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Have you noticed that activities that would really appeal to girls are rarely found in the government schools. For example, our local government school does not have gymnastics, ice skating, dance, or precision swimming for its girls. But,,,it has plenty of warmed over boy-sports for them!
Gee! The very activities that girls like and that would fill the stands with paying fans are absent from the curriculum.
Why? Answer: “Dykes on Spikes” control the curriculum!
Now,,,there will be a government school defender or two that will insist that their daughter is a cheerleader, in a theater program, or on the football jazz dance team. That may be true. I have friends with daughters like that too. All of them gained their positions on these government teams because of tons of very expensive private lessons from the parents.
I’m always fascinated by the Catholic school stories! The only nuns I’ve known have been nice old ladies in parish work :-).
Interesting point about the sports. My public high school (about 1,500 students) had gymnastics (for girls, but not boys) but not ice skating or swimming (for anyone). The girls’ track team was very strong.
The high school where I tutored in San Antonio had dance classes, including “ballet folklorico.”
Umm— when I was in school we had gymnastics. I despised it, because I’m just not coordinated enough. It was required for P.E. From elementary school until freshman year of high school. In high school I took two years of dance class. At the time we also had one of the best drama departments. As for precision swimming and ice skating. My high school didn’t have a pool and Arizona is too warm for an ice skating pond.
” our local government school does not have gymnastics,”
I cannot speak for the other sports, but I can speak for gymnastics.
Our local schools did promote gymnastics for many years in the 70’s and 80’s.
It was a logistical nightmare for many reasons..
-gym space/storage space. There either had to be a permanent spot found in the school for the equipment to remain set up and hold meets, or the equipment had to be set up and taken down for every practice and competition (and for anyone who has ever set up uneven bars - they know what a pain that is)
-the very nature of the sport - constant change of the equipment specs., and nature of the skills being constantly developed ensured that once a school invested in a complete set of equipment, it was outdated within a very short amount of time.
for ex: uneven bars can run $5,000 a set. Same with a proper foam block, or spring loaded floor.
Schools could not justify the cost to taxpayers to shell out the dough every few years to update to current standards.
-liability insurance. Gymnastics is a risky sport. I know - I was a gymnast for 15 yrs. A coach and a judge for another 15 yrs.
-the nature of the sport, itself, ensures that only those children who began training in younger years (5-9yrs) are able to progress in the skill level that will make them potential prospects for college level competition, or international competition.
In other words - it is a private club sport (and I’m sure tha applies to ice skating as well).
If you want to “make it” in gymnastics, you don’t petition your local schools to start a program. Instead, you enroll in a private club that is affiliated with USA gymnastics and progress throught their level 1-elite program.
You won’t see colleges recruiting from high schools, and you won’t see gymnasts competing for the local high school team trying out for the olympics.