The "Girls And Boys Working Together To Achieve The Same Result!" Story

 It was an ordinary day.  Reading about both female and male athletes being on the same team.  There are very few teams in high school sports that have both male and female members on the same team.  Can you name one?  How about two?  Many schools do not allow both sexes on the same team if physical contact takes place.  I know of a football team who had a young girl on the team, but she kicks extra points and field goals.  Then there was a track team that had a girl who did the pole vault.  And...how about the high school team that had a girl, or should I say girls, who were on the rifle team.  Oh yeah!  That would have been my team.  Tough to find a team today that has both males and females on the same athletic team.  Just doesn't go together.  Too many problems involved.  But, I have read that if a girl wants to be on the soccer team and there is no girls soccer team, they can be on the boys team.  How is it in your area?  I recently read a story about a young girl who wanted to play baseball, but it was back in the 1950s and you just didn't do things like that back then.  Well, some things have changed over the years.   I can attest to that!  I was named rifle coach at Manheim Township  High School and we had both girls and boys on the same team.  I know...that's a bit different, since no physical contact takes place in rifle.  Well, I became coach in 1971 and we had a good team in my first year.  Not because I was a good shot, but because I could communicate well with both boys and girls.   Actually, I had only fired a rifle a few times in my life, but I also owed my Principal a favor, so I agreed to be the rifle coach.  The first year I had three girls and about 20 boys on the team.  We did well for my first year as coach.  The second year I had the same three girls and most of the same boys.   I added a few more underclassmen, both boys and girls, and we looked to be a good team.  They all trusted me to help them with the correct amount of adjustments needed for a perfect target.  They did so good that we traveled to State College, Pennsylvania for the State Championship.  Each team was allowed 10 shooters.  I had 7 boys and 3 girls on the team that was going for the title.  We easily won the State Title in 1972.  The boys trusted the girls and the girls trusted their male teammates.  I'll never forget that team that had both male and female shooters on it who helped each other prepare for their session on the range.  I know it is very different than most other sports, but yet it is still much the same.  The fight for equality in athletics could take a look at my rifle team and maybe get some pointers.  That State Championship team was also picked as the best sports team in Lancaster County that year.  Something I will always be proud of, both for myself as well as for the team members.  Both girls and boys worked together to achieve something that may never happen again!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.