[Fredslist] Fw: Women's Issues Article

Sat Oct 15 10:55:02 EDT 2005

My daughter in law Julie Klein wrote the following article on an issue which is very important to every woman and man. It will be published in the Anton Newspaper Boulevard on 10/20. Julie welcomes your comments and feedback at Julie2K at optonline.net. 
-----Original Message-----
From: julie klein <julie2k at optonline.net>
Date: Sat, 15 Oct 2005 09:09:55 
To:Fred Klein <fklein at kzrd.com>
Subject: Article

Hi Fred.. Here is my most recent article to be published in the Boulevard on October 20th.. 

Julie 

Our Daughters and Sports

By Julie A. Klein

          If you have at least one son and one daughter, maybe you have been guilty of it.  I know I have.  Guilty, that is, of “pushing” or “strongly encouraging” my son to play just about any sport at the mere indication of his athletic ability, while taking several steps back when my daughter reached a similar milestone.  No sooner than uttering the word “ball,” was my son enrolled in soccer, sports class, and t-ball.  My daughter mentioned that she liked tennis, to which my response was, “So do I!  That’s great!”  And so it went for a while.

          I finally signed her up for some lessons, and we play together on occasion, but I was in no rush to cultivate the interest that she so clearly expressed to me.  Why not?  What is the difference?  Why did I treat my son and daughter differently when it comes to sports?  As an athletic person, why didn’t I jump at any opportunity to engage my daughter in sports too?

          I decided to discuss this general topic with a woman many of you may know in the Roslyn School District:  Dorothy McHugh, the Assistant Principal at Heights School.  What many of you may not know is that Ms. McHugh or “Dotsy,” as she is known to relatives and friends, is a very talented basketball player.  From fourth through twelfth grade, she played basketball for Catholic Youth Organization (“CYO”), all the while lending her talents to the Herricks School District teams, until graduating from Herricks in 1979 with a full, four-year scholarship to Ohio State (1979 was the first year that women were eligible to receive a scholarship for 4 consecutive years at once; previously it had been for one year at a time, subject to an annual renewal).  She then received a Masters Degree in Social Work from Columbia University, while coaching the basketball team there.

          Ms. McHugh was kind enough to answer some questions I had about her experiences and her perceptions of girls’ participation in sports.

Q:     Who encouraged you to play basketball, and at what age?

A:      I am the youngest of six, with four older brothers, who were athletic and always playing sports: basketball, football, things like that.  No one ever dissuaded me from playing basketball; in fact, my mother and father (and my CYO coach, Margo Bores,) were very supportive and helped to cultivate the talent that I seemed to have at a young age.  

Q:     Who was your role model?

A:      Aside from some of my coaches, in sixth grade, while playing for the CYO team, I looked up to the eighth grade team players.  CYO was a great organization for girls’ sports.  

Q:     Do you see a difference in the treatment of girls and boys when it comes to sports?

A:      One difference I see is that boys with little natural aptitude for sports are still pushed toward athletics, while parents of girls with limited aptitude do not push them the same way.  Often, it is not so easy to discover a child’s natural ability in today’s society.

Q:     Why is that?

A:      Unfortunately, due to real concerns about abductions and other societal fears, parents have become hard-pressed to structure their child’s free time to the point that kids cannot simply go outside and play and discover their own talents.  

Q:     What age do you think is most appropriate for getting kids involved in organized sports?

A:      For organized sports, I feel that by third grade, when kids are eight years old, they can handle the emotional and competitive aspects of being a part of a team.

Q:     What do you think are the benefits for a girl to participate in sports?

A:      Part of what being on a team meant for me was the friendships cultivated through the common experiences of hard work, responsibility for each other, the thrills of winning and the disappointments of losing.  It’s all about character building.

Q:     Why do you think girls’ sports are more popular in certain towns/school districts than in others?

A:      Often, if the district has a “winning team,” then it is going to be “cool” to be a part of that team.  Also, priorities vary and the focus in different areas may be on athletics, academics, music and/or theatre as the case may be.  

Q:     Do you think parents should push their daughters more to get involved in sports?

A:      If a girl has a natural aptitude for a certain sport, then yes.  And if she has the ability, she most likely will have a love for the game, because it is fun pursuing something that you are really good at.  

Q:     Did you have fun?

A:      I had a great time.  

Sent via BlackBerry from EarthLink Wireless.