can show a history and continuing practice of expanding its sports offerings for women. The focus is on whether the school responded to developing interests and abilities of female students. The factors OCR considers in making this determination are a school’s recent history and continuing practice of:
Adding female teams;
Upgrading teams to varsity status;
Affirmatively responding to requests for adding or upgrading teams; and
Monitoring developing interests by conducting surveys, including implementation of a nondiscriminatory policy or procedure for requesting additional sports and the effective communication of the policy or procedure to students.37 PRONG THREE: EFFECTIVE ACCOMMODATIONS
Finally, under the third prong of the test, a school may show compliance with Area One (accommodation of athletic interests) by demonstrating that its present programs are accommodating the athletic interest and abilities of its female students.38 This prong does not require a school to provide a varsity team every time some female students are interested in a sport. It is also not about how many sports the school offers.39 Instead, schools may satisfy this prong by asking:
Is there unmet interest in a particular sport? For this factor, OCR will look for the following indicators, among others: o o o o
Requests by students that a particular sport be added; Participation in particular sports; Interviews with students, coaches, administrators and others regarding interest in particular sports; and Results of student questionnaires regarding interests in particular sports.
Is there sufficient ability to sustain a team in the sport? For this factor, OCR will examine:
o o
Athletic experience and accomplishments of students interested in playing the sport; and Opinions of the school’s coaches, administrators, and 11
