athletics, which is pushing to ease enforcement by comparing sports activities with the enrollment of girls on school campuses.
Opponents believe it unfairly cuts opportunities for men in sporting activities in order to fill a quota.
"Some people are trying to take (Title IX) away from you," said Dana Riley, a speaker at Wednesday's event who talked to the girls about her interest in sailing. "We have to work really hard to make sure that doesn't happen."
For the girls celebrating the day, Kletz said it's important they "feel a sense of accomplishment" when they go home.
"They've probably never heard of Title IX," Kletz said. "Their (mothers) didn't have the opportunity to play. At this age, it's import! ant."
On Wednesday, the girls were taught cardio-kickboxing by McCants, who teaches almost 20 classes to adults around the Bay Area, and were taken outside to play tennis by other instructors. The girls received a gift bag with sport resources after the event.
Kletz said celebrating "Girls and Women in Sports Day" is especially important for girls in Oakland, because progress with sporting activities is being made in the suburbs but not in larger urban areas.
"There's a huge need to create opportunities in cities, particularly for girls," Kletz said. "Hopefully, this is all that it will take to get them to try something new in an encouraging environment."
Rayolitta Mickens, a site-coordinator for the after-school program, said the group's mission statement is for girls to be "strong, smart and bold."
"There's no reason why you can't play any type of sport just because you're a girl," she said.
(c) 2003 The Oakland Tribune. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc.Record Number: 1161972
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