Opinion: Women athletes should get treated equally

Issues with female equality in sports have been going on for a very long time, specifically regarding equal pay and being treated differently on the field and in the media. 

In March 2019, members of the US women’s national soccer team filed a lawsuit against the US Soccer Federation because of unequal pay between the men’s and women’s teams. As part of the lawsuit, the US Soccer Federation claimed the men’s team “requires a higher level of skill” than the women, according to Buzzfeed. This is even though the women’s team has won consecutive World Cup Championships, and the US Men’s team didn’t even qualify for the 2018 World Cup. 

This is a clear example of the inequality between male and female sports, and more people should be paying attention to that. 

I am especially interested in this topic because of my own experience playing softball. I had two amazing coaches, both a female and a male. They always tried to make us better athletes, and help us on how to improve on running, batting and pitching.

The male coach was also the coach for the baseball team and he made us do the same warmups as the boys. He did not treat us any differently than the boys, which is something I liked. He made us practice quite often and so did the female coach, with both of their help we made the playoffs, ultimately winning the championship. 

“I wish that all female athletes could be seen as strong and inspiring women.” Maria Vasquez, an athlete from Thomas Jefferson High School said, ’’Growing up, I always heard parents or family members telling girls in their family that playing sports was not for them. It didn’t affect me as much, but I do hear that kind of talk out there.’’ 

“I treat the girls and boys on the softball and baseball team no different from each other. Both genders get treated the same and get put through the same workouts, whatever the boys do, the girls do the same, like in workouts.’’ Coach Mendez from Ramona Opportunity High School said, “The boys do not have better equipment than the girls, they have the same old busted equipment.”

Mendez doesn’t care whether you’re female or male, he will do what’s best for you and will push you to reach your goal. 

This inspires me as an athlete, even though I think the larger structures around sports are unfair for women.