Women and Sports in the United States: A Documentary Reader

BREAKING CULTURAL TRADITIONS

y BREAKING CULTURAL TRADITIONS Culture, Family Play Role in Sports for Latina Girls MaryJo Sylwester greeley, colo.—Korina Hernandez is one of only two Hispanics on the varsity girls basketball team at Greeley Central High School, where half the students are Hispanic. That’s not unusual for girls teams here. Just 20% of Greeley Central’s Hispanic girls play a sport, compared with 60% of the non-Hispanic girls, according to the athletics director. Nationwide, this disparity is only slightly smaller. It worries school of- ficials and others because girls who don’t play sports miss a wide range of benefits for their health and academic success. They are also in more danger of feeling left out of their school. Experts say promoting sports to prevent these problems is crucial for Hispanic girls because they are at greater risk for problems such as teen pregnancy and obesity and are more likely to drop out of school than non-Hispanics. The number of girls involved is substantial. Hispanics have surpassed African-Americans as the nation’s largest minority group. In October 2002, the census reported there were 1.8 million Hispanic females ages 14 to 19, slightly less than African-American males in the same age group. Hernandez, 16, is an example of a growing number of Hispanic girls who are closing the athletic gap by casting aside cultural tradition and convincing reluctant parents that sports can be an avenue for staying out of trouble and getting better grades—and perhaps a ticket to a college education. Many are the first females in their families to play sports, unbound by a custom that dictates girls help with the family after school; boys often have more freedom. Some families maintain this practice simply because everyone needs to help to survive financially. For the Hernandez family, it was a difficult decision to let Korina play: Her parents were both working, and her mother needed someone to help care for younger daughter Ashley. “But it was something I really wanted to do,” Korina says. “I kind of convinced her to let me play.” Her parents found an after-school program for Ashley instead. Building Inequality into Sport 201 From USA Today, 28 March 2003. From USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co., Inc. Reprinted with permission. 202 WOMEN AND SPORTS IN THE UNITED STATES This type of situation is key to why Hispanic girls have a lower sports participation rate than non-Hispanic peers, according to numerous athletes , parents, athletic directors, coaches and researchers. Practical problems , such as lack of money or transportation, also are factors but are common for other girls, too. Rosa Perez knows about this firsthand. She defied her parents’ wishes and played softball in high school and at Stanford, where she graduated in 1971. Now she frequently meets with Hispanic parents who are reluctant to let their daughters play sports at Cañada College, a Redwood City, Calif., community college. “The issue of participation in athletics first and foremost has to do with the responsibilities (Hispanic) girls still have in traditional households ,” says Perez, 55, who is president of the college. “A lot of our Latino families are still either first- or second-generation immigrants. . . . But it is changing, and especially with those people who were raised in the United States.” It’s Not Just About Money Nationally, about 36% of Hispanic sophomore girls played interscholastic sports, compared with 52% of non-Hispanics for the 2001–02 school year, according to a USA Today analysis of the most recent U.S. Department of Education survey data. The data show the low participation rate isn’t just about money. Hispanic girls from high-income homes also lag behind non-Hispanic peers, while the gap between boys of different ethnicities is much less pronounced . The participation rate for Hispanic boys is 50%, compared with 57% for non-Hispanics. High school sports participation data, collected by state high school associations, do not include race or ethnicity. As a result, the education survey is the only available snapshot to quantify such participation. Coaches and athletics directors across the country say they have had difficulty encouraging Hispanic girls to play sports, often because of parental reluctance. “Most of these girls are athletically inclined,” says Raul Hodgers, athletics director at Tucson’s Desert View High School, which is 80% Hispanic . “But it’s difficult to acclimate parents to the idea of kids staying after school.” Schools in Mexico, where the majority...