The University of Idaho”s intramural sports program offers a plethora of sports to play, from gender-specific to co-ed teams.
I”ve looked forward to this aspect of college since my years as a high school athlete, and I am grateful for this opportunity to compete with my peers. But the policies surrounding co-ed intramural basketball – under which women earn twice the points of men and men are prohibited from blocking shots or attempting to distract female players – recently caught my attention.
Lyndsie Kiebert
Argonaut
I am continually impressed by the culture of acceptance at UI, which is why I was thrown when I heard the rules of co-ed intramural basketball. I attend a university that tells me I shouldn”t be earning 78 cents for every man”s dollar, but also tells me that I am incapable of earning the same stats without the implementation of special rules. This doesn”t add up.
I should preface this opinion with an important detail – I am no standout basketball player. I don”t play co-ed expecting to be a star. If I wanted to compete at a level and in a sport where I could shine, I”d play in a women”s volleyball league. If anything, these basketball rules can only benefit me – but I do not want them.
My co-ed basketball team”s first game happened a few weeks ago, and the experience was almost entirely positive. I play with a group of friends from the newspaper, and many of us haven”t touched a basketball since high school or earlier. On a team formed entirely for fun, I wasn”t deterred when early in the game I realized all basketball skills I previously possessed had vanished. The other team – composed primarily of fast, tall men as well as a couple of athletic women – came out firing on all cylinders.
At one point, I shot a 3-pointer and missed horribly, only to have the live ball stopped in order for the referee to award my team six points.
That is no typo. Six points for a missed basket.
One of the men on the opposing team had made a hollering noise as I shot – an act outlawed by Student Rec”s co-ed basketball rules. He didn”t touch me, attempt to block me, anything – he simply yelled to distract me, as would anyone playing the sport. I was allowed to do it throughout the game to all of the players, men or women.
What”s wrong with this picture?
The women on the other team became timid to shoot during the second half of the game because – thanks to their ability to compete despite the implied handicap of their gender – they were a large part of why we were losing by 60 points. Every lay-up they scored acted as a 4-point play – something rarely accomplished in a regular basketball game. Not to mention that these girls could shoot from behind the arc as well. But again, they were hesitant to play to their full potential, which only furthers the issues that arise when genders are treated differently based on stereotyped physical merit.
Though I know I don”t speak for all college-aged women, I know I speak for some when I say that awarding us double the regular points and catering to our apparently innate athletic disadvantages is in no way appealing. If this is some form of incentive to encourage women to play co-ed sports, this demeaning special treatment is not the way to do it.
As for those women who are in it to win it – I highly doubt they need these insulting crutches to do so.
Lyndsie Kiebert can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @lyndsie_kiebert