If you’ve been paying attention at all to the chatter between the sports teams this year, you can see and hear about some common discrepancies between them often. Girls complaining about the quality of their uniforms, then hearing about the boys receiving personalized hoodies. What is happening here? Is there any real evidence of these claims? Are there changes happening to fix any problems? We went out and interviewed a plethora of different people on their ideas on the subject, to try and glean the truth from this whole situation.

A female soccer player (who will remain anonymous), who was a part of the soccer team, states, “Boys varsity soccer is constantly getting new jerseys, meanwhile, girls varsity soccer has had the same jerseys for over six years”. Additionally, we were given another perspective privately: where are the girls on the Baruch Instagram and other media? Why are they so underrepresented?

To justify these claims, we spoke to the Baruch Athletic Director (AD), Ms. Diana Dirico. She has a perspective that she implores the Baruch population to consider. Her response to the uniform debacle was, “When I stepped into the role of AD, we had very little funds. I have been working to build funds over the years since I took over as AD so that we can cyclically replace uniforms, equipment, etc. We order new uniforms in cycles, so every few years we pick a team/sport and replace it. The team with the oldest uniforms is always next to be replaced.” Knowing full well of the response we got from the mentioned female soccer player, Ms. Di Rico tells us that soccer teams are next up for the new uniforms and they are coming spring. To broaden our perspective we interviewed Mr. Breman who is a Baruch physical education teacher and coach. He tells us that, “In the last year, our girls volleyball team ordered 2 brand new jerseys which have never happened before. The girls basketball team also got new jerseys as well. The only boys team to get new jerseys were the basketball team which was one large order”. Responding to the Instagram dilemma, Ms. Di Rico related to us that “The Athletics Department (which is mainly me) does not operate any Instagram accounts. If you are seeing social media accounts for certain teams, that is because a coach, a player, or a manager has created the account and its content.”

To address another issue, the team gear that we mentioned above is something that is chosen by the team and the coaches, not the school, according to Ms. Di Rico. In that sense, the system isn’t to blame: the reality is, the differences hit much closer to the team itself we ever realized. As a community, we need to work to understand each other. Our Athletic Director, coaches, and managers work hard to provide for our school’s athletes.

“On top of all Ms. DiRico does for us, it is up to the coaches to carry out the work of organizing and ordering the gear. Teams do not get new apparel or gear if coaches do not do the work that is required. For example, every sport I coach I create fundraisers that help offset the cost of the gear that I organize and order. This is a tedious job but the coaches are responsible for this.” Mr. Breman illustrates the struggle that coaches strive through to provide an equal amount of resources to all of Baruch’s sports teams.

But some other people have a wider perspective. Another Baruch basketball player, this one male, tells us that this Gender Inequity we see here is only a tiny part of the story. It’s way more widespread. “I think that gender inequity is an issue important in all sports, not just Baruch. Girls sports are not as appreciated as boys and they’re not that close in comparison. Girls have much worse equipment and uniforms/hoodies and stuff like that. They aren’t valued the same in sports. In my opinion, this is due to social media. There are constant jokes being made making fun of girls sports and this is an issue that is greater than Baruch.” This is a really important point: is Baruch just playing into the preexisting narrative that is being rewritten again and again all over the nation? Or is it truly just a miscommunication and misunderstanding between the director, coaches, and players for new jerseys?

This is a conundrum we were mulling over for a bit, and then we were presented with a new nugget of knowledge in the form of a testimony from a female Volleyball player. She told us that “out of all the teams in Baruch, we are the ONLY ones practicing in our so-called ‘gym.’ We have made it playoffs every year, by simply practicing on half of the net needed to play. The gym that we use restricts the team from practicing adequately because of the limited space and extremely low ceilings.”

This provides another piece of evidence of this gender gap that had not been previously considered. Why do the acclaimed girls of the volleyball team have to practice in our gym (which we can all accept is cramped, right?) when Varsity basketball gets a suitable gym? One may claim that this is because of the lack of basketball hoops in our own ‘gym’ but you also must consider that to adequately play volleyball you need a full net, that this player has ensured cannot be erected in the gym. Is this a genuine oversight, or an example of the suppression of the female teams? This volleyball player goes further to sympathize with the athletic staff, saying that she understands the difficulty of finding a new gym for volleyball players. But, she feels like they “haven’t put much effort into it”. Even further, she would make an additional commute to another place if it could be a better opportunity to really get some training in a real gymnasium. Now, that’s a real commitment to the sport.

But we also need to return and consider the Athletic Department’s perspective. Ms. Di Rico had told us that “the Athletics program is a very busy and important one to run, but it requires a tremendous amount of behind-the-scenes work on my part. I do my very best to create a program that is safe, fun, and empowering for all. I work hard, too, to communicate with all players, families, coaches, and PSAL (Public Schools Athlete League), and I invite anyone with any questions and concerns to reach out to me, in person or via email.” We applaud her for her efforts and hope that all of our readers likewise understand the strain that occurs behind the scenes of this huge aspect of our community.

So, it leaves us with this. Is there Gender Inequity between the sports teams of Baruch College Campus High School? Well, no, not explicitly. Or in better words, only as much as there is worldwide. We need to reverse this narrative that it is on the basis of gender and not the lack of effort from coaches and assorted people as well as gender stereotypes. People like Ms. Di Rico are working to remedy the issue that plagues the teams, and in part, all of the students should think on this deeply: do we see this inequity because it is what we know happens, in our textbooks and in our city environment, or is it the real root of the problem? And there you have it. There is a gender inequity here, but just as much as there is in any other school, or workplace or otherwise. We need to push for more representation of girls in the school media, and for them to gain the equal opportunities and amenities that the boys teams get. Clamoring over the existence of this issue has gotten us nowhere but a festering mess of assumptions and hatred towards members of the faculty.

Let’s start working towards equal representation now: shout out the girls teams. If you attend the boys basketball games, maybe shake it up and head out to support the girls volleyball teams when they reach the semis. Start recognizing the people who work hard to allow for our teams to play. “On top of all Ms. Di Rico does for us, it is up to the coaches to carry out the work of organizing and ordering the gear. Teams do not get new apparel or gear if coaches do not do the work that is required. For example, every sport I coach I create fundraisers that help offset the cost of the gear that I organize and order. This is a tedious job but the coaches are responsible for this.” Mr. Breman explains the struggle that coaches strive through to provide an equal amount of resources to all of Baruch’s sports teams.

We can learn from people like Mr. Blackman who attended most games, he says, “…Our school is such that, people go no matter if it’s a boys game or a girls game, everyone’s all about seeing Baruch do well. I’ve seen the boys basketball players excited when the girls do well, so it’s always like a good mix of students and parents especially at all the games whether it’s boys or girls.” As a community of people who have a shared love for sports, we can express that love at our school games and support Baruch athletes. One solution posed by our Athletic Director is for students to meet up and attend the games together. This will improve people’s school spirit and limit bias. Post updates on social media about the girls soccer team alongside the boys. Understand that the Athletic Department is in new capable hands and that those stories of uniforms for athletes with sweat stains and bandaids are soon to be a thing of the past. Let us all make the upcoming seasons of sports one of equal support for the girls and boys alike.