Title IX has done more to destroy men’s athletics than any other legislation to date. As of 2002, more than 100 men’s gymnastics teams and 170 wrestling teams have been dropped. I know those are dated figures; I’m sure that amount has climbed in 10 years. My alma mater, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, dropped its wrestling program in 2011 — the same night it won its third straight DII National Title. The same program had won six national titles in eight years.
As a wrestler in high school, I had fairly limited prospects for trying to wrestle at the college level, so I didn’t get to continue at that level. With so few programs, it means there are many high level athletes that do not have the opportunities to continue because there is so much competition. At the rate wrestling programs are being dropped, I do not expect many to be left by the time my three boys head to college in 15 years.
While Title IX may have increased the ability for women to compete at a collegiate level, it has made college athletics more of a business than ever. Women’s sports routinely have poor attendance. Just as an example, during the 2011 season, women’s basketball’s average attendance per game was 831 to men’s basketball’s average of 18,714. Since the women’s athletics are generally not self-sustaining, it means that the men’s programs must produce a surplus stay, and those that don’t are dropped.
RYAN LEWIS
Bellevue, Neb.
