St. Mary’s Academy is doing something special in May….they are celebrating the 40th anniversary of Title IX (Title Nine).  I have often referred to myself as “a Title Nine Girl” because I entered high school the year that Title Nine went into effect.  What did this mean?  Practically speaking for girls like me who had one sport offered at my high school, the school had to provide sports for us if asked.  I did not realize that at the time but asked for a basketball team for girls.  The Principal, Mr. Len Bergstrom, coached us two or three nights a week then we would go out and get shellacked by our opponents!  We had a blast!  We made our uniforms.  My Aunt made our black shorts and we silkscreened white tee shirts for our uniform tops.  We looked really bad but we had the time of our lives!  By the time I finished high school we had equity with the boys in sports.  In the fall of 1975 the school purchased new uniforms for the girls (I had just graduated).  Girls practices at that time did have to fit in after the boys practices but that in time changed as well.

If you are a Title IX Girl, I hope you will join me in attending this event at St. Mary’s Academy. I think it will be a lot of fun! I would like to hear some comments on your experience of Title IX.

Click on the flier below:

Flier PDF

Look for 7th Grade Girls and Boys Championship Videos after Thursday.  We have some technical difficulty that we are working out.  Stay Tuned!  Thank you!

Valley Catholic CYO 5th Grade Boys Beaverton, Oregon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPFbZvYToz8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

7th Grade Girls City Championships The Grudge Match Continues – Reposted.

2012

8^th Grade Girls CYO City Championship

All Saints vs St. Therese

Highlights:

A very athletic contest between two very talented teams. Several

Of these girls will undoubtedly go on to play high school basketball.

All Saints Girls win!

Look for video replay of this game later in the week.

8 Girls All Saints CYO BXB Champions 2012

8 Girls St. Therese CYO City Basketball Second Place 2012

The goals of the CYO sport philosophy are basically to provide our Catholic school and parish youth with an opportunity to participate in sports and in the process teach and support the Gospel values.

Our philosophy and values are very different from those of other youth sport programs.  Ours are different because we invite Christ to be a participating member of our game, all four quarters.  In addition, we expect all of our participants to participate a specified amount of time in every contest including tournament play.

In a perfect CYO world, our athletes, coaches and officials would play their parts in a CYO contest, afterwards they would congratulate one another, win or lose, thank the officials and perhaps strike up a friendship with a player from the opposite team.

For the most part that is what takes place at many of our Saturday contests.  The CYO football program has helped athletes from schools get to know one another.  Two to five schools may go together to form a region football club in CYO.  Participants play together as a team for football and against one another in basketball and other sports.

It is always edifying to me to watch professional sport participants congratulate friends on opposing teams after a contest.  The actions send a message that these participants have a healthy perspective of the game and respect their opponents. They see the contest as an event that ends when the buzzer sounds.  It does not continue into the locker room or off the field into the parking lot.

The CYO philosophy does not end when an athlete graduates from the eighth grade and moves on to high school.   This respect that Christ modeled for us and calls us to show to one another includes our high school sport participation.

If we are serious about living the Gospel values, then Jesus should be in the game all four quarters win or lose.  After the game he can be seen shaking hands with his opponents again, win or lose.

Yes, that’s right, Jesus is in the game all four quarters if you and I and our coach give witness to Jesus in our actions toward one another including our opponents!

2012

CYO 6th Grade Boys City Championship

St. PIus X vs Valley Catholic

A fast paced game between two talented teams.

Incredible 4th quarter come back with 2:28 left to go in the game Valley Catholic surpasses St. Pius X with a one point margin at 53 – 52.  St. PIus # 3 fouls out and momentum shifts to Valley Catholic with two minutes left in the game.  Fan participation on both sides add to dynamics.  Great game and great boys.

Q 1 – 16 – 12 – St. Pius X

Q 2 – 29 – 21 – St. PIus X

Q 3 – 51 – 39 – St. Pius X

Q 4 – 61 – 58 Valley Catholic

6th Grade Boys CYO City Champions – Valley Catholic 2012