Girls basketball and boys basketball in Howard County were separate but equal this season, but the majority of girls varsity players and coaches did not like it that way.
After years of playing varsity doubleheaders, school officials this winter changed to playing varsity and junior varsity games back to back. The boys played at one site and the girls at the other.
Donald Disney, county coordinator of athletics, said security and sportsmanship problems at JV games sparked the switch. Because admission was never charged and administrators were not present at JV games, "it was kind of like leaving the fort unmanned," said Disney.
Most girls coaches believe the current solution goes too far.
"The reasons that they did this are wrong," said Glenelg coach Randy Wallenhorst. "They had some problems at JV games and now I think they're sacrificing the girls basketball program."
Centennial's Dave Greenberg, who has won six state championships in 17 years as a girls basketball coach in the county, agreed. "It's a travesty. Almost every year since 1986, Howard County has had at least one [girls] state champion. How do they think that happened? One of the contributing factors is that the girls see how exciting it can be to play in front of a big crowd."
This season, most fans opted for the boys games, leaving the girls with few spectators other than parents and boyfriends.
"It detracts when you have no fans," said Oakland Mills junior Ginny Dye. "The kids, I can't blame them for wanting to go see the boys game, but I think if they had a chance to see both, they would try to."
All eight county girls basketball coaches said their players want to switch back to varsity doubleheaders. Only Wilde Lake's Kelly Storr and Oakland Mills' Teresa Waters said they have mixed feelings about switching back, mainly because they want to keep an eye on the development of JV players.
But even they say something has been lost in the switch. "The girls miss that prestige," said Waters. "They feel it's prestigious to travel with the boys because they feel part of the premier team of the boys and girls programs."
On the other hand, the boys coaches overwhelmingly prefer it this way. While they are generally sympathetic to the girls' situation, they would rather have the chance to watch their JV teams play.
"I have mixed feelings," said Atholton boys coach Jim Albert. "I like the way it is now, but it's a little selfish, because I think it has an adverse effect on the girls program. People are not showing up for their games. I don't think it affects the way you play, but everyone would like to feel somebody cares."
Now that the regular season is over, Disney said the situation will be reviewed before a decision is made on whether to keep it this way or switch back. The final decision, he said, lies with the county's Committee on Interscholastic Athletics, made up of high school principals, athletic directors and two coaches' representatives.
While Disney agreed that security problems at JV doubleheaders might be solved by charging admission to pay for security guards and/or administrators, he said there is an even bigger problem with unsportsmanlike conduct at JV games. He is not sure additional security would solve the problem but, he said, JV coaches, players and even parents could learn from watching their varsity counterparts.
"There isn't a school where there wasn't some type of JV incident," said Disney. "You're dealing with explosives when you put in a young JV coach, less experienced officials and parents who have had eight years of youth experience where, because there are more youth leagues, their kids have always been the leading scorers.
"There are many more underlying problems on the JV level than on the varsity. One of the good things is that we do have on the varsity, for the most part, experienced educators that have dealt with explosive parents."
While Greenberg said that the mentoring system is the only "substantive reason" for making the switch, he said it really doesn't pan out because varsity coaches should not have to baby-sit JV coaches, JV girls rarely stay for varsity games -- often leaving for the boys game.
"There is no justification for going to this extreme," said Greenberg. "This is not a violation of Title IX and they do have every right to do this, but it will have a disparate impact on women. Why take a successful girls sport and pit it against the boys? Why go backward when other counties are going forward?"