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Intramural rules play fair for allEditor, In Wednesday’s sports column, "Intramural rules favor girls," the writer makes many good points. However, she fails to realize the motivation behind putting these rules in place. As a four-year participant in Ohio University Intramural Sports as both a player and an official, I feel someone needs to set the record straight. As a female athlete, I also questioned the rules that seemed to make it easier for women to compete. After observing and competing with co-ed teams, I have a much different opinion. Intramural sports did not add these rules to favor women or in any way suggest they cannot compete with men. These rules are only in place to give males competing in co-ed sports incentives to learn that women can compete with men. When it comes to equality concerning competition, there are two important factors that the writer overlooked, in addition to the motivation behind these rules. One, there is only one sport in which men and women of equal skill can compete equally: swimming. Why? Women have more buoyancy, and it results in the most similar times in any sporting event. The second issue that was avoided in the article is whether athletes still hold stereotypes, not whether stereotypes of male and female athletes are correct. Sadly, many (but not all) young men at this university — no matter how politically correct they are — still at least unconsciously believe men are better at sports than women. You don't believe me? Play a pick-up basketball game at Ping against men. I even have male friends, who I know respect female athletes, exhibit the tendency to pass to a guarded guy rather than risk passing to a girl. In intramural co-ed basketball, this frequently would happen between men and women on the same team until the men were reminded that it was to the team's advantage to give the ball to a women — courtesy of intramural’s rules. This holds true in intramural co-ed softball, too. Many men will scoot in from the outfield when a woman is at bat. I also have seen pitchers walk men batters in an attempt to strike out the woman who follows in the batting order. If the woman is a good softball player, this does not matter. However, OU Intramural Sports realizes many people at this college play for fun and not just to win. Women or men on teams might never have played softball before this season. In fact, it is much more likely for an inexperienced woman to play on a co-ed team than it is for a man to play on one. It is also a fact that many teams in the intramural leagues are very competitive and would rather win than make sure everyone has fun — even if that means believing in stereotypes and targeting female players for outs. I strongly support OU Intramural Sports’ decision to construct these rules. This issue has nothing to do with Title IX but rather with practical application of rules for league play. They want everyone to enjoy playing, and if stereotypes are ever going to change, little steps such as these rules might be necessary. As a female athlete, I want the men to let me play — even if they have to be coerced. — Donna Ellis
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