North Texas Daily

She steps up to the 3-point line and sinks it in adding four points to the team’s score. Wait, four points?

Yes, four points. The women who take part in the UNT intramural system are given the “reward” of receiving more points than men when they contribute to the team.

And while the intramural staff said the rule is in place so the co-ed teams involve their women more, it just makes this female feel depreciated.

In flag football, when a woman is at quarterback on a play that results in a touchdown, or if a woman scores the touchdown, it counts as nine points instead of six.

In soccer, both indoor and outdoor, a goal by a woman counts as two points. And in basketball, when a female scores a 2-point shot, it counts as three, and a 3-pointer counts as four.

Many women are athletic, growing up on the field instead of playing with dolls. They train as hard as men, they push as hard as men and often pay attention as good as men. Women are athletes too.

Yet when they step onto the IM court or field with men, apparently the only way to show we are good is to allow us more points.

Some teams have women who aren’t the best players and like to have fun, which is all right in intramural sports.

The men on those teams will never pass to their female teammates though, so the rule won’t help them, and the women still feel useless.

The smart, winning teams generally take advantage of the bonus that comes with having female players. They know they have good female athletes and they come into every game knowing they can use them. They would use women regardless of the extra points because they make the team better.

The University of Texas has no rule like this in coed leagues in basketball. At Texas A&M, all shots made by a woman count as three points, including 3-pointers.

At other Texas colleges, they have the same or similar rules as UNT when it comes to soccer and football. Football is more understandable, because it is a more male-dominated sport, but the soccer rules seem foolish.

At A&M and Texas Christian University, only two males are allowed on the basketball court at a time. TCU takes it a step further by also having the same scoring rules at UNT.

The problem with this is that men may end up not wanting to play in co-ed leagues because the rules seem stacked in favor of women. It’s a shame because the point of co-ed leagues is to allow women the challenge and fun of going against men and vice versa.

Let’s be honest, a woman loves it when she jukes a guy and drives right past him and his awe-struck teammates for a lay-up. She doesn’t need the extra point to feel good about it. A woman feels great when she makes a one-handed touchdown catch because it was an amazing grab, not because of the extra points.

Women want equality. We don’t want to be handed achievements. We want to earn them. So go ahead and keep the extra points. Our teams can win without them.

Audra Stamp is a journalism junior. She can be reached at AudraStamp@my.unt.edu.