There was very little question that the University, in the era of expansion of
women’s sports, would have to add a new athletic avenue for women alongside the reinstatement of baseball; the million-dollar question, though, was what that sport would be. And, with a new competitive cheerleading team being the decision, I can’t say that I’m a little disappointed and surprised at the choice.
Reneé Baumgartner – who batted answers back about cheerleading from the gathered media – stayed firm in her resolve that, yes, this was a legitimate sport. She cited the National Cheerleading Association, pointed out “being on the cutting edge” with Maryland in regards to the sport, and pointed to other comparable BCS schools – namely Alabama, LSU, Louisville, and Oklahoma – saying that they also field competitive cheerleading programs.
Well, I took a look at each of those schools’ respective official athletics Web sites, and not one of them highlighted their women’s competitive cheerleading program. Results or team information couldn’t even be found when searching through the sites, and of the schools searched, only Maryland and NC State had it on their pages.
But you know what kept showing up in my travels? Rowing, swimming and diving, gymnastics, and water polo. Sports supported by their respective athletics conferences, and most definitely already compliant with Title IX.
Rumors had crew pinned down as the sport to be named along with baseball as the additions to Oregon athletics, and it makes sense: it’s NCAA sanctioned, the Pacific-10 Conference is strong in the sport, seven other schools compete in women’s rowing, and a crew squad is big – very big. That has the double effect of not only adding to the much-talked-about “history of expansion” that the athletic department mentioned many times (and rightfully so, at least in the past) but also closes the proportionality gap between the totals of women athletes at the school and the total number of students who are women.
Both crew and water polo are sports that Oregon has clubs for that are definitely competitive; the club water polo team has even competed at nationals. Why, then, the choice of competitive cheerleading?
It certainly wasn’t to advance the sport, at least not in my opinion.
I feel no choice but to pull out the BS card on the athletic department on this one. After a rightfully earned history of expansion and dedication to women’s sports, and what is shaping up to be a very successful 2007-08 year for their sports, the athletic department decided to do the equivalent of taking an easy class to pad your grades by adding the cheer squad.
Sure, the dedication to fielding top-notch teams may very well pass down to this new squad – but will anybody not reading Goducks.com care about a national championship for the competitive cheerleading squad? As an even better question, will any other Pac-10 schools send teams too? The athletic department has gotten caught in some double-speak here by saying a reason for cutting one sport (wrestling) is lack of Pac-10 competition, while at the same time adding another sport that isn’t even adopted by the NCAA or the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, the group that handles two Oregon sports (indoor track and field in the winter and women’s lacrosse in the spring)?
Something just doesn’t add up. I don’t understand the double standard that seems to be involved with the decision-making process.
One of the fastest growing sports? Okay. 69 teams in the OSAA Championships? You don’t say; that’s impressive. But let’s not sit around ignoring the elephant in the room: Adding a women’s cheerleading team – with an existing facility for practice and competition, 12 scholarships eventually for what will likely be a squad numbering in the 30s, and incredibly low overhead besides installing a new locker room- was the cheap way out, and an incredibly cost-efficient way to show a history of expansion, even if the athletic department will have to fight the Office of Civil Rights to prove the Title IX credentials of this squad.
I would have no argument if the sport added was one with Pac-10 competition and NCAA recognition, but this has neither. It might be legal within the Title IX regulations, but it certainly feels like a dirty loophole.