The Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) decided on Friday, January 16 that the girls’ soccer season, which has taken place in the spring for the last 28 years, will become a fall sport starting in the 2009-2010 school year. The change comes after the PSAL faced pressure from parents and the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) to switch the girls’ season from the spring to the fall.

Both groups argued that having girls play in the spring while boys play during the fall, the customary season for soccer, is a violation of Title IX, a federal law guaranteeing gender equality in education, which is often extended to cases involving school-based athletics. They claim that this is unfair because most college recruiting of high school teams happens in the fall, limiting girls’ exposure to scouts. In addition, most private club teams play in the spring, so girls who participate in both club and PSAL soccer are faced with scheduling conflicts and are more prone to injury from excessive practicing. Although the NYCLU threatened to sue on behalf of three students from the Bronx High School of Science, Beacon High School and School of the Future, no actual lawsuit was ever filed.

Because the decision is effective beginning in the 2009-2010 school year, Stuyvesant’s girls’ varsity soccer team, the Mimbas, will play in both the spring and the fall of 2009.

“Playing in the fall will be better for the team in terms of recruiting new players,” said junior Devika Gurung, who currently runs track in the fall but said she would play soccer instead next year. “Freshmen starting out the year will be looking to join teams, as opposed to halfway through the year, when that same interest may have dwindled.”

In general, however, members of the Mimbas do not support the switch.

“It will be stressful because I’ll be applying to colleges,” said junior Ali Greenberg, who does not play a fall sport. “It will definitely be an issue for people who have a fall sport, because they may choose to play a different sport over soccer, which could cause a problem for the team.”

Indeed, the decision poses a conflict for girls who play other sports during the fall season. Junior Cassandra Lee, who has played football during the fall for the past three years, is not yet sure which sport she will play next fall. “At first I was really upset,” Lee said. “Some people say it’s not a big deal, but it’s affected a lot of the girls on the team. It’s really inconvenient.”

In addition, some players claim the switch will benefit only those players seriously trying to get exposed to college scouts, a minority in the PSAL. “It doesn’t affect most people,” senior Morgan Browning said of the reasons why the switch was made. “It only affects you if you are playing for club and trying to get recruited.” Although Browning does play for a club team, she doesn’t support the season switch.

Also, many coaches around the city who coach both their school’s boys’ and girls’ teams are faced with a dilemma, since they can’t coach two teams at once. This could result in large-scale coaching vacancies. Last year, Adam Goldstein coached both teams, but it was announced this fall, before the PSAL’s decision, that physical education teacher Suzanne Lendzian would become the new girls’ coach, thus avoiding any such conflict.

Lendzian, who will not be teaching at Stuyvesant in the spring but still plans to coach the Mimbas, is very excited to be the girls’ soccer coach. While she personally has no preference over playing soccer in the spring or fall, she acknowledges the difficulty that the simultaneous seasons could present. Significant problems can arise due to the lack of available field space, since boys’ soccer, girls’ soccer, varsity and junior varsity football will now all have to share facilities, since they all practice at Pier 40. “Practice time will be a little harder because [the girls] need a large enough field to practice game skills,” Lendzian said. “Girls’ practices could be affected if the boys have a game.”

Lendzian also mentioned that New York City is one of the only districts in the state in which the girls play during the spring. “This makes it harder to compete in events like the state championships,” she said.

In addition to these issues, there is also a shortage of qualified referees. Though the PSAL says both the girls’ and the boys’ teams will play the same number of games, both their seasons may be shortened to accommodate the difficulties posed by the decision. Although the season switch certainly helps girls seeking exposure to college scouts, many Mimbas will encounter only the detriments of the change.