Council OKs Plan to Raise Girls’ Participation in Sports Programs

The Los Angeles City Council approved a plan Friday to increase the participation of girls in city sports programs.

The action was praised by attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a federal court suit to give a San Fernando Valley girls softball league the same access to city playing fields as is given to boys leagues.

The council plan seeks to improve girls’ representation in city sports programs, where they make up about 35% of the participants.

Under the plan, the Recreation and Parks Department will provide sports clinics for girls, assign more women to administer the sports programs, recruit more women to serve as coaches and keep a tally of program participants by gender.

“The program represents significant progress toward achieving gender equity and increasing the participation of girls and young women in the city’s sports and recreation programs,” said Rocio L. Cordoba, staff attorney for the ACLU Foundation of Southern California.

But Cordoba said the lawsuit will not be withdrawn until the ACLU is certain that girls will permanently be given an even break.

Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg said the solution must end the long-standing practice by which boys leagues automatically hold on to fields year after year, often raising funds to improve the facilities.

“How do new permittees with girls programs get into the game if all the existing permittees continue to get renewed perfunctorily every year?” Goldberg asked.

Rick Sessinghaus, acting general manager of the city parks agency, said a survey found that 20% of recreation facilities in the San Fernando Valley are not being fully used and could accommodate some of the girls sports programs. More than 3,000 acres of open space were also identified that could be developed into athletic fields.

The ACLU filed its suit in April on behalf of the 500 girls in the West Valley Girls Softball League, charging that the group was not given the same access to ball diamonds as boys leagues.

The girls league has found a temporary home at Canoga Park High School for the season that begins Saturday, and settlement talks are taking place between the ACLU and city to provide a permanent home for the league, said Dave Berman, the West Valley league’s president.

A survey done by the parks agency found that Valley city sports programs had 3,503 female participants and 14,304 male players.