Challenges Facing Interscholastic Athletics

1. Challenges Facing
Interscholastic
Athletics
Erin Davenport, Ed.D

2. Challenges:
Title IX
• The Law
• Equity in Facilities/Spending
• Current Title IX Cases
Health and Safety
• Doing Enough?
• Declining Participation
• Specialization
Finance Issues Related to
High School Athletics
• Pay to Play (Equity)
• Legal Costs

3. Title IX
“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of
sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the
benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any
educational program or activity receiving Federal
financial assistance.”
Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972

4. #1 OCR Title IX Complaint= Facilities
Unnamed Softball Field Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High School
$3 Million Baseball Field

5. Title IX Current
Cases
Lake Oswego High School
Oregon- Softball Facilities:
https://coachad.com/news/or
egon-hs-reaches-tentative-
settlement-in-title-ix-lawsuit/
Six Girls Sue to Play Football in
Utah:
http://archive.sltrib.com/articl
e.php?id=5438621&itype=CM
SID
Red Bluff, CA- Participation
Opportunities:
http://www.athleticbusiness.co
m/high-school/california-high-
school-hit-with-title-ix-suit.html
“Before Title IX,
fewer than 300,000
high school girls --
one in 27 -- played
sports. Now more
than 3 million high
school girls -- one in
two -- play sports.”
“Estimates are
that 80 to 90
percent of all
educational
institutions are
not in
compliance
with Title IX.”

6. Health and Safety
•Are we doing enough?
•Declining Participation
•Sports Specialization- Injuries

7. Are We Doing Enough? Some say NO!
Korey Stringer Institute ranks Colorado, California
bottom two states in implementation of evidence-
based best practices for preventing and managing
the leading causes of sudden death in secondary
school athletics
https://coachad.com/news/states-ranked-
implementation-sudden-death-policies/
/

8. Are We Doing Enough? Some say YES!
The National Federation of High Schools (NFHS)
releases response to KSI report-
http://www.nfhs.org/articles/nfhs-responds-to-
korey-stringer-institute-ranking-of-high-school-
associations-regarding-managing-injury-risk
/

9. Declining
Participation in
Football- Is The
Sport At Risk?
Headlines- Data
Financial Implications

10. The State of Football
1 in 3 parents
“live in fear that
their child will
get a
concussion” 1

11. Financial Implications
Football's Endgame: What would happen if America's pastime just ... died?
https://www.si.com/nfl/2016/08/31/future-of-football-nfl-safety-
concussions
Can the NFL survive its concussion crisis?
https://www.theverge.com/2014/1/31/5364378/can-nfl-survive-football-
concussion-crisis
Examining The Decline In College Football Attendances: Do Remedies
Exist?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/prishe/2015/12/22/examining-the-decline-
in-college-football-attendances-do-remedies-exist/#342161c77df4
New lawsuit points finger at Pop Warner for mismanagement of head
injuries
https://www.si.com/nfl/2016/09/01/pop-warner-youth-football-lawsuit-
concussions-cte

12. SPECIALIZATION = INCREASE IN INJURIES???
15-19 year-olds accounted for 57% of Tommy John surgeries from 2007-2011

13. Finance Issues Facing High School Athletics
Even After Recession, School Districts
Consider Eliminating Sports
• “Eliminating freshman sports could
save the district $1 million,
eliminating junior varsity sports
would save $2.1 million, and
eliminating varsity sports would save
$5.2 million.”
• “Removing the athletic trainer
allocated to each high school could
save $2.2 million, while removing
the 0.5 assistant activities director
positions at each high school would
save $700,000.”
Funding High School Athletics
Programs
• “Revenues are falling from lower
allocations from government
coffers, reduced sponsorships,
and declining gate receipts.”
• “Will the pay-to-play model, the
increased reliance on
sponsorships, and fundraising
help fill the void left by the
shrinking budgets?”

14. Pay-to-Play Model and Equity
“….because low-
income families are
more often than not
synonymous with
racial minorities, the
pay-to-play model
simultaneously
creates ineequities
among low-income
families and racial
minorities.”
“The elimination of
the pay-to-play
model from a
district’s method
of funding
extracurricular
activities is an
important step
towards ensuring
that every
American student
is offered a
qualitatively equal
education.”

15. 2016 Year in Review Legal Issues
in Athletic Administration
https://www.nfhs.org/articles/top-ten-us-supreme-court-cases-for-high-school-
athletic-directors/
Liability for Sports Injuries
Concussion
Title IX
Constitutional Law: Freedom of Speech & Social Media
Constitutional Law: Freedom of Religion
Constitutional Law: Invasion of Privacy
Constitutional Law: Due Process
Constitutional Law: Equal Protection and Transgender
Students
Hazing
Sexual Harassment and Violence
Disabilities Law
Labor Law
State Association Power

16. What do you believe is
the #1 athletic finance
issue facing coaches and
athletic administrators?