In 1972 Title IX of the Education Amendments Act prohibited gender discrimination in public and private educational institutions that receive federal financial aid. Although it originally covered education in general, many individuals and groups used the law to successfully challenge male dominance in high school and college athletics. The regulations have been expanded over the years, and Title IX is credited with substantially increasing the number and visibility of female athletes in American society. In the following selection from the 1975 regulations, Congress clarifies the meaning of the provisions in Title IX.
Section 86.37 Athletic scholarships or grants-in-aid must provide reasonable opportunities for each sex in proportion to the students of each sex participating in interscholastic or intercollegiate athletics. However, separate awards for members of each sex may be provided as part of separate athletic teams. . . .
Section 86.41 . . . A recipient may operate or sponsor separate teams for each sex where selection is based on competitive skill or the activity involvedis a contact sport. However, where a recipient operates or sponsors a team in a particular sport for only one sex and athletic opportunities for the other sex have previously been limited, members of the excluded sex must be allowed to try out for the team offered unless the sport involved is a contact sport. Contact sports include boxing, wrestling, rugby, ice hockey, football, basketball, and other sports mainly involving bodily contact. . . .
Unequal aggregate expenditures for each sex, or unequal expenditures for male and female teams does not constitute noncompliance with this section, but the failure to provide necessary funds for teams for one sex may be considered in assessing equality of athletic opportunity.
Source: Education Committee of the States, A Digest of Federal Laws and Regulations Affecting Equal Rights for Women in Education (Denver, CO: Education Commission of the States, 1976), 16–21.