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Almost four decades after the federal education law called Title IX opened the door for girls to participate in high school and college athletics, a crucial question has remained unanswered: Do sports make a long-term difference in a woman’s life?

A large body of research shows that sports are associated with all sorts of benefits, like lower teenage pregnancy rates, better grades and higher self-esteem. But until now, no one has determined whether those improvements are a direct result of athletic participation. It may be that the type of girl who is attracted to sports already has the social, personal and physical qualities — like ambition, strength and supportive parents — that will help her succeed in life.

Now, separate studies from two economists offer some answers, providing the strongest evidence yet that team sports can result in lifelong improvements to educational, work and health prospects. At a time when the first lady, Michelle Obama, has begun a nationwide campaign to improve schoolchildren’s health, the lessons from Title IX show that school-based fitness efforts can have lasting effects.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 required schools and colleges receiving federal money to provide the same opportunities for girls as they did for boys. Relatively few students, male or female, participate in intercollegiate sports. But the effects in high school were remarkable. Just six years after the enactment of Title IX, the percentage of girls playing team sports had jumped sixfold, to 25 percent from about 4 percent.

Most research on Title IX has looked at national trends in girls’ sports. Betsey Stevenson, an economist at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, has taken it a step further, focusing on state-by-state variations.

“I looked to see what it means to add sports to girls’ lives,” she said. “How does it change things for them?”

States with large boys’ sports programs had to make bigger changes to achieve parity than states with smaller programs. Looking at the state-by-state statistics allowed Dr. Stevenson to narrow her focus, comparing differences in sports participation with differences in women’s educational and work achievement.

So her study untangles the effects of sports participation from other confounding factors — school size, climate, social and personal differences among athletes — and comes far closer to determining a cause and effect relationship between high school sports participation and achievement later in life.

Using a complex analysis, Dr. Stevenson showed that increasing girls’ sports participation had a direct effect on women’s education and employment. She found that the changes set in motion by Title IX explained about 20 percent of the increase in women’s education and about 40 percent of the rise in employment for 25-to-34-year-old women.

“It’s not just that the people who are going to do well in life play sports, but that sports help people do better in life,” she said, adding, “While I only show this for girls, it’s reasonable to believe it’s true for boys as well.”

Another question is whether Title IX has made a difference in women’s long-term health. In a carefully conducted study, Robert Kaestner, an economics professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, compared rates of obesity and physical activity of women who had been in high school in the 1970s — as Title IX was taking effect — with similar women from earlier years. Controlling the results for other influences, like age and changing diets, Dr. Kaestner was able to tease out the effects Title IX had on women’s health.

He found that the increase in girls’ athletic participation caused by Title IX was associated with a 7 percent lower risk of obesity 20 to 25 years later, when women were in their late 30s and early 40s. His article was published this month in the journal Evaluation Review.

Dr. Kaestner notes that while a 7 percent decline in obesity is modest, no other public health program can claim similar success. And other studies have shown that even a small drop in weight can lower risk for diabetes and other health problems.

There is still room for improvement. Today about 1 in 3 high school girls play sports, compared with about half of all boys. And participation varies widely by state, according to Dr. Stevenson’s research. Southern states like Alabama, Louisiana and Tennessee still have big gender gaps, while Northern states like Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Vermont are closer to parity.

“While we have more girls than ever before, we still have far more boys playing sports than girls,” said Nicole M. LaVoi, associate director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota. “The research clearly states that when anybody, boys and girls, are physically active, they can reap developmental and health benefits. But we haven’t reached equality yet.”

Full Article at NY Times by Tara Parker-Pope

Frankie Bamford is an extremely talented sophomore forward at La Jolla Country Day. Consistently putting up double digits, Bamford is fast becoming the go to player for his team. In a tough loss to the Francis Parker, Bamford had a double- double leading his team with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Bamford followed up one double-double game with another. In a win over Santa Fe Christian, Bamford finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocked shots while he helped his team to another win by finishing with 14 points and seven rebounds to beat out Clairemont. Bamford also led his team with 17 points in a loss to the Bishop’s School.

To view Frankie’s complete SportsForce profile click here – http://www.sportsforceonline.com/athletes/fbamford

Scouting report courtesy of SportsForce – Home for college Sports Recruiting Videos, Tips, Tools and Premium Services – www.sportsforceonline.com

With four of the top ten players in the nation undecided on where they will play ball, many of the top college recruiters will be working overtime this year. Plenty of big names are still up for grabs; most recognized is the massive offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson (2), who many believe is the best player in the nation and is expected to head to either Ohio State or Florida. Surely the return of Florida head coach Urban Meyer doesn’t hurt the Gators chances of landing Henderson. Keenan Allen (5), who has been compared to NFL star Ed Reed, is suspected to be a Clemson Tiger on signing day. Owamagbe Odighizuwa (8) is expected to leave Oregon in order to attend The University of Nebraska, while top ranked running back Marcus Lattimore (10) currently looks as if he’ll be staying home in South Carolina and playing for the Gamecocks. Other Notable predictions are Outside Linebacker Christian Jones (20) to stay in Florida to play for the Seminoles and Wide Receiver Markeith Ambles (24) to USC.

Wednesday February 3^rd is when all the college football recruiting speculation and uncertainty will end, but the day should not expire without a few surprises. Anything is possible since this is the last chance for many teams to improve their rosters in order to make a run at next year’s championship game. National Signing Day TV specials should be airing on local channels all across the country, so don’t forget to tune in as some of the most prestigious college football programs fight to the very end for the nation’s top remaining talent.

[ x] – Committed college

(#) – National ranking based from Rivals.com

The Gonzalez Sports Academy (GSA) offers:

29,000 square foot indoor facility
Speed & Agility Area
Two (2) 180 ft long running track
Weight Training Area
Four (4) Batting Cages
Strength & Conditioning
Two (2) Pitching Mounds
Juice Bar
Three (3) Professional size Volley Ball Courts
Gift Shop
Five (5) acres of outdoor training space

The Grand Opening promised a chance to explore the facility  and try out the training areas as well as a meet and greet with some pro-athletes including Adrian and Edgar Gonzalez, Tony Gwynn, Jr., Dave Roberts, Paul Molitor, Zeke Moreno and Nick Hundley. For more information on the GSA visit: http://gonzalezsportsacademy.com/

You know, the one Bob Stoops has built between San Diego and Norman, Oklahoma.

Stoops, looking to restore Oklahoma to national title contention in 2010, will do so with the help of a trio of San Diego talents.  All-time San Diego section receiving leader Kenny Stills and hard-hitting Eastlake star

Tony Jefferson both announced on Friday night that they will attend the University of Oklahoma next year, joining Scripps Ranch star Brennan Clay.  The threesome made their announcements at the KUSI Prep Pigskin Gala at the Hall of Champions.

Clay, who had committed months before to the Sooners, was thrilled to have his two talented Silver Pigskin finalists (Mission Bay’s Dillon Baxter won the trophy) join him in Norman:

Hear from all three of the newest Sooners after the jump:

Brennan Clay(full SportsForce profile here) was the first to commit to Oklahoma.  He joined 619 Sports immediately after the announcement of the Silver Pigskin award to talk about the honor of the evening and the process of luring Jefferson and Stills to join him in Norman:

Kenny Stills (full SportsForce profile here) had been heavily recruited by USC but wound up narrowing his choices to Florida, Michigan and Oklahoma.  In the end, Stills told 619 Sports the chance to team up with Jefferson and Clay, and to participate in the Sooners’ vaunted passing attack, was too much to pass up:

Tony Jefferson angered the Arroyo Seco when he first committed to UCLA, only to show up at the UCLA-USC game wearing Trojans garb.  After hearing the barbs from the Bruins, Jefferson withdrew his commitment to the Bruins and took a campus trip to Norman.  The rest was history, as he told 619 Sports:

With Jefferson in the secondary and Clay and Stills in the OU backfield, Boomer Sooner is picking up speed heading into 2010.

–Courtesy 619Sports.net

Baxter led Mission Bay to a 13-0 record and a D-IV San Diego Section championship, setting the all-time section single-season rushing record in the process.  Baxter carried 261 times for 2,974 rushing yards and 50 touchdowns, while throwing for 1,922 yards and 25 more touchdowns.

Baxter beat out Escondido’s Ricky Seale, LCC’s Kenny Stills, Eastlake’s Tony Jefferson, Scripps Ranch’s Brennan Clay, and Valhalla’s Pete Thomas for the yearly honor (all pictured above).

After the announcement, Baxter spoke with 619 Sports about the honor, his future at USC, and the challenge of potentially matching up with Oklahoma and their three new San Diego stars in the future:

–Courtesy 619Sports.net