In 2019 the players of the U.S. women’s soccer team filed for a gender discrimination lawsuit. They said, “We play more games than the men’s team- and win more of them- yet we still receive less pay.” The gender inequality not only affects their pay, but it also affects when they played, how often they trained, medical care, and coaching that they received. Before Title IX was enacted, many women still wanted to participate in sports. In 1967, five years before Title IX, Kathrine Switzer entered the Boston Marathon. She entered under the name K.V. Switzer to hide her gender. During this time, women were not allowed to race. This was because it was “unhealthy” and would ruin their femininity. Two miles in, an official tried to eject her from the race but was unsuccessful. She finished the race and became the first woman ever to complete the Boston Marathon. A more recent example was the U.S. women’s hockey team. They said they would boycott the upcoming world championship if U.S.A. Hockey, which is the governing body of hockey in the United States, would not increase their wages. To say this, the team put their careers on the line, but the risk they took paid off in the long run. Less than two weeks later, the girls got what they fought for. The team reached a four-year deal where the players got a $2,000 training salary each month. They got larger bonuses for winning medals. The team also got the same amount of money for travel and insurance provisions as the men’s team did. They finally had done it, they made hockey more equal for women, and that will be something that will last a lifetime (Mervosh and Caron).

“I’m not the next Usian Bolt or Micheal Phelps. I’m the first Simone Biles” said Olympic gymnast Simone Biles. Gender equality means creating equal opportunities for both men and women. Gender equality is not about women mirroring the success of male athletes. Gender equality is about allowing women the same opportunities as men and competing on the same stage. When doing this, it is possible for women athletes like Simone Biles to create their identity and create their own stories. There are more girls than ever before playing high school sports, but there is still a long way to go to create equal opportunities for young women athletes. In America, high schools provide 1.3 million fewer opportunities for young women athletes. Lack of opportunity is not the only thing that is stopping young women, it is the lack of encouragement. Many girls feel like once they get to high school, their time with sports will be short-lived. The biggest reason that girls drop out of sports is because they feel like they have no future in sports. If we help women gain equality, then there is a good chance that we will see the growth of diversity in leadership roles. This is because being in sports not only helps you gain athletic skills, but it also helps you gain confidence. We need girls in sports because one day those same girls are going to grow up to become leaders in the workplace (Kwan).