The inclusion of girls’ sports in Illinois high schools did not happen over decades of planning. The addition of girls’ sports was not something individual school administrators chose but rather it was something that was thrust on them. No doubt, many schools and many administrators were caught off guard. Girls’ sports’ additions were not something that had been studied and planned out for years or even months.
Galesburg HS’s first competition in girls sports was in the 1972-3 school year.
I was hired as a teacher and coach at GHS in the fall of 1974. By that time, Galesburg had fielded girls’ sports but had played a very limited schedule in each.
My first duties as a coach were to coach the boys’ cross country team in the fall. There was no girls’ cross country team at GHS.
As part of my orientation, I was told that there was a rumor that there were two girls who wanted to come out for boys’ cross country. I was given the following guidance, “If any girls show up for boys’ cross country, don’t say anything, just go through your practice. When the practice is over, let us know. We will drop cross country as a sport.”
My thought was, “Wow, you have to be kidding. That is really harsh and really drastic action.” That would eliminate cross country not just for those two girls but for the dozen boys out for cross country.
Being 22 years old, happy to have a job, and wanting to keep the job, I asked no questions. While I wanted to at least ask why, I just accepted it. I was given no explanation at the time. My reaction was that it was an anti-girls’ sports attitude.
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| The Galesburg HS 1974 Cross Country Team |
It turned out that no girls showed up for cross country and the season continued.
Years later, the rationale behind the “we will drop cross country” was explained to me.
In 1974-5, Galesburg was offering girls the chance to play field hockey, bowling, tennis, golf, volleyball, track, softball, basketball, and swimming. While boys participated in football, cross country, wrestling, tennis, golf, track, baseball, basketball, and swimming.
An early concern throughout Illinois was that when Title IX was passed that girls might want to go out for boys’ sports. Girls rightfully might see things as not equal and decide to go out for a boys sports in protest? Would girls want to try out for boys’ basketball because the boys played 25 games and the girls only played 6 games? Would highly motivated girls want to play girls’ tennis in the fall and boys’ tennis in the spring? There was a fear that girls might disrupt boys’ sports. This was a fear in 1972 as girls sports started up.
By 1974-5, the fear was flipped to a concern about boys wanting to do girls’ sports. With no boys’ equivalent sport, were boys wanting to play field hockey, volleyball, or bowling?
Years later the direction of “we will drop cross country” was explained to me. The concern was about opening the door for girls or boys to go out for the opposite gender’s sport. “If we had let girls run boys’ cross country, would we be opening the door for a boy to go out for field hockey or volleyball?”
Some may not buy the explaination of the directive and view it as an administrative attempt to stifle female athletes. I did at the time it was given.
Today as I look back on my directive about girls going out for cross county, I believe it was the administration looking at the big picture and not wanting to have girls sports impacted by boys trying to play.
IHSA Resolution in 1971- Banning Males & Females from Competing Against Each Other
GHS’s History of Dropping Sports
According to my research, throughout GHS’s history, the school has dropped four interscholastic sports at different times.
Boys Golf- Boys Golf won the 1962-3 State Championship. With much of the roster returning, the District #205 dropped golf for the 1963-4 school year. The team was brought back for the 1964-5 school year.
Girls Field Hockey- Girls Field Hockey placed 3rd in State in 1975-6 and made the Elite 8 in 1976-7 years. Because of a lack of downstate teams to play, Galesburg dropped the sport starting in the 1977-8 school year.
Boys Tennis, Girls Tennis- In the 1930’s and 1940’s, Galesburg was a member of the Northwest Conference. The NW Conference instituted championships in girls and boys tennis. Both boys and girls tennis were dropped after the 1943-4 seasons. Boys Tennis was brought back in 1970-1 and girls tennis was brought back in 1974-5.
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