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Call for Leadership

Tap the Power of Non-Discrimination

In our society, the word discrimination has many meanings. It’s often used to describe the practice of unfairly treating a person or group of people differently from other people or groups based on racial, gender, religious or other group characteristics. When fans or opposing players at high school games taunt athletes with sexual or racial provocations, that’s discrimination. It’s wrong, and schools must have zero tolerance. Stop the game, if needed.

However, the broader, more formal meaning of discrimination, according to Merriam-Webster, is “the ability to recognize the difference between things that are of good quality and those that are not.” It’s the power to distinguish and select what is true or appropriate or excellent.

Coaches have that power when selecting a 15-person roster from a tryout of 80 players.

Principals have that power when they decide which sports and activities to offer.

Policymakers have that power when guiding the entities that oversee school-based sports.

How leaders use that power, going forward, is key to driving systems-level progress.

Students today are constrained by the limits of the prevailing template for school sports. A generation ago, freshmen might have been able to make their soccer or basketball team with no prior experience in the game. Not anymore. In many schools, roster spots often go to students who have played travel sports since grade school, a pathway that can cost thousands of dollars a year that effectively pushes aside youth from low-income and other backgrounds.

Leaders should recognize that every student, regardless of background or ability, has a right to play sports.

Too easily excluded are racial and ethnic minorities, late bloomers and below-average athletes. Students with chronic diseases. Those who may like sports but aren’t that competitive with peers. Those who coaches may see as having the wrong body type. Those who are obese or overweight. Those who are LGBTQ and others who find the current model unwelcoming. Religious minorities. Refugees. Homeless students. Students with family or job responsibilities during the afterschool hours.

Title IX boosted participation rates and closed the gap for girls. Another federal law based on the principle of non-discrimination, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 created new opportunities for students with physical and other documented impairments. But progress has stagnated over the past two decades, with fewer than 4 in 10 public school students overall playing sports. Nearly 1 in 3 ninth-grade urban students, and 1 in 4 suburban students, said in the Aspen Institute’s survey that they don’t play school sports because they just are “not good enough.”

Leaders should recognize that every student, regardless of background or ability, has a right to play sports. Not just every student who tries out for a team – but every student in the school. That sports opportunity may be offered through interscholastic teams, intramurals, a student-led club, or a connection made with a fitness facility or other community organization.

State legislatures can establish through new or existing law that every public school student deserves access to a meaningful sports or physical activity opportunity provided or facilitated by the school. State departments of education should work with school districts to develop new opportunities, starting with data collection on equity, health and safety, and coach training measures. Superintendents and school districts also can act on their own, and not wait for state action.

Leaders should think of sports as part of the second half of the school day, not an add-on to the academic enterprise. They should allocate the resources to organize appropriate activities, starting with a full-time athletic director in every school and more athletic trainers, PE teachers, and counselors. They should enforce the laws already on the books, including gender and disability requirements in sports. More than half of high school athletic administrators say they are unaware of who their Title IX coordinator is or feel unsupported by that coordinator.⁴⁶

Discrimination can also appear based on sports opportunities by race and ethnicity. In New York City, Black and Latino students attend schools with about 10 fewer teams on average compared to other students. Black and Latino students sued, arguing the disparities violated the city’s human rights law. The legal settlement didn’t just lead to a redistribution of existing investments. New York will create 200 new teams by 2024.⁴⁷

State athletic associations are also part of the solution. They create policies, rules and funding formulas that shape local priorities and enable participation on teams. But they should not be left alone to address gaps. Today, half of all students are minorities, but most board members and executive directors of state athletic associations are White, male, and middle age or older. More diversity of voices will bring greater knowledge, context, and advocacy for students.

Some fear messing with tradition. That ambivalence can be found even in government guidance on non-discrimination in school sports. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Education declared, “a school district must provide students with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in its existing extracurricular athletic programs.” The agency then explained what an equal opportunity does NOT mean, including “changing the nature of selective teams – students with disabilities have to compete with everyone else and legitimately earn their place on the team” and “giving a student with a disability an unfair advantage over other competitors.”

Forward-thinking school leaders recognize that meritocracy only works where there is fairness. And fairness starts with treating each individual student as worthy of an opportunity to develop educationally with the benefit of sports, if not on varsity than through some other vehicle no less worthy of investment. It requires asking: How do we not discriminate in favor of the student who is privileged athletically, financially or in other ways?

In this report, we call for a paradigm shift in mindset and clarification about the real purpose of education-based sports in the 21st century. In most sports today, NCAA athletic scholarships and professional sports opportunities are acquired through elite training and competition opportunities provided by non-school private clubs. So let them have that lane.

For the rest, health equity should be the guiding principle. School leaders should recognize the value of mental and physical health to student success, that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be healthy, and that sport is a key tool – especially with so many cuts to PE. Identify disparities, evaluate efforts to close gaps, and reassess strategies as you move along.

The path to addressing discrimination is a long game. It took decades for Title IX and disability efforts to gain traction and even their most passionate champions don’t always agree on solutions. When to introduce inclusive and/or adaptive activities+ for students with disabilities? Should cheerleading count as a sport?⁴⁸ How to accommodate students who are transgender?

These are complex issues that deserve attention. But this much we know: Finding the right answers – and designing the best future for school sports – starts with a commitment to discriminating against no student, of treating each of them as worthy of a true opportunity.

DIVE DEEPER