bff is a funny thing to say

there's a difference between secrecy and privacy. sometimes you just want a little privacy. a little alone time. a little time for ol' ace, as it were. nothing secret, just separate. just to be alone, do your own thing, not to have to answer to anyone. thought this would be an interesting topic to exploralize, but turns out there's nothing more to say on the subject. hrm.

my town offers many recreational sports for women, including but not limited to: soccer, kickball, roller derby, flag football. there is also a professional full-contact football team. [there are others; these are the interesting ones.] not having transportation makes it difficult to partake of the myriad offerings. also wondering when age is going to really kick in with a vengeance and be a factor bel grande.

anyway, the point is that lo' these many offerings are offered. why? my theory is that title ix has had a profound effect on women's lives, and we no longer even realize it. title ix passed in like... oh... '73 maybe? mandated that institutes of higher education must offer equal athletic opportunities for men & women. b/c football takes up so many spots for guys, many complementary spots were made available for women, and b/c there's not another sport that takes up as many spots as football, the spots had to be spread over many sports. teams were formed, coaches hired, recruiting begun. coaches looked into the ranks of high schools and found female athletes sadly lacking in numbers. so, high school and club programs were begun. the push down from title ix went all the way into recreational sports and explains why so many 5-year old girls are playing soccer, volleyball, and basketball now. 20 or so years ago, these girls would have been brownies & ballerinas - now they're playing competitive sports.

okay, there are many things to be said about how title ix has changed society, not the least of which is that women who are given outlets for competition will compete... that women have always competed, but now it's more acceptable & on the surface... that the acceptance of competitive women on the field hasn't translated into acceptance of competitive women in the boardroom. okay, okay... all that and the fact that guys think it's unfair, which is ironical.

but my only point here right now is that title ix has changed the face of recreational sports. females of all ages are playing more recreational sports than ever before. title ix has made women's sports more pervasive. young women, under 30, have probably never known a world where there weren't girls' teams. they expect to find places to play whatever sport it is they'd like to play.

the first soccer team i played on was a co-ed team. my bff & i were 10, my brother was 11, and the oldest player was a 16-yr-old boy. our uniforms consisted of those net shirts -- what we call pennies now, under which my bff & i wore tee shirts. duh. the team was in a league, and i remember our parents taking my older brother & i to the games. you wouldn't find a team like this today -- so many ages mixed, boys & girls.

not really sure how this ties into the point about women's sports & title ix. i thought it did, but seem to have lost the connection. also - there are more rowing teams for women than ever before, and i heard you can get a rowing scholarship even if you never rowed b/c rowing is a low-investment sport b/c the equipment is shared by a large team, and therefore rowing can sponge up a great deal of title ix commitment in one fell swoop. that's what i heard, anyway.

okay, okay... i'll stop blathering. for now....