Before Title IX of the Education Amendments Acts came into effect in the 1970s, girls competed in intramural sports in the GAA because there was no MCAL for girls.
In 1971, social studies teacher Ray Jacques helped start the first girls’ cross country, and continued to coach cross country and track until 1991.
“Title IX was, in reality if not legally, part of a civil rights movement, which was to extend equality of opportunity to all kinds of people who were not getting equal opportunity,” Jacques said. “In terms of what was happening in high school, girls were not really getting equal status as boys in athletics. Looking in the sports page of the Marin IJ, it didn’t cover girls’ events as much, if at all, as boys’ events.”
Title IX, passed on June 23, 1972, states that no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.
Although Title IX made no explicit reference to athletics, it is most known for its impact on high school and collegiate sports.
In compliance with Title IX, the MCAL set up equal teams for both genders at all eight schools. According to Sue Chelini, retired teacher and current District Athletic Facilitator, in order to keep equal opportunity for genders, if the school adds a boys’ team, a girls’ team must be added as well.
According to a 1979 Bark article, boys who wanted to play volleyball had no team. A girl could play on any girls’, coed, or student team, while boys were limited to student and co-ed teams only.
Doug Basham, cross country and track coach since 1966, said that before Title IX, girls resorted to running on boys’ teams for competition. Basham started the first girls’ cross country team after student Linda Stoltze, who ran with the junior varsity boys, was banned from competing in the MCAL finals.
“We came to the MCAL meet and the coaches complained and said there was a rule against girls running against guys, so she couldn’t run JV,” he said. “We complained bitterly and the next year they started girls’ cross country.”
Before Title IX was passed, girls were not allowed to race the same distances as the boys.
“The idea was that girls were unable or they shouldn’t have to run a mile, they should run a shorter distance,” Jacques said. “They were being treated a little bit too daintily when in fact this was an area a girl should have free access and equal access.”
Title IX also eliminated the unequal treatment of genders present in academics. According to Chelini, the old Home Economics teacher, boys were not allowed to take her class, and girls were not allowed to take auto shop. However, Title IX eliminated the stereotyping of these classes and opened them up to both genders.
“I went on maternity leave in the ‘72-‘73 school year. When I came back it was the first time I had boys in the class,” Chelini said. “After the first year there was more than or as many boys as girls. It was also girls in math and girls in science because very few girls were taking those classes in comparison. It wasn’t that the school was saying they couldn’t, it was just that the girls didn’t think they had the opportunity.”
Despite the benefits of classes opening and equal opportunity in athletics, with the influx of new sports in the ‘70s, money was spread thin, and not all sports received an equal share.
“There was a couple years where the district went through some financial pain, and in those days we had $6000 for boys and girls,” said Phil Roark, the athletic director from 1977 to 1999. “You had about 15 teams starting up, but we made it all right because the parents came through and the Booster Club came through. It was tough the first couple of years because of the financial bind the district was in, but other then that it was great.”
According to Chelini, the athletic directors have a budget for equipment, but they do not have to specify how much money goes into each sport because it changes from year to year.
In May 1978, the Bark ran a story about budget distributions and found the appropriations to be vastly unequal, with the most money allocated to football and baseball.
“Certainly the boys’ sports commanded a lot more money for a long time,” Basham said. “I know football is still the most expensive sport. For a number of years the athletic director was always the football coach. That always make it interesting doling out money to football and baseball, they always got a lot of money.”
According to Roark, the biggest source of complaints was over the use of the athletic facilities like the gym and fields.
“It took a couple of years to get it all squared away,” Roark said. “All the kids and coaches worked together with the understanding that there were some issues with not enough space.”
Jacques said that with compromise, girls were granted equal athletic opportunities.
“The other coaches in Marin County and athletic directors accepted and realized the fact that girls ought to be on an equal footing in getting their share of the budget,” Jacques said.
