It is no secret the Pittsburg High School has a rich history in men’s sports, especially football. I recently visited Pittsburg Historical Society located in Downtown Pittsburg. During my visit, I found myself most interested in the sports section. I quickly noticed one thing. 

The one thing I noticed was that the room was full of awards and recognitions. Of course, it is wonderful to see and know that Pittsburg High School and the city itself has developed talented athletes, but it certainly caught me eye to see that all those awards were awarded to men. 

There was only a very small section that actually recognized female athletes and women’s sports in the city of Pittsburg. But these recognitions did not consist of medals or plaques. Instead, these recognitions were just newspaper cutouts that acknowledged female athletes. While this may seem pretty cool, that the stories are written about these women and the school and city recognized them, the room was full of plaques and awards that were for men. 

This culture and way of thinking has to change. It is almost 2020, it is time to support other sports offered by PHS. As a Pittsburg High School alum from the graduating Class of 2018, the one thing I noticed was that most of the sports funding went to the football team, which as you can guess is male. 

The women’s sports as well as the other men’s sports offered at Pittsburg High School often do not have successful seasons because of the low budgeting. Let me put it this way, imagine that the Pittsburg High School Football team received the same amount of low funding that the women’s sports receive, it is almost certain that they would not have the rich history that they have always had. The “better” sports get more funding which then leads to more wins and more attention.

It is no secret that Pittsburg has talented athletes in sports including soccer, baseball, softball, and track and field. 

Yes, football is “America’s sport,” but that is beginning to shift. Soccer is quickly growing, softball is growing, basketball is growing, especially in the Bay Area. One thing that is in common for those sports is that they are growing on the women’s side. The United States Women’s National Soccer Team won their second consecutive FIFA Women’s World Cup this past summer, the Women’s National Basketball Association is growing in support, and the National Pro Fastpitch, the professional softball league in the U.S., is expanding in its upcoming season. 

It is now time to support sports other than football. Pittsburg, open your eyes and see that the sports diversity is rich much like our city and culture.