By Jack Casey and Wynn Andrews
UGA women’s lacrosse is as successful as any of the university’s varsity teams including football, but only gets a fraction of the recognition.
Lacrosse is a sport that is rapidly growing in popularity across the South. UGA women’s lacrosse has won seven of the last 10 Southeastern Women's Lacrosse League championships, in addition to winning the 2016 Women’s Club Lacrosse Association championship and finishing second last season.
With a team that has already established a winning identity over the past decade, the question isn’t centered around what else they have to prove. While many women on the team say they’re happy being a club sport, their success poses the question of whether the team should receive a varsity promotion.
The University of Florida is the only SEC team to have women’s lacrosse as a varsity sport. However, UGA might have to add the sport to its list to stay in compliance with Title IX.
“We know that they could add lacrosse tomorrow because the club lacrosse team is already playing an intercollegiate athletic schedule,” said Donna Lopiano, founder of Women’s Sports Foundation and longtime advocate for Title IX.
Congress passed Title IX in 1972 as an amendment to the Higher Education Act. It states that no educational program receiving federal funds can discriminate based on sex. In the late 1970s, the U.S. Department of Education made clear that Title IX applied to athletics, so all collegiate athletic departments must abide by regulations put in place to define gender equity in sports.
In 1979, the department published a set of rules for colleges to demonstrate that they are offering participation opportunities equitably. This is known as the three-part test. Athletic departments comply if they can demonstrate any one of the following:
1. The number of female athletes is “substantially proportionate” to the number of female undergraduate students. That is, if 55% of students are female, then 55% of athletes should be.
2. The department has a “history and continuing practice” of expanding opportunities for women.
3. The department can demonstrate that it is “fully and effectively accommodating the interests and abilities” of female students on campus. Courts have ruled that to do so, colleges must accommodate all interests and abilities, not merely accommodating them to the same degree they do for male athletes.
The groundbreaking law recently celebrated its 50th anniversary with the continuation of a legal case regarding Kentucky’s women’s club lacrosse team.
In 2019, two student-athletes sued the university for violating Title IX, specifically the first rule of the three-part test. They claimed that Kentucky had to add about 183 women to its athletic program to ensure equal opportunity.
While the lawsuit is still ongoing, Kentucky’s situation raises the question of whether or not its SEC counterpart is also violating the law. Based on the three-part test, the University of Georgia is in the same situation.
1. 58% of UGA’s student-athletes are female, with only 50% of student-athletes being female. That eight-point difference is higher than the department’s benchmark, which is five percentage points.
2. The university hasn’t added a women’s varsity sport (the equestrian team) since 2001.
3. The team’s success demonstrates that there is enough interest and ability on campus to field a successful varsity team, so UGA also appears to fail this part of the test.
The University of Georgia’s athletic department released the following statement: “The Athletic Department works diligently to comply with Title IX regulations and the Office for Civil Rights clarifications addressing all aspects of the law as it applies to athletic programs. We have strengthened our systems for regularly auditing the status of all aspects of our athletic program covered by Title IX, namely, participation, scholarships, and other benefits. Compliance with Title IX and the student-athlete experience is of fundamental importance.”
But outside of the athletic department some disagree.
“The athletic department has an obligation to do it (promote women’s club lacrosse to varsity level) themselves,” said Lopiano. “They do not wait for anybody to ask. Every year they are not in compliance with proportionality, they must assess whether or not there is interest and ability out there to add another women’s team.”
Delaney Ott is the president and starting goalie of the club team at UGA. While she would love to see a varsity promotion happen, she isn’t in any hurry for it to happen. Ott and most of her teammates’ indifferences come from enjoying the flexibility and experience they get from self-leadership.
“I’m happy with how far the team has come in the past few years, and I think that we’re very, very successful for a club program,” Ott said. “I wish we got a little more recognition from UGA for our achievements last season but I do understand that a club-level sport is not their priority.”
Other members of the UGA team, such as PR chair Skylar Deluca, agree with Ott.
“Right now, I think that there are improvements to be made about our team's recognition on campus but I am satisfied with our program,'' Deluca said. “Even though we are the only women’s lacrosse team on campus, we are a club team and the whole team recognizes that. Within club sports, we receive a lot of recognition but it doesn’t go past that on campus. We would definitely appreciate more recognition on campus but don’t expect it because we are not a varsity team.”
Deluca’s position as PR chair would not exist if the women’s lacrosse team was promoted to a varsity sport. That transition would introduce the already established media, equipment and various other resources in the UGA athletic department to the team. This would take away from the athletes holding positions themselves.
For now, the women’s lacrosse team seems content with where they stand as a club team. While the team would welcome a promotion, vice president of the team Katelyn Sparks said she has “never been more satisfied with a program.”
Based on the three-part test, the University of Georgia appears to be out of Title IX compliance. Whether or not more attention is given to the issue remains to be seen. Until a legal complaint is filed, there will be no immediate action to force the university into full compliance.
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