Girls’ Sports Get Short Shrift, Councilman Says

Dissatisfied with a plan for assuring equality for girls’ sports programs, Councilman Mike Feuer sharply criticized parks officials Wednesday and told them to go back to the drawing board.

“I think it’s clear the parks department has a lot of work to do in the area of girls’ athletics,” Feuer said Wednesday at a meeting of the Arts, Health and Humanities Committee of the Los Angeles City Council, which oversees parks.

“I was extremely dissatisfied with their report and thought it was a very superficial discussion. It’s obvious they aren’t giving this issue the attention it deserves,” Feuer said.

The West Valley Girls Softball League filed a federal lawsuit in April alleging the city discriminates against girls by denying them equal access to the city-owned fields used by boys’ leagues.

The 400 girls in the 30-team West Valley League are instead relegated to bald, shabby fields at high schools and middle schools, according to the lawsuit. Both sides are working to settle differences outside of court.

Prompted by the lawsuit, Feuer asked the parks department to report on its policies for ensuring girls have equal access to sports facilities.

Feuer had asked for a report on addressing any inequalities, plus the rapid growth in girls’ athletic programs and how to deal with the shortage of facilities.

The plan at Wednesday’s meeting called for measures to ensure equal access, including softball clinics for girls partnered with athletic departments, and the formation of a Youth Sports Task Force which would actively work to encourage participation in girls’ athletics.

But Feuer said the plan, presented by George Stigilee, assistant general manager of the Department of Recreation and Parks, fell far short of expectations. Missing were specific strategies on what would be done about the scarcity of facilities, Feuer said.

Feuer called on the department to come up with a new report within 30 days with a five-year plan for adding new facilities and increasing the use of existing facilities. He also asked for the parks department to seek input from community leaders and develop mentoring programs that would motivate young girls to participate in sports.

“If it takes a meeting like this to jump-start the parks department, so be it,” said Feuer.

Offering their own recommendations at Wednesday’s meetings on how best to motivate girls was 1976 Olympic medalist Anita Defrantz and a rising basketball star for the WNBA Los Angeles Sparks, Allison Feaster.

Speaking from her experience as president of the Los Angeles Amateur Athletic Foundation, Defrantz discussed the importance of role models and dispelling the notion that sports are just for boys.

“Sports belong to us all,” she said. “When girls are given the opportunity and encouraged, that’s when they realize anything is possible.”