THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 21, 1995 TAG: 9510210412
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Tom Robinson
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
Jaci Morris and Shawnita Jackson don't play sports at Western Branch High School because they want to be less likely than non-athletic females to get breast cancer.
They don't play because they understand that, somewhere in their future, they'll be more likely to leave an abusive man.
They don't play to learn how to be strong, though that has been an obvious spinoff effect from their time on the fields and courts.
So to these teenagers, the intriguing Nike commercial that has run for two months, the ``If you let me play'' ad, has been preaching to the choir.
When they first saw the commercial, nothing from it jumped out at them. That's because they already knew, or at least sensed, this stuff.
``This makes you think about it,'' says Jackson, holding a copy of the commercial's script, ``but you don't really think about it before you play.''
To the delight of Nike's sloganeering department, Western Branch's female athletic director Chris Ake chimes in: ``Yeah, you just do it, like in the ad.''
On the screen, adolescent girls on a playground make declarative statements culled from research provided by the Women's Sports Foundation:
``If you let me play sports ...''
``I will like myself more ...''
``I will have more self-confidence ...''
``I will be 60 percent less likely to get breast cancer ...''
``I will suffer less depression ...''
``I will be more likely to leave a man who beats me ...''
``I will be less likely to get pregnant before I want to ...''
``I will learn what it means to be strong ...''
Remembering that Nike's primary motive is to sell athletic gear to parents of daughters, the company can be cited for its straightforward presentation of the benefits of sports to young girls.
Some have taken knee-jerk shots at the ``If you let me'' premise, reacting to the notion that girls need to ask permission. A cross country coach in Ohio, typing on the Internet, reports that her girls mock the commercial, ridiculing the ``If you let me'' mantra as syrupy and dumb.
OK, make it ``If I play sports ...'' The larger idea here is awareness, and that's good and needed in a world where males, despite Title IX legislation, enjoy wider avenues and acceptance in organized sports, including college scholarship opportunities.
The good word about sports for any gender, though, seems to be getting out. The National Federation of State High School Associations says high school sports enjoyed their second-largest participation level during the 1994-95 school year, including a record number of girls.
The federation counted 2,240,461 girls, an increase of more than 115,000, who took part in a high school athletic program last year.
Like their 2.2 million sisters, Jackson, a junior who runs cross country and track, and Morris, a senior who plays volleyball, basketball and softball, play because sports are fun and have long been part of their lives.
Both say an athletic scholarship is their goal, but falling short wouldn't lessen the value of sports to them. They are better for having played, and will continue to be.
``I have to play,'' Morris says. ``Even if I didn't go to college, I'd have to play sports.''
That's one more role model for girls on the rise. And two more feet for Nike to outfit for years to come. by CNB