It is 2014. It’s about time we give girls equal opportunities in the world of sports. You may be thinking that women have already achieved these rights, and that this is just a tired issue. However, you would be able to see just how false that statement is if you were to look at Cherry Hill East’s softball fields. If we were to compare the baseball and softball fields, it would be just to say that the boys have a cathedral to baseball, a field equipped with proper scoreboards, dugouts and round the clock maintenance.  On the other hand, the girls softball team has what can only be described as a rundown slab of dirt riddled with safety hazards and weeds.

The girl’s softball fields are in absolute shambles practically year round. Even during springtime at the very height of the softball season, the outfield is covered in holes and divots that would cause, at the very least, a twisted ankle. It is time for Cherry Hill East to make a change and renovate those fields.

People will say, “Well it’s the softball programs fault for not getting the proper funding.” That is absolutely not the problem. The problem is the mentality of the Cherry Hill community itself. We as a society systematically think to support the baseball team as opposed to the softball team because it’s America’s pastime, and the more attractive choice. Parents and boosters have been eager and willing to donate to the boys programs because that is the culture that we have created.  Why wouldn’t you donate to the more engrained program? Our society was set up so as to first provide to the boys athletic programs, and then give whatever is left over to the girls. Only recently has the system adopted change.

This is an equality issue. All over Cherry Hill there is a distinct lack of softball fields. According to The Hidden Demographics of Youth Sports, 17 percent of female adolescents play softball. That percentage is not far off from the 24 percent of male adolescents who play baseball. However boys are given every advantage in quality and quantity. It is only fair that girls are given the chance to succeed in sports just as much as boys are.

It is my hope that one day the girl’s softball fields are given just as much care as the boy’s field receive, and that both programs are equal in terms of funding. Girl’s softball should be just as important as boy’s baseball.