According to the New York Times, many schools and leagues have been switching to co-ed programs. Many major cities such as New York City already have school leagues that are co-ed even for sports more famously divided such as baseball and wrestling, some people think this may be a sign we’re switching to a slightly less divided world.

According to a survey among UPrep middle schoolers only forty-four percent of students think that sports shouldn’t be co-ed. Statistically, 47% of boys believe teams should be separated by gender and, 56% of girls surveyed agreed.

An interview with Assistant Director of Athletics Da’Mon Perry showed that UPrep has looked into coed leagues, but there are no non-gendered leagues.

Among the students interviewed, many supported co-ed school sports teams, UPrep already has male and female students in track and field running together and coed PE classes, something many schools still haven’t achieved.

Although, there were many students who disagreed. “When you play against the other gender, you don’t play as well,” said seventh-grader Phillip Curran.

Curran was very opposed to co-ed teams. When asked if he thought that most teams would be co-ed in the next few years, he bluntly replied, “I hope not.”

The question also has relevance professionally, where many female leagues are starting in historically male sports. Although this may not be coed, many people believe this may be some strong first steps. Some disagree, thinking this may be more hurtful, building leagues that pay less, have fewer fans, and refuse to merge with the higher paying, high fan base leagues.

One significant problem among professional leagues is the pay gap. According to Forbes, in 2019, the highest paid WNBA player was given $117,500. At the same time, the highest in the NBA was $37.4 million.

The same flaw appears in baseball where in the national softball league the highest a team is allowed to be paid is $175,000, for all of the players, while last season the Boston Red Sox received $227 million to pay the players. Getting rid of the pay gap would really change the perception of women in sports, it would professionalize them, and is just another stepping stone as coed sports, both professionally and in schools, on the bridge to social equality.