A varsity volleyball program at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) was raised as a possibility during an MVRHS committee meeting Monday.
Volleyball is currently a recreational club at MVRHS. All recreational, or intramural, sports are required to “exist successfully” for a minimum of two years before changing to a varsity program, according to MVRHS athletic guidelines.
If changed to a varsity sport, MVRHS Athletics Director Mark McCarthy, said, the volleyball program would likely consist of a girls’ team during the fall season and a boys’ team in the spring, to follow guidelines from the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA). The present club, however, consists of roughly 80 percent male students and 20 percent female students, which could make garnering enough interest for a girls’ team a challenge.
“Based off of talking to [Coach Carlos Trindade], it seems like most of the participants in the club have been boys,” McCarthy said. “If we were to consider adding a sport, it would probably be boys’ volleyball in the spring, and then trying … to get more girls involved if we were to add a girls’ sport in the fall.” Committee members said they wanted to invite Trindade to the next session.
Other concerns raised by the committee relate to Title IX — a federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in educational programs and activities receiving federal aid — as well as to pulling away participation from other sports.
Kathryn Shertzer, athletics subcommittee chair, voiced her worries about the health of other sports programs.
“When we keep adding, we keep depleting from all other sports. It doesn’t mean that we can’t [add more varsity sports teams]. It just means that maybe we don’t keep adding without subtracting,” Shertzer said. “I’m sure everybody would be horrified to hear me say that.”
Elliott Bennett, committee member, emphasized the need to ensure that female students are given the same opportunities as male students. “I’m more worried about equity than I am about pulling away from other sports. I am a huge proponent of Title IX as being a recipient of it,” Bennett said.
The possibility of having girls on the boys’ team was also proposed.Under MIAA regulations, students can participate on a sports team of the opposite sex if the school doesn’t have a same-sex team.
Committee member Amy Houghton expressed her hope that female students could compete on the boys’ team if there isn’t enough student interest for a girls’ team. “I would hope that if we were going to put a team together that was in the boys’ league in the spring, girls would be permitted to try out for that team and play on it, just like they’re able to do for baseball or some of the other boys’ sports,” Houghton said.
While a final decision wasn’t made, McCarthy expressed his commitment to upholding Title IX.
“That’s why we’re pursuing the boys, because we just have the numbers. The girls have not panned out in terms of interest,” McCarthy said. “When it comes to the Title IX issue, it’s constantly on my radar, and I do agree that if we were to make a boys’ volleyball program available, we would have to start the planning of adding a girls’ program in the fall.”
