Photo by Jeffrey F Lin on Unsplash
On National Women in Sports Day 2025, the Voice in Sport Foundation held a briefing on Capitol Hill to discuss the Fair Play for Women Act, which would address the inequalities in sports between men and women. VIS is an organization dedicated to providing a voice for women in sports through research, advocacy, and education.
The event was kicked off with a speech by Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), who is the main sponsor of the reintroduction of the bill in the Senate. Murphy made it clear that the inequities between men’s and women’s sports must end, saying that “the major gap in resources and opportunities between women’s and men’s sports is a blatant Title IX violation.”
Title IX is the driving force and foundational aspect of this legislation. Originally enacted in 1972, the act was intended to guarantee equal treatment and opportunities for male and female students and employees in educational settings. It states, “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”
When you apply this law to athletics, almost 99% of colleges and universities must comply with Title IX and provide equal opportunities, scholarships, access to equipment, and representation to both men and women in sports.
Surprisingly, although this law was enacted more than 50 years ago, there are many schools that do not currently comply. Nine student-athletes from around the country came to the briefing to confirm this by sharing their personal experiences of inequity in sports. These girls came from schools like Harvard, Georgetown, Howard, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and Elon University. Even though they all come from diverse backgrounds and schools, their stories were all too similar. From gross scholarship inequalities, underpaid and understaffed coaches, and inadequate access to equipment to a blatant misrepresentation of the student population versus participation in women’s sports, these issues persist. This leads to a decreased rate of women working and participating in sports, from high school to the collegiate level.
The Fair Play for Women Act seeks to address these issues in a number of ways:
- State and intercollegiate athletic associations, including the NCAA, cannot discriminate based on sex;
- Asserting non-discrimination protections within all school-based athletics, including club and intramural sports;
- Authorizing the Department of Education to levy civil penalties on schools that repeatedly discriminate against athletes;
- Establishing a one-stop shop for key athletics data by expanding the scope and detail of reporting by colleges, extending these requirements to include athletics at elementary and secondary schools; and
- Requiring Title IX trainings on an annual basis for all athletes, Title IX coordinators, and athletic department and athletic association staff.
With these changes, the widespread non-compliance of Title IX from schools across the nation will cease to exist. This bill hopes to hold schools accountable for non-compliance and create ways for more students to be informed on their rights. By ensuring that schools are properly monitored and penalized for violations, this bill aims to create a fairer, more equitable environment for female athletes at all levels. If successfully implemented, this legislation has the potential to transform the landscape of women’s sports, encouraging greater participation, investment, and respect for female athletes across the country.
