Gender Equity
The need to provide physical activity and athletic opportunities for girls is particularly important because one in six girls today are obese or overweight. Girls are significantly less likely than boys to participate in vigorous physical activity and sports teams; and they drop out of sports at twice the rate of boys. Despite advances in athletic opportunities for females since the passage of Title IX in 1972, discrimination still limits athletic opportunities for girls in community youth athletics.
These disparities extend beyond the classroom to park and recreation settings as well. The direct impact of Title IX on local park and recreation services and facilities is undocumented. However, it is reasonable to assume that the majority of parents, guardians or others responsible for children and youth want equal opportunities in education, training and recreation (including sports) for all girls and boys. The involvement of older siblings, relatives and friends involved in recreational or competitive sports and the exposure to active recreation and wellness messages reinforces the desire of children and adults to obtain gender equal opportunities in park and recreation programs and services.
NRPA advocates for the support Title IX and to enforce its provisions. We urge public park and recreation policymakers to provide facilities and services to achieve the statutory objective of Title IX: providing both female and male athletes with equitable opportunities to participate and access to quality services and treatment.
We further urge park and recreation policy makers, executives, program managers and planners to take all appropriate measures to ensure that the development of public facilities and implementation of programs sufficiently meets both male and female recreation needs.
Disability Equity
We know that sport and physical activity opportunities for males and females with disabilities are not provided at the same rate as those opportunities for individuals without disabilities in most park and recreation programs, yet these individuals need these opportunities the most.
Approximately 56 million (one in five) people in the United States have documented disabilities. Individuals with a disability are almost three times as likely to be sedentary as individuals without disabilities (29 percent vs. 10 percent). Fifty-six percent of people with disabilities do not engage in any physical activity, and only 23 percent of people with disabilities are active for thirty minutes three or more times per week.
