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Post by bfoley82 on Apr 5, 2022 1:18:17 GMT -5
Swimming and track are the definition of "physical sport". Unlike basketball or baseball, the best pure athlete almost always wins. So the competitive disadvantage is actually greater in these sports than in "ball sports". The reason Lia Thomas got the attention it did is because she was a conference champion and NCAA champion. There already has been at least one trans athlete who competed in NCAA Division I Women's Basketball but she wasn't particularly good so no attention was paid. If a Men's DI scholarship basketball player changed genders, switched to their school's women's team and performed at the level of Griner or Bueckers, obviously the attention there would dwarf the Lia Thomas story. Especially since the games might be televised depending on what level DI program she was playing for. Interesting side note: The ONE sport where women routinely dominate men is ultra long-distance open-water swimming. The reason is because women have a higher body fat % and are able to keep their body temperature higher over time, which impacts performance. At the amateur and club level there's also virtually no difference between men and women's performance in curling. At the Olympic level, men have a slight advantage because their leg drive allows them to execute the faster shots better, and men can sweep harder, which would provide an advantage in controlling the curve of the shots. All about competitive balance. When I said that track and swimming were not physical sports, I wasn't talking about the individual prowess required to excel. In those sports, you generally do not touch your opponent. In basketball, a genetic male fighting through a hard screen set by a female could have a greater probability of injuring the opponent. There is an assumption of risk when playing a contact sport. I don't think too many females go into a contact sport with the assumption of risk from collision with a genetic male. For these reasons, where there is a combination of competitive imbalance as well as increased risk of injury, I think if this situation occurred in a contact sport like basketball, it would receive greater attention than in non contact sports like swimming or track You hear of these issues when men play field hockey in the states with females. They tend to be more physical and can strike the ball harder...
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Post by Tom on Apr 5, 2022 8:36:00 GMT -5
On a similar note, there is a small town near Cape Cod that lost a lot of soccer players to graduation a year ago, This fall, not enough boys tried out so they couldn't have boys soccer this past season. You see boys playing field hockey because there is a rule in MA that if your school does not sponsor a sport for your gender, but does for the other gender, you can play on that team. There was one kid who was a boys district all star a year ago who really wanted to play soccer and played this past season for his school's girls team. Similar to the concerns about boys striking a field hockey ball harder, there were special rules put in for this kid. He was not allowed to play forward. He was not allowed to engage in typical soccer checking. Maybe some other stuff too. I understand the need for safety, but it also seems silly to have a special set of rules for one player on the field
This team went either to the state finals or state semis. They were not the state champions. The town I work in was knocked out of the state tournament by this school. 2-1 in overtime. The guy scored his team's only goal during regulation. That is the only reason I know this story. The townspeople were not thrilled
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Apr 5, 2022 9:09:31 GMT -5
On a similar note, there is a small town near Cape Cod that lost a lot of soccer players to graduation a year ago, This fall, not enough boys tried out so they couldn't have boys soccer this past season. You see boys playing field hockey because there is a rule in MA that if your school does not sponsor a sport for your gender, but does for the other gender, you can play on that team. There was one kid who was a boys district all star a year ago who really wanted to play soccer and played this past season for his school's girls team. Similar to the concerns about boys striking a field hockey ball harder, there were special rules put in for this kid. He was not allowed to play forward. He was not allowed to engage in typical soccer checking. Maybe some other stuff too. I understand the need for safety, but it also seems silly to have a special set of rules for one player on the field This team went either to the state finals or state semis. They were not the state champions. The town I work in was knocked out of the state tournament by this school. 2-1 in overtime. The guy scored his team's only goal during regulation. That is the only reason I know this story. The townspeople were not thrilled Many states have this rule. This is how about 1,000 young women suit up for football every fall across the country. And unlike you see at the college level, most are more than just kickers trying PATs in blowouts as a publicity stunt. Nick Mangold's sister actually battled for a starting spot at guard in HS IIRC. In NY, you see a handful of male field hockey players every year. Most are Pakistani immigrants -- FH is a major sport there. Another sport I'm surprised you don't see crossover is volleyball in certain regions. In NYC, boys and girls volleyball are both pretty big, especially in Queens. But once you leave the city and get into Westchester County and up, you don't see boys volleyball being sponsored very often. Not sure about Long Island.
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Post by rgs318 on Apr 5, 2022 11:43:29 GMT -5
In NJ. both boys and girls volleyball are growing at a fast pace.
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Post by bfoley82 on Apr 7, 2022 20:34:08 GMT -5
On a similar note, there is a small town near Cape Cod that lost a lot of soccer players to graduation a year ago, This fall, not enough boys tried out so they couldn't have boys soccer this past season. You see boys playing field hockey because there is a rule in MA that if your school does not sponsor a sport for your gender, but does for the other gender, you can play on that team. There was one kid who was a boys district all star a year ago who really wanted to play soccer and played this past season for his school's girls team. Similar to the concerns about boys striking a field hockey ball harder, there were special rules put in for this kid. He was not allowed to play forward. He was not allowed to engage in typical soccer checking. Maybe some other stuff too. I understand the need for safety, but it also seems silly to have a special set of rules for one player on the field This team went either to the state finals or state semis. They were not the state champions. The town I work in was knocked out of the state tournament by this school. 2-1 in overtime. The guy scored his team's only goal during regulation. That is the only reason I know this story. The townspeople were not thrilled Many states have this rule. This is how about 1,000 young women suit up for football every fall across the country. And unlike you see at the college level, most are more than just kickers trying PATs in blowouts as a publicity stunt. Nick Mangold's sister actually battled for a starting spot at guard in HS IIRC. In NY, you see a handful of male field hockey players every year. Most are Pakistani immigrants -- FH is a major sport there. Field Hockey is a major sport outside the USA. Here is one site that has it as the third most popular sport in the world behind Badminton and of course Soccer. www.pledgesports.org/2017/06/top-10-most-popular-sports-in-the-world-by-participation/Another site agrees www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-are-the-most-popular-sports-in-the-world.html
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