I decided to create a thread since it's being discussed in this thread: http://www.generalforum.com/divisiv...-allowed-military-75571-page7.html#post877886 It was going off-topic, it's better if it had it's own thread. So to pose the question, do you believe that women can play with the pro's? I'm talking about professional sports here e.g(NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB, Tennis, Golf, Olympics ect.) In other words at the highest level. Personally, I don't believe they can. There's a reason that they have their own women's league, they aren't good enough to compete with men. There's reason that there's only been one female to play in the NHL and that's Manon Rheaume. She played a few preseason games with Tampa Bay, but she was never signed a contract to play on the team during the regular season. She was stuck in the minors. If she was good enough, or if anyone was good enough they would of made the pros. I used the Haley Wickenheiser example in the other thread, she's arguably the best female hockey player of all time. She was never good enough to make the NHL. She did join an European team, and played 23 games with them, only scoring two goals and ten assists. Just so you know there's not a lot of contact/hits in Europe, especially compared to the NHL. I stated in the other thread that if she played in the NHL and got laid out that the NHL would face bad publicity, reasons behind that statement are as follow: -Bettman would get a lot of grief if he ever let a women play in the NHL, first off it's a very physical game, and the biggest question is would she be able to take body checks from the big players in the NHL. -If she got hit, and got injured on the play the NHL would get bad publicity about it since people didn't think she could handle playing against NHL players in the first place. They would think it would of been a publicity stunt to attract more female viewers. I truly believe that would happen if that's the case. I don't think I should even make a case for women trying to play in the NFL. Sorry, but I believe they would get destroyed by the men in the league. (SUI)On to baseball, I understand what you're trying to argue about a softball pitch and and fastball. But how many female throw 68MPH? I'm not 100% sure but I don't believe a lot of them actually do. For the NBA, there's a reason they have their own league. If a female was good enough they would be allowed to play in the NBA. Lisa Leslie who is arguably the best female Basketball player of all time, would have issues making a roster in her prime. If she did, she would barely get any minutes. Golf, if a female is good enough they would allow her to play in the PGA. I used Wie as an example because she played in a lot of PGA tournaments and didn't succeed. None of them actually did, not even Sorenstam didn't have much success. I could go on, but I think you understand where I'm getting at. I'm not saying that there isn't a lot of talented female athletes out there, but there's reasons why there's men's and women's league.
There are no serious youth leagues for both genders in any of the sports you listed. It shouldn't come as a surprise, since they never get the opportunity to seriously train with men from early childhood (which is often required for even a remote chance at playing professionally).
If they were good enough then they would be able to play in the youth leagues. I don't know about the States but here in Canada a lot of females play in competitive Baseball, Hockey and Basketball leagues. As well, I'm not just saying that they're aren't good enough to compete against them, but they just aren't physical enough to compete against them. They would get bullied by the males in the four major sports. When it comes to individual sports, they had ample oppurtunities just like the males had while growing up.
They wouldn't play in youth leagues with boys if they were good enough, they would go into women's leagues because that's the natural progression for girls. Almost every youth organization tracks boys and girls into separate leagues from very early ages. Girls are rarely given the opportunity to compete with boys. There aren't any girls on football teams at Texas High Schools (I've never even heard of a girl's contact football league) and no girls on hockey teams in the North and North East US. I thin the lack of women in the NFL, NHL and NBA are predictable outcomes of separating them from an early age. Would men still dominate professional sports if they were all grouped together? Probably, but there would be a significant number of women equally capable of playing.
Can a woman someday play in a men's professional sports league? Maybe someone will someday. Will that woman break the "gender barrier" like Jackie Robinson did and we'll see a flood of women playing someday? No. It has nothing to do with opportunity, it has to do with genetics. Women are just not as physically strong as men.
I think I agree with both sides on this. Women (at least in America and many other countries) aren't pushed into sports as much, aren't given the same training and opportunities, etc. On the other hand, the most physically fit men will pretty much always be stronger and faster than the most physically fit women.
If there were women that were good enough to play in men's professional sports leagues, then they should absolutely be allowed to play, but only as long as they aren't given special treatment. If a woman wants to play football or hockey, fine, but she better be able to take the same hits that the men take. Are they good enough to play in men's leagues? No. Men are stronger, faster, and better in every physical category. A couple women have played in men's golf events, but only because they were given special exemptions into the tournament, not because they actually earned a tour card. I think in sports like auto racing (Danica Pattrick, obviously), billiards, or bowling it's possible for women to compete with men. But in just about any other sport it is impossible. Even in endurance sports.
I wouldn't say men are better in every physical category by any means! Look at Caster Semenya! :lol: There are strong fast women out there - stronger and faster than a lot of men. Where men have the upper hand is their brute strength, ie their ability to endure physical contact. Take the mindless game of rugby for instance. There is woman's rugby with physical contact as well, but no woman could deal the same with the physical beating the men would take in such a game. So, imo, women should be allowed to compete with men in non-contact sport, like golf, billiards, athletics, etc. But when it comes to team contact sports, I say no! It would not be fair!
Imagine the political issues surrounding a male NBA player who goes to block a female's shot, and accidental slaps her bra. That alone should be reason to never merge male and female sports institutions.
How's that a political issue? That isn't even a valid point to begin with. If a female is going to play in a male sport where contact is guaranteed, then they have no right to make a big deal about if they get touched in any way. The ass slap. The chest bump. Things that happen in men's sports every day. If the women can't handle that, then there won't ever be mixed sports.
