Six-Player basketball is a game that was played almost
exclusively in the state of Iowa. Six-player
basketball developed in an era that considered women weaker. The era also maintained that women should be well
mannered in both dress and actions. The sport-rivaled boy’s basketball
both in popularity with fans and revenues it created. Until its complete demise in 1993, Six-Player
basketball was part of Iowa’s State identity.
Though the courts concluded that Six-player basketball stereotyped and
discriminated against women, its demise was not a positive development because
of the loss of the Iowan State identity, the players and revenues of the sport.
The six-player girl’s basketball became part of the
Iowan State Identity. The game
reinforced Iowans beliefs and kept the culture together in an increasingly less
populated rural life in America.[1] The De Moines Register gave as much
publication and coverage to the six-player girls basketball as with men’s
basketball. The coverage the Register gave to the sport strengthened
the support, as well as built a “complex ideology”.[2] Some girls described the game and
championship as the most exciting event, other than bearing children, in their
life.[3] Girls all over the state would read these
publications and use the girls as their heroes.
According to
citizens, the hub of any community was the school. If the “hub” had a prominent powerhouse team,
the rural town was more than likely able to survive, if they did not it would
drop. For example, the town of Farragut
won the National Championship in 1971. Twenty-Five years later, without a
repeat National Championship, the school’s enrollment was down 30%.
The demise of six-player girl’s basketball is directly
related to the passing of Title IX of
the Education Amendments of 1972.
The legislation reads, “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.”[4] This
legislation was used in judicial decisions to conclude the six-player
basketball discriminated against women because the sport was not equally
comparable to men’s basketball.
Instead of viewing the sport as not comparable to men’s
basketball, it should have been viewed as a separate sport altogether. The game itself had developed traditions so
early and so firmly that even though game administrators felt compelled to
defend the game, the competitors were did not feel they were intruding on a
“masculine” game.[5]
Variations in sports that contain as much differences as Six-player basketball
and Five-player basketball should have been considered two separate sports. The court was separated into two halves. Each team had six players on the court. Three purely were defensive and three were
purely offensive. Guards could not
shoot, only forwards could shoot. The
ball could only be dribbled 2 times before a pass or shot. After a FG, the ball would be taken to half
court to be thrown in by the opposing team.
This game was a variation of the men’s basketball game, it was not meant
to be comparable to men’s basketball.
The amount of players participating in six-player
basketball was considerably higher before Title IX. 50% of high school athletes were female,
which is progressively higher than the rest of the nation. Of those athletes, 70% participated in
six-player basketball. This was the
highest level of participation in the entire nation. After Title IX in 1972 and the demise of
six-player basketball in 1993, 42% of all participants in Iowan high school
sports were female. After the switch to five-player basketball, the amount of
female athletes went down considerably, as the athlete gets older. For every 10 seventh graders, 2.2 were
continuing to play basketball as seniors.[6] This
could be attributed to several reasons. Five-player
basketball is more strenuous and takes considerable more skill. Another reason is that five-player basketball
is full court, which means the sport is more exhausting. The level of skill needed to play five-player
basketball severely limits the amount of female athletes who can play.
At its peak in 1978, six-player girl’s basketball had
generated 11,000 fans per game, which brought in $748,000 in revenues. This was virtually equal with the boy’s
basketball. If finances are indicative
of health, six-player was very successful.[7] As the
switch to five-player basketball commenced, these figures went down
considerably, because the game had lost its roots in rural places in Iowa.
After
Title IX, the development in Iowa was not positive because it diminished the
amount of female athletes playing basketball, and removed the traditions from
an institution. It was not positive
because the State lost a cultural icon, while losing fans and revenue at the
same time. The State overall did not
improve from the demise of six-player basketball; it was a step backwards for
the Iowans.
[1]
McElwain, Max. The Only Dance in Iowa: A History of Six-Player Girls’
Basketball. (University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, KY London) 187
[2]
Ibid. 49
[3]
Ibid. 53
[4]
McElwain, Max. The Only Dance in Iowa: A History of Six-Player Girls’
Basketball. (University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, KY London) 133
[5]
Ibid. 192
[6]
McElwain, Max. The Only Dance in Iowa: A History of Six-Player Girls’
Basketball. (University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, KY London) Appendix C
[7]Ibid.
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