Tuesday, August 12, 2008

ESPN column breaks down intercollegiate soccer

Maria Ortiz Burns, a former intercollegiate soccer player, has written a good editorial at EPSNSoccernet breaking down the myth that men's intercollegiate soccer has suffered because of women's intercollegiate soccer. She begins with the basics: that men's soccer has not declined--the number of DI teams and the number of players per team has actually grown over the past two+ decades. She then moves on to the money issue with more stats and basic facts before moving into a discussion of scholarships--numbers and dollars.

She does irk me a little bit when she says that the arguments about football being exempted because it is a revenue-producing sport and that it has no female equivalent are valid though not likely to sway the NCAA. Though she does quickly follow that even as football continues to be counted we cannot blame women's sports for taking away resources and opportunities for men.
Overall it's a good breakdown of the intercollegiate soccer and Title IX's effects (and non effects).