The Demons of Coed Intramural Sports
Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing
The D emons of Coed Intramural Sports
Amanda M. Schleper
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Article 9
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Writing Process
The pur pose of this assignment was to select a topic within the realms of gender issues, complete research in
the library, and conduct personal research in the form of a survey or an interview. I knew I wanted to select a
topic that was relative to me and my community. After talking to several of my peers, I realized there was a
large controversy over the topic of gender specific rules in coed intramural sports. Th us, I decided to delve into
the issue by undertaking it as my essay topic. Researching in the library and finding many scholarly sources as
well as other sources from students at varying universities allowed me to form my opinion and mark my
standpoint in the debate. My survey gave me deeper insight to the sentiment that the student body held
towards the gender specific rules in their intramural sports. Thi s permitted me to tailor my argument to
specifically address the University of Dayton, or my immediate community. I created many drafts of my survey
and received feedback from my peer-editing group to make sure I was asking the correct questions to receive
answers that addressed the topic at hand. Thi s may have been the hardest part of the research process, because
sometimes it was difficult to ask a question without leading the respondent to give a specific answer. However,
with the guidance of my peer editing group I developed a strong survey that produced lucrative results. It
seemed that the student body was truly interested in the controversy of gender specific rules in coed
intramural sports. After gathering my research, I began the drafting process. With the aid of my peer-editing
group, feedback from my professor, Dr. Vorachek, and advice from the Write Place, I developed a piece that
truly reflects my standpoint on this gender issue and calls for a change.
Course
ENG200H
Semester
Fall
Instructor
Dr. Laura Vorachek
Year
2015
Thi s article is available in Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing: http://ecommons.udayton.edu/lxl/vol2/iss2/9
Amanda Schleper
Dr. Laura Vorachek
ENG 200H
11 December 2015
The Demons of Coed Intramural Sports
From an early age, many children enjoy participating in sports. It is a fun way to release
energy and compete with their peers. Children do not pay attention to gender when competing;
they just go out and have a good time. So when did gender start to dictate the way males and
females compete? Sports leagues for the youngest ages are coed and do not have any gender
specific rules present. However, as age increases the more segregated sports programs become.
Collegiate level coed intramural sports include many gender specific rules. These rules prevent
athletes from fully enjoying the game, and they slow down the flow of play. Gender specific
rules also engrain stereotypes of male and female capabilities into society, leaving no room for
doubt, and thus corrupting the view of how men and women should be able to compete in coed
intramural sports.
The University of Dayton is a prime subject to use when studying gender specific rules
present in intramural sports. Dayton has a wide variety of intramural sports including volleyball,
soccer, flag football, softball, battleship, Quidditch, ultimate Frisbee, and many more. There are
several options for what sort of league a student can participate in. For instance, a student can
choose between a recreational or competitive level of play, and they can chose to partake in
either a coed or single gender league. However, coed leagues have many rules and modifications
that specifically limit a certain gender. These gender specific rules typically limit males and
make the game easier for females. For example, when playing on a coed team for outdoor
soccer, a female must touch the ball in the offensive half of the field before the ball can be
scored, all free kicks must be taken by a female, and you can only play four males and four
females at a time (UD RecPlex). Coed sand and indoor volleyball also have a number limit for
males to females in play at a time (UD RecPlex). Their rule is that you can have up to three
males and three females playing at a time; however, at no time can there be a higher number of
males playing than females (UD RecPlex). Coed sand volleyball also has a specific section for
“male restrictions” (UD RecPlex). This section describes that in recreational coed leagues no
males can spike, and males can only tip if they give the ball an arc (UD RecPlex). These are
only two examples of sports that have gender specific rules for the coed league. All of t (...truncated)