I am very confused by some people's contention that Rochester girls' softball teams have never had the opportunity to play under the lights. That simply isn't true.
No high school fields in town have lights due to the cost -- more than $75,000 per field. The only fields available for night games are at public park facilities -- McQuillan and Soldiers Field for softball, Hudson and Mayo Fields for baseball.
The girls have exactly the same opportunity as boys to play night games at our city parks. In fact, they have more options because there are more lighted softball fields (nine) than baseball (two). All they have to do is schedule those fields through the city park department just like the boys teams do. Why haven't they done so? Because they have chosen not to play at night; they prefer to play on their own fields.
So the result of this "no lights" decision hasn't created any more opportunities for the girls. What it has created is scheduling issues for all four high school baseball teams and additional travel costs for visiting teams that need to make return trips to finish games suspended because of darkness at a field that has lights.
The purpose of Title IX is to provide equal opportunities for girls. But increasing opportunities for girls is not accomplished by minimizing or eliminating those for boys.
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Bob; Lyons
Rochester;
