Most sports at Sevier are coed, but not every sport should be.

There are many reasons students might want all sports to be coed, such as a sense of gender equality.

There are, however, drawbacks. For instance, some rules would likely have to change to keep both parties safe. For example, if a lacrosse team is coed, it might have to become a non-contact sport like girls’ lacrosse.

Any fan of watching athletic competitions have seen some major injuries occur. Many fans believe that males are more susceptible to sports-related injury.

Robert H. Shmerling, a doctor at Harvard Health Publishing, however, reports that female athletes are more susceptible to injuries than males. There are many reasons for this, such as females tending to be more flexible due to more loose ligaments.

Carrie Macmillan at Yale Medicine found that female athletes are two to eight times more likely to experience ACL tears. Studies have also shown that female athletes are almost six times as likely to get injured compared to male athletes. Female athletes also move differently due to having a wider pelvis.

Male athletes are commonly stronger than females, while female athletes are commonly lighter than males.

Picture a 150-pound middle school linebacker rushing a 90-pound girl. This isn’t the safest scenario. Likewise, males could feel the need to go easier on female athletes to avoid injuring someone.

Being strong and training a lot isn’t the only way an athlete can play well. If the athlete doesn’t have the right mindset and thinks they’re going to fail, they most likely will. If an athlete is scared of other athletes, they will probably try to avoid the person and not play as well as they can.

Biases can also play a key role in athletic success. If an athlete is treated unfairly, he or she might not want to play on the team.

In addition, if an athlete is smaller, seeing someone much bigger running at them can be scary and make the athlete scared to play aggressively for fear of injury.

People pushing for all sports to become coed for the sake of equality could cause a decline in sports safety.

This doesn’t mean females and males can’t both play sports, they just need to be separated. Non-coed sports have upsides, as well, when trying to get drafted to play professional sports, as there can’t be bias on a single-gender team. Finally, the pro-teams are usually gender-separated, as well.

Coed sports are not a terrible idea. They give athletes mutual respect for the opposite gender. The disadvantages, however, outweigh the advantages. Not all sports should be coed.