Riverdale - Coffee Co time change

[mr300bowl]

Riverdales game with Coffee County on Tuesday has been changed from 7pm at the football stadium to 5pm on the front soccer field. Unlike the other Murfreesboro schools the Lady Warriors only get a few home games on the football field under the lights. They have been bumped from a scheduled game due to a Christiana Middle School football game that has claimed the field even though they did not have it scheduled. Pretty sad that a middle school can bump a home high school team off the field. Lack of respect for girls soccer is all I can think of. Any other teams out there have to deal with this??

[DonCChatt]

This stinks. I'd write a letter to the principal and the AD, and, oh yeah, the local paper.

[BRSoccer]

Riverdales game with Coffee County on Tuesday has been changed from 7pm at the football stadium to 5pm on the front soccer field. Unlike the other Murfreesboro schools the Lady Warriors only get a few home games on the football field under the lights. They have been bumped from a scheduled game due to a Christiana Middle School football game that has claimed the field even though they did not have it scheduled. Pretty sad that a middle school can bump a home high school team off the field. Lack of respect for girls soccer is all I can think of. Any other teams out there have to deal with this??

 

 

I feel your pain mr300bowl. Siegel has had to find a new location for one of its games this year due to middle school football taking presidence over girls high school soccer. Our Booster pres approached the principal about it and he showed little interest in discussing it. It just so happens mr. principal that your girls soccer team has made it to the state tournament for the last 3 years and this is the respect we get. Pathetic!

[KeeperFan15]

So glad my daughter has graduated. This has happened over and over and over again. My suggestion/recommendation is that you need to take it to the Principals, AND Harry Gill, AND Sam Stockard at the DNJ. If you only take it to the Principal, expect to continue to find other places to play. The middle schools pay money to use the fields.

 

Lack of equal scheduling opportunities is a Title IX situation. The courts have found that unequal scheduling is a violation. Including the time of day that the games are played. http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/Home.aspx. Just be prepared because this is pretty much the nuclear option. Smyrna booster club threatened to pull the trigger, and was rewarded with a new soccer field under construction.

 

The time might be right to report again. When the investigators came in 7 or 8 years ago, the ladies were intimidated by administrations and downplayed the altered practiice times, schedules being changed at the last minute, etc. Pretty overwhelming for 15-18 year old young ladies to go through without support. "How do you think your friends will feel that you soccer girls caused football programs to go away"

[Whitey]

Guys, it is a real simple problem to fix. I encouraged the Blackman Coach to do the same thing about three years ago when our girls varsity high school game was bumped to a middle school football game that was a last minute pick up by the middle school football coach and not even scheduled. All it takes is for one parent to file a formal Title IX complaint. There are about 12 High Schools across the nation that now no longer have a football fieldstadium because the parents of the girl's soccer team filed Title IX complaints and won them. The result was that the football stadiumfield was taken away from football as the primary sport and given to the girl's soccer team. The girl's soccer teams have first right to the fieldstadium and their schedule comes before the football teams does. The football teams have to ask the girl's soccer team for permission to use their field but if the girls want to bump the football team, then they get to.

 

Get some guts and file the Title IX complaint. There is a good lawyer in Murfreesboro that can help with this.

[live2succeed]

I feel your pain mr300bowl. Siegel has had to find a new location for one of its games this year due to middle school football taking presidence over girls high school soccer. Our Booster pres approached the principal about it and he showed little interest in discussing it. It just so happens mr. principal that your girls soccer team has made it to the state tournament for the last 3 years and this is the respect we get. Pathetic!

 

Nolan has never cared about the girls soccer team until they get further in the regions and make it to state. Then all of a sudden he tries to be chummy with the players. It's the same way with the volleyball team. It's completely ridiculous. Have respect for all your sports not just your football or basketball. Funny thing is, soccer and volleyball have gone further than football ever has and just as far as men's basketball.

[rgossett14]

It's especially bad at rural schools where football has always been the top dog. I know at our school our girls have to ask for permission to practice on the football/soccer field even though the football team was given a top-of-the-line practice field, complete with a sprinkler system, fieldhouse and bathrooms. The girls are relegated to a 50x30 patch of dry grass, full of potholes that could turn any ankle, right on the edge of a goat field the ag classes use. It's sad but people (administration, citizens, etc) just don't care about soccer. Even when, historically, the girls soccer has been much more successful in comparison.

[manofsteel]

The threat of a lawsuit is always an option, but one immediate action that can have an effect on the administration is for all the parents of the players to call the Principal. It does not have to be just parents, ask other friends to call. They can call and complain in a civil manner. Hopefully if he receives enough grief he will make sure he doesn't have to deal with it again. I don't know the situation, but the girls softball team usually gets less than the baseball team. Enlist parents of the softball team to register their complaint as well.

 

Good Luck

[ballbasher30]

filing Title IX papers sounds good, but does not always come out good in the end. Look at Hickman County, the superintendent was under pressure to give the girls soccer team equal status, and under the pressure he eliminated the girls program. He legally did this by forcing the girls to play on the guys team in the spring. He cleared Title IX because the school still has the same number of boy-only sports as girl-only sports. By giving the girls an opportunity to play on the boys teams he is legally able to not have a girls only soccer team and avoid having to provide for one. if the girls do not want to play on the boys teams, that is their personal choice. This is the main reason volleyball is a sport in this state. It legally allows football coaches to refuse to allow females to play on the football team because volleyball is a girls-only sport in tennessee. it all comes down to who is in charge and how much of the 1800's personality they have.

[MVM]

ndsoccer88......To quote a great poet from Wham (George Michael), "You Gotta Have Faith"....What happened in years past means nothing. You guys this year have the offense, you have the defense, and you have the luck of the Irish....What more do you need?

 

Mr300, Everytime I look around at our place and think that it's old with the field and stands built in 1949. I think of other schools with the problems that you face, I consider us blessed at SD.

 

Good Luck 300, Let us know how it goes.

[KeeperFan15]

Upon reflection... the key point around Title IX is for a parent to speak to a knowledgable attorney prior to filing anything. As I said, this is pretty much an option that has no return as ballbasher indicated. Make sure that the law is on your side before you do anything. I would also suggest that you talk to your soccer coach before doing anything. There could be ramifications with their position with their administration. While there is some protection for them under Title IX, they might not want to have to go to court to keep their job/position. Much better for all to work this out without having to go to the extreme. While "Darn the torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead" might make the parents feel better, I am pragmatic (cynical?) enough to realize that there may be reprocussions. I also believe that the administrators use that knowledge to their advantage.

[vanburen]

It is a "football" field