The world of sports is riddled with inequality It’s time to change that ‘‘

Anytime there was practice, we were only allowed on a little grassy spot next to the softball field. There is where we practiced all summer long preparing for our season to begin. Every time we practiced, we were able to see the boys football team also preparing for their season. When I looked at them, I adored that they were able to practice on the big field where we would be playing our games.

I found it a bit unfair, since the field is large enough to permit splitting it in half to have both teams practice. But I just shrugged it off just like everyone else on the team.

The day of our first game arrived and I was elated, because it was the first ever girls flag football game. I got to school and noticed that the two cheerleaders in my first period class were not wearing their cheer uniforms like they normally would on football game days. I was able to convince myself that they would just change later and I simply went on with my day.

The clock hit 2 p.m. and it was time to leave my fifth period class to get ready for the game. I walked into the locker room and immediately got a gust of positive energy from my teammates. Music was blasted and laughter was shared.

I could also feel a lot of nervousness hidden behind that laughter. But that anxiety and nervous feeling would quickly be brushed away, because when we walked out onto the field, we would feel school spirit through the support and cheers being expressed by students and staff. Or so we thought.

When we walked onto the field we saw no one but two of our teammates who weren’t able to play, and the other teams that would be playing later. No students were on our side

Isabel Valles, Athletics Editor & flag football team member

of the bleachers like I had seen at the boys football game, no staff members were in front of the endzone, the cheer team was not there cheering for us and no JROTC students were in sight.

It felt dreadful.

I saw the look on my teammates’ faces and I was finally able to see the nervousness and fear that they were hiding earlier become visible. No one was there to support us on such an important day, the day that we had practiced months for.

Where was the school spirit? Why wasn’t anyone there? Why was no one supporting us after we worked so hard just to be there? Why was the boys football game more important than the girls flag football game?

Why? Why? Why? These were questions I asked myself over and over again for days, questions that I never got answers to.

We ended up winning our first game. But I went home with a feeling of ambivalence. I was content because the months of practice paid off, but that feeling was drowned out by sorrow. I knew that the team felt alone and unsupported.

I looked at the school’s instagram account to see if they posted anything about our win, but I saw nothing. I then looked at the school’s athletics Instagram account to see if anything was posted, but yet again, there was nothing there.

In fact, the sport is so discredited that many students are not even aware there is a flag football team at school.

It felt like no one cared, like no one even bothered to bat an eye.

According to a poll conducted by Seton Hall University, only 18 percent of sports fans in the U.S. watch women’s sports.

This is not only a global issue, but one that occurs within the campus we pass through every day. Many female athletes at school are starting to notice the differing attitudes people hold for boys and girls sports teams.

And flag football is not the only sport receiving this kind of treatment.

The only difference between the girls and boys volleyball teams is that they are played during different parts of the year. Nonetheless, the girls volleyball team receives much less viewership and support than the boys’ team does. As their season comes to a close, barely anyone has attended girls volleyball games.

I only aim to spread awareness, and to encourage students and staff to attend girls sports games to support the amazing female athletes on our campus. By doing this, teams will feel supported and cared about, like how we should have felt in the beginning of our season.

People have to stop comparing the boys and girls teams and start supporting both, because at the end of the day, they are both representing our school.

Hopefully, things will get better for the female athletes at Van Nuys High School.

THE MIRROR | GIANNA IOVINO