My daughter just entered sixth grade and is excited to get the cross country season started. As an fellow ms-hs runner so am I. I just found out that our town did away with gendered races in an attempt to be more inclusive they have done away with gendered races. There is just two a Varsity and JV split down the middle regardless of gender. The races are still scored by gender, plus an “open” category to please certain virtue signalers. The fast girls will almost certainly never get a chance to win a race. Mine is just starting out but it’s a bummer that she might not have that opportunity. Is this common anywhere else? Is this, dare I say, a title nine violation?
the weirdest part of this is having separate varsity, jv, and open races for middle school
I don’t see the big deal. I’m sure they will still run separate split gender meets for away meets, sectionals, and state. who care if they run a few mixed division races for the home meets?
oh wait… this logic doesn’t work because you made this entire situation up so logic doesn’t apply
this is actually a good thing. during a race, it doesn't matter their gender. you use people to either set the pace or to block the wind for you. unless if a XC gets too crowded, more people is typically a good thing. who cares if it is a violation or not; it's middle school. it isn't until high school that comptitive running is somewhat serious.
This scenario sounds made up. However, if you look at results, the top boys will beat the top girls in middle school by about a minute at the state level, but there are quite a few girls running sub-12 3k xc and the occasional one running sub 11. Girls are still quite competitive with boys through middle school but especially in 5th-6th grade in xc. In hs, you start getting a bigger gap.
If we're being honest, the parents are way more flustered about this issue than the kids are. 99% of the kids just want to run and couldn't care less. I coach high school girls xc, and if we race against a trans gendered runner, so be it. We've trained our girls to treat all their competitors with respect and good sportsmanship.
I guess you haven't been around 12 year old boys. They tease each other mercilessly.
sounds like you are a bad coach to allow it.
I don't coach middle school kids but I've been around them enough to know that teasing takes place. HS kids have come to terms with their ability and from my experience the 20 minute guys have nothing but respect for the girls who run faster.
when I was in 6th grade, we ran both genders together. can't remember if they scored them separately but I do remember getting out kicked by a girl. I wasn't losing to most girls but at that age girls and boys can be pretty close in terms of physical ability.
You mean they ran the sexes together. The people here make it very clear that the divisions are for sex, not gender. Every time we ask how Hiltz competes in the female category, they stress that the divisions are by sex, not gender.
From most of the views expressed here, that there is no need for separate competitions for boys and girls of a certain age and they should compete together, it seems hard to argue the norm that later applies, that there should not only be separate categories for male and female - as is the case from puberty onwards - but that they don't actually compete against each other, which is what applies in most open sports. So why does this distinction between the sexes not matter until a line is somehow passed in the early teens that requires acknowledging it? Do "male" and "female" not exist until then? That would be news to biologists, let alone most boys and girls.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
From most of the views expressed here, that there is no need for separate competitions for boys and girls of a certain age and they should compete together, it seems hard to argue the norm that later applies, that there should not only be separate categories for male and female - as is the case from puberty onwards - but that they don't actually compete against each other, which is what applies in most open sports. So why does this distinction between the sexes not matter until a line is somehow passed in the early teens that requires acknowledging it? Do "male" and "female" not exist until then? That would be news to biologists, let alone most boys and girls.
I'm not sure that most of the views say there is "no need" for separate races. Seems like most agree that both scenarios are OK. So if there are situations when boys and girls race together - even when the reason is gender inclusivity - that's cool because it's kind of a common thing anyway.
If you are concluding that participation and gender-based inclusion/exclusion should be the same across all levels, I think that premise is flawed. Middle school is distinctly different from HS, college, and world-class competitions. Puberty matters. We can be more flexible and prioritize things like inclusion at younger ages without undermining a stricter male/female standard at higher levels.
I'll argue that we *should absolutely* be more flexible and inclusive with younger athletes. Participation in sport at these levels is largely just that - driven by socialization with friends and peers. Competition and achievement are important, but shouldn't be the most important thing for younger athletes.
My daughter just entered sixth grade and is excited to get the cross country season started. As an fellow ms-hs runner so am I. I just found out that our town did away with gendered races in an attempt to be more inclusive they have done away with gendered races. There is just two a Varsity and JV split down the middle regardless of gender. The races are still scored by gender, plus an “open” category to please certain virtue signalers. The fast girls will almost certainly never get a chance to win a race. Mine is just starting out but it’s a bummer that she might not have that opportunity. Is this common anywhere else? Is this, dare I say, a title nine violation?
If they are scored separately the first girl to cross the finish line wins the race. I'm confused as to why that's an issue. There will be 3 winners of each race if they have 3 categories.
It is frustrating how posters use whichever word makes their case. The OP used the word gender rather than sex but if it is gender, then Giktz can't compete as a woman. They can't get it correct and the will argue and tell you that youvare dense for not understanding.