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Title IX: Good or Bad? Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth and Tiger Woods are all names we hear a lot in our American society. Sports are a powerful force in society today. With the passing of Title IX in 1972 America started the process of trying to make women equal in sports. This law has been a highly controversial topic ever since it was put into effect. Title IX is the law that states no person in the United States should, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance (Sexual Harassment Guidance 1997) Although Title IX applies to all educational institutions, where its effect has been most noticed is women's sports. Supporters of Title IX have much to smile about. The year that this law passed, only 817,073 girls were participating in high school sports. In the year of 2004, the number of young women playing interscholastic sports in high school had increased 847% (History of Women in Sports Timeline). College numbers are up as well by more than 400% since the passing of the law. This law has opened the door for women all around the United States. With the passing of the law, how are men sports holding up? When I first read about Title IX I thought "there could be nothing wrong with this." Boy was I wrong. There is an on going war over Title IX. Men sports are suffering because of the law. "In 2002, the National Wrestling Coaches Association sued the U.S. Department of Education, contending that men's teams are being dropped not for school budgetary reasons, but because of women's lack of interest in sports that keeps men from being able to participate in the numbers their sex demands" (The Ongoing Battle Over Title IX). The National Wrestling Coaches Association are out raged by this law, as well as football coaches across the Us. Football coaches are still fighting that the 85-scholarship limit should their absolute minimum (Use a Scalpel, Not an Ax).As Leo Kocher, a wrestling coach who heads the National Coalition for Athletics Equity, pointed out to Ruth Conniff in her article "Joy of Women Sports", by enforcing this horrific law "we're saying we're punishing (men) because (they) have more interest in sports then women" (339). So with all this uproar over the controversial law, what does the government think? The Bush administration created an amendment to this law. The amendment allows universities to be with in the law if they do not provide equal funding and opportunities for women's sports, as long as the school can prove that their female students have a lack of interest in that sport (Bush Administration Drops the Ball on Women's Collegiate

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