The Lady Tigers

From the moment the boy's varsity basketball team stepped foot on the court at Budweiser Events Center and won the championship, no one could stop talking about it. Do you remember what the girl's middle school basketball team did last year? Perhaps you don’t; there was one assembly about it, one mention of it, one post on Instagram, and a few people who actually acknowledged it.

 For the boy's team, however, there were assemblies, acknowledgments at the Shabbaton and graduation, and countless media posts, including Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and the Intermountain Jewish News. Although the boys’ achievement was indeed remarkable and deserving of such celebration, the middle school girls did the same and received far less recognition.   

“I think because they're in high school they got more recognition, but I think it's a little unfair and the girls on the team were sort of unknown,” said Tamar Goldberg-Butler, a DJDS girls middle school basketball player. “And no one showed up to our games''

The boy's basketball team made a huge accomplishment that had never been done before, and I, along with many others, was excited to go to all the games leading up to the Championship. I even asked my mom if I could skip competitive soccer practices just to watch. But did you also know that it was the girl's first time having an undefeated season in basketball and winning the tournament? Some may think that middle school sports are unimportant, but have you ever thought that middle school sports are what is getting us ready for high school sports? 

The varsity boys basketball team has been together for many years, even before middle school. If all of them didn’t meet and start playing together until 9th grade, do you think it would all lead up to them winning the championship? 

Girls need just as much recognition as boys for the accomplishments that they achieve. This relates to the problem of the gender wage gap (men getting paid more than women for the same job). For example, a study conducted at Adelphi University states that male basketball players on average make around $8.3 million while female basketball players only make around $75,000. 

“I think it’s honestly because of the age gap,” said Solly Beilsky, DJDS Varsity boys basketball player. “I think that high school in many aspects, not just in sports, is taken more seriously than middle school”.

 This perspective sheds light on the perception of Middle school sports versus high school sports. I think it's essential to challenge this notion and fight for equal recognition and support for all student-athletes regardless of gender or age.