Title Ix and Baseball: How the Contact Sports Exemption Denies Women Equal Opportunity to America’S Pastime
\\jciprod01\productn\N\NVJ\14-3\NVJ311.txt unknown Seq: 1 5-JUN-14 7:37 TITLE IX AND BASEBALL: HOW THE CONTACT SPORTS EXEMPTION DENIES WOMEN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY TO AMERICA’S PASTIME Brittany K. Puzey* INTRODUCTION Imagine yourself as a child. I know, I know, it seems a little silly and perhaps even oxymoronic to try to imagine simpler times while reading a legal article, but I implore you to do so. Each of us had something that we aspired to become, be it a racecar driver or a rock star, a ballerina or a ball-player. Do you remember what your aspiration was? For many kids, early dreams and aspira- tions planted the seed for a real career—a seed that gradually blossomed as those children learned what they liked and what they ultimately desired. That tiny seed of “make believe” helped them to decide how to achieve their particu- lar career choice. Would-be doctors began studying extra hard and taking advanced classes. Hopeful singers belted out tunes at the top of their lungs and enrolled in vocal lessons. Aspiring baseball players joined local teams, where they worked hard at practice—running sprints, catching flies, taking extra cuts, and lifting weights. Slowly, but surely, dreams began to morph into reality. In today’s society, laws of equal opportunity generally promote and encourage children of both genders to pursue whichever career choice they desire.1 Little girls who dream of becoming baseball players, however, do not have this opportunity. Instead, Title IX’s Contact Sports Exemption essentially denies women the chance to pursue baseball as a legitimate career, or even to play the sport at the collegiate level.
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