I believe that girls are treated differently in sports compared to boys.

By watching TV you can tell the difference between men’s and women’s sports. When watching the NBA and the WNBA, you can right away tell the difference.

Some say men are more aggressive when playing sports or more competitive. Others just say that women can’t play sports well. I disagree. Women play sports with the same passion and desire to win as men.

And while how they play the game might be different, male and female athletes need to be treated the same.

A female tennis player named Alize Cornet got a violation in 2018 for removing her shirt on the court even though she only took off her shirt because it was backwards.

Male tennis players change their clothes on the court all the time. Some even change their shorts. It really shouldn’t have mattered because she was wearing a sports bra.

This is just one example of an unfair double standard female athletes face.

I hate that girls have to pitch underhand while playing softball, and boys get to throw overhand during baseball. Why is there even such a thing as softball? It should just be girls’ baseball and boys’ baseball.

There are some girls who throw just as well as boys, but we still have to pitch underhand. Some people think that it is because that’s the rules of softball. But why was softball made a different sport with a different ball to begin with?

The rules for softball and baseball should be the same, no different, so things are fair.

It’s also not fair that male athletes get paid way more than female athletes even though they are doing the same sport. Many men make millions a year while women struggle to even find a team without the league folding soon after.

While professional women’s soccer is back in the United States, players went several years unable to play because the league folded. Also, softball is no longer an Olympic sport. There are no professional options for softball players after college.

Male sports have higher production values, higher-quality coverage and higher-quality commentary. You could look at any world record or watch a men’s game and a woman’s game back-to-back. The difference is real, and it’s impossible to ignore.

Women in sports are still underpaid and undervalued.

A great example is Kristi Tolliver, the first active WNBA player to serve as an assistant coach on a male NBA team, the Washington Wizards.

Due to an unfair rule that limits what WNBA players can make in the off season, Tolliver is only making $10,000 for the season. Peer male assistant coaches can make millions.

Even if the Washington Wizards wanted to pay her more, and they do, they can’t because of old rules that need to be changed.

It’s time to make women as valued as men in professional sports and to allow for similar rules in high school for sports.