WIAA is committed to strong athletic programs for all of its students.  This means that there should be separate and equal programs for boys and girls. School districts are urged to work toward this goal.

In view of the 1975 State Attorney General's opinion, the opinion of WIAA attorneys, and considering 1983 and 1985 interpretations of Title lX regulations, the following policy statement is made:

1.                If there are within a single sport two teams, one for boys and one for girls, boys should play on the boys' team and girls should play on the girls' team.

2.                School districts may maintain separate athletic teams for boys and girls if it can be shown that it is the best way to provide students of both sexes an equal opportunity to engage in a sport (e.g., Tackle Football for boys, Volleyball for girls), and if the two separate programs provide substantially equal opportunities for competition, instruction, publicity and awards.

3.                If school districts do not provide similar or equal programs for boys and girls, members of the opposite sex cannot be denied the privilege of turning out for a given team; and no school or school district may impose sanctions of any kind upon a coeducational team.

4.                In addition to developing strong athletic programs for boys and girls, school districts should be considering coeducational programs in appropriate sports.

Definition of "Boys Team/Girls Team and Mixed Team"

The following clarification of this Position Statement adopted by the Executive Board on May 4, 1987:

School districts are encouraged to continue to provide equal opportunity for boys and girls in all sports.

Girls may, at the discretion of the local school board, participate with boys in any interscholastic activity if there is no girls team or equal opportunity for participation.  Any team consisting of both boys and girls shall be considered a boys’ team and may compete only against other boys’ teams.  If a girl competes on a boys’ team in cross country, golf or tennis, the girl is not eligible for the boys’ state championship but is eligible to attempt to qualify for the girls’ state championship in that sport.

Participation:  Limitation Based on Gender.

Only students regularly enrolled in schools which are members of the WIAA in grades 7 to 12 inclusive may participate in the program of the WIAA and may represent only the school in which they are enrolled unless otherwise provided for by WIAA rules.  Schools shall designate the sex of students allowed to participate on a team for each sport on the WIAA membership forms according to the following standards:

1.                If the school provides only a team for boys for a particular sport, girls may compete and qualify for the boys' team.

2.                If the school provides only a team for girls in a particular sport, the boys may not compete and qualify for the team unless opportunities for boys to participate in other sports in the school have been limited in comparison to the opportunities for girls to participate in other sports in the school.

3.                If the school provides a team for boys and a team for girls in the same sport, girls may not compete and qualify for the boys' team in that sport and boys may not compete and qualify for the girls' team in that sport.

NOTE:  The State Board of Education approved the Position Statement on Boys' and Girls' Programs with the following qualifications or disclaimer (adopted May 31, 1985):

This policy is approved only insofar as the second sentence of the opening paragraph, and paragraphs 1. and 2. of the policy are applied solely to grades 7 through 12 and with the further exception of the unequivocal statement that volleyball for girls and football for boys, or vice versa, qualifies as the provision of an equal opportunity and substantial equality in all cases (any case of separate teams and/or separate sports at the grade 7 through 12 level based upon sex must be justified and defended on the basis of the facts peculiar to that case).