Girls Gain Ground in City-Run Sports

A year after taking aim at municipal sports programs in which boys outnumbered girls by more than four to one, the city of Los Angeles has significantly boosted female turnout for its basketball, volleyball, soccer and other youth teams.

In 1999, 39% more girls joined city-run sports programs than the year before, according to Department of Recreation and Parks statistics. The increase far exceeds the 10% benchmark that city officials set for year 1 of the “Raise the Bar” program, an initiative designed to draw more girls into athletics.

The push came in response to a federal lawsuit filed by a girls softball league that had been forced to migrate between shabby fields while boys leagues enjoyed home games in lush ballparks. The 1998 suit, since settled, prompted city officials to launch dozens of girls sports clinics.

“I think that most of us were simply unaware of the deficiencies,” said Councilman Michael Feuer.

The gains in female participation ranged from a 32.8% increase in the San Fernando Valley to a 51% rise in the recreation department’s Pacific region, which includes the Westside, parts of Hollywood and South-Central. The Griffith-Metro area, spanning the eastern end of the city from Hancock Park to Eagle Rock, saw a 32.2% jump, according to department records.

The surge amounted to 4,144 more girls playing city-run sports last year than the year before.

“The preliminary numbers that we’re seeing are very encouraging,” said Rocio Cordoba, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who represented the girls softball league.

“Our concern is that these kind of efforts are implemented citywide and that they are implemented consistently,” she said.

Despite the increase, girls have a long way to go before their participation matches that of boys. In 1998, only 19.3% of the 54,665 children playing sports in city programs were girls. Last year, 66,058 youth joined city teams; 22.3% were girls.