The varsity girls’ field hockey team celebrated the 53rd anniversary of the Title IX law in their game against the Deerfield Warriors, Dana Boehmer, Varsity Field Hockey Head Coach, said. Title IX is a federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any education program. 

In 1972, only 300,000 girls were in athletics and it was predominantly in cheerleading, Boehmer said. Today, there are over 300 million girls in the country that participate in a variety of sports, Boehmer said. Boehmer has been celebrating Title IX with South’s softball team for the past three years and as the new head coach of Varsity Field Hockey, she decided to continue the celebration. 

  “[Title IX] resonates a lot with me [when I] see support and attention [for] women’s sports,” Boehmer said. “It is really cool to see how far female athletes have come because [when] I was a college athlete,my sports weren’t really televised. But now, it’s all over the media.”

Boehmer invited every head coach of a female sport and every female athlete from South to be recognized before the game began on Monday September eighth. There were hot dogs and burgers for spectators and a performance by the junior varsity (JV) Titan Poms.

Senior Siya Shah, Varsity Co-Captain is inspired that she has a coach who cares about her players and their identities, shown by her efforts in organizing the event. Additionally, Shah explained that this event was a great way to bring awareness to gender equality and the idea that women can do the same things that men can. 

“There’s a lot of preconceptions and stigma people have against women playing sports,” Shah said. “It’s really cool to be on the scene and break that narrative.”