Not The Odd One Out: Junior Lily Haw vocalizes the need for an all-girls team games class, while others enjoy the competitive nature of the original class

As sophomore Lida Padgett sat in her team games class waiting to play football, she couldn’t think about what position she wanted to play or who she wanted to be on a team with. As she gazed around the gym, the only thing on her mind was the striking number of boys in the class. In fact, sophomore Sydney Hernandez, the only other girl in her class, ​​was alongside her as one of the last to be chosen.

“I’ve gotten picked last a lot because everyone just normally picks their friends first,” Padgett said. “It’s just kind of depressing sitting there watching everyone else in line with their teams staring at you.”

The popular co-ed elective is designed for students to play sports games with their friends while still exhibiting the fitness requirements of a physical education class. East counselor Traci Ybarra says team games have gained the reputation of being a male-dominated elective, leaving the girls highly outnumbered and often feeling discomforted.

After hearing how fun team games was from her male friends, junior Lily Haw wanted to be a part of the elective since freshman year. However, every time she contemplates signing up for it, her female friends have advised her not to form stories of girls feeling like outliers in the class. But instead of letting the stories turn her down, Haw decided to approach her counselor about creating an all-girls team games elective for future years.

“Having an all-girls class would give my friends and I the chance to play sports like kickball that we want to, and show our full potential without being judged based on our gender,” Haw said.

Haw’s academic counselor Michelle Grimes advised her to find a teacher who would lead the class, and Haw immediately went to gym coach Chip Ufford. He taught her girls weights class last year, and knowing he had daughters and stood for womens’ rights, she knew he’d be the right coach to ask.

“Sometimes the boys just kind of play the game and [don’t] always include the girls,” Ufford said. “So this will give the girls a class where they can all be included, and get in their fight and participate to the best of their ability.”

Many girls end up dropping the class a few weeks into the year, leaving around the two or three in every class that actually stick with it, according to Ufford. He always gives them a fair warning at the beginning of the year to let them know the boys may not always be inclusive and let them play as easily.

When Padgett received this spiel, she knew she wasn’t going to let that happen to her. She didn’t want to be treated any differently in the class just because she was female. She could do everything the boys could, and she wanted to show that.

“One time I was dribbling the basketball around a guy and he was like, ‘Oh, I can’t guard you,’” Padgett said. “That really ticked me off because I can dribble a basketball around a guy if I feel like it.”

For Padgett, a huge part of sports is being able to be competitive. Padgett believes that everyone should be able to show their best skills in the team games class regardless of their gender — which the all-girl class would give them an opportunity to do.

Additionally, Padgett feels that in an all-girls class, some of the girls wouldn’t want to play all of the same sports that they would in a co-ed class which could be a potential downside.

“I think an all-girls class would be fun, but I wouldn’t want the sports to be changed,” Padgett said. “I would still want to play sports like football.”

Ufford feels the same way, and encourages girls to have a space to play the same game that the guys do and not feel lesser because of their gender.

“We are trying to get it on the doc for next year if enough people have enough interest and sign up for it,” Ufford said.

On the other hand, Ybarra feels that it may be hard for the class to get approved. In order to do so, there will have to be co-ed classes removed to make more room in the schedule. The girls will have to be very dedicated for it to become a reality.

As for Haw, she doesn’t want to create the class as an excuse for her and her friends to goof around, but to feel comfortable participating in the team games activities that they wouldn’t feel comfortable doing in a co-ed class.

“It’s more of a way for girls to play with people that they feel comfortable being competitive around,” Haw said. “The boys in the classes aren’t always willing to play with girls and we want to play with people that are [willing].”