This past Wednesday, Palatine High School hosted its first-ever breakfast for the school’s female athletes. All former and current female athletes who participate in sports both in and out of school were invited to a morning full of doughnuts and socializing in celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

The teacher who organized the event, Kara Waddell expressed great enthusiasm about creating larger and more frequent events to further encourage the female athletes of PHS. “We hope to make the breakfast an annual tradition and we hope to do a bigger ‘Pack the Place-type event at a Girls Basketball game next year as we want to really highlight all of our young women in sports at PHS and the greater Palatine community!” Waddell said.

Throughout the enjoyment of chatter and a light breakfast, students were encouraged to acknowledge the lengths female participation in sports has come since the enactment of Title IX. Since 1972, Title IX has helped eliminate the discrimination that existed throughout the country which resulted from the severe inequality of opportunities for minority students.

The high involvement of women in sports over the past decade has challenged the stereotype that female athletes are less skilled and interested in athletics. Though there are still large pay gap differences between male and female athletes, media coverage of women’s sports has reached an all-time high as boundaries get pushed farther and records continue to be broken.

This breakfast of appreciation served not only as a way to acknowledge the success the female athletes of PHS have had, but also foster a sense of support within the sporting community. For years to come, PHS staff members such as Mrs. Waddell hope to continue the push toward encouraging female athletes in the community. “We have an opportunity to bring more awareness to female athletes and to show our support and help lift up, inspire and empower young women,” Waddell said.