Girl sports deserve fans too.

Many sports at Bingham have both boy and girl teams. More people hear about or go to the boys games. But many people pass up the opportunity to go watch our female athletes play their games.

We have girls soccer, girls tennis, girls lacrosse, softball, girls basketball, girls golf, etc. The girls basketball played better than the boys this year and won state this year.  They won state while the boys didn’t make playoffs.

According to LiveStrong, men and women’s competition is almost identical. There are some slight rule differences but this is only because women and girls are smaller and less muscular than men and boys are. In high school basketball, the boys’ ball is 2 ounces heavier and 1 inch larger in circumference. If the competition is just slightly changed does that not mean that all athletes deserve our support.

The Women’s Sports Foundation have found that girls have a higher rate of dropping out of sports than boys do. They did a study that showed by age 14, girls have double the athletes dropping out of sports. There are many things that factor into this but one main thing is that they have a lack of access or support. The social stigma that girls shouldn’t play sports have made many girl athletes drop out. It was found that girls who continue to play sports have a high chance of being bullied or being isolated socially.

Many girls stop playing because they are bullied, isolated, or feel unsupported. Boys are supposed to play sports. They are supposed to get some injuries from their games. Girls are supposed to support the boys by watching their games. If this is what is supposed to happen, then we need to change our mindset.

There is no reason to focus on boy sports over girl sports. Girls play by almost the exact same rules.There are many girl sports too that we can cheer on next year. Every sport deserves support, no matter who plays it.