Manasquan Elementary had just one gym, and before the coaches pulled out the big divider to give the boys and girls basketball teams equal halves, the boys spent a good 30 minutes each day with the court to themselves. It was the late 1970s, and although Title IX had brought the concept of equality to women’s sports, the nuts and bolts of the federal law had yet to find their way to the hallways of the school on the Jersey shore.
While the boys practiced at 94 feet, the girls headed to the cafeteria. Sneakers skidding and ponytails swinging, they pushed the tables and chairs against the walls and worked on basic ballhandling drills or whatever fundamental work they could squeeze into the cramped space. Once the boys were finished, the girls returned to the gym — that is, to their side of the divider. They never practiced on the full court.
The girls didn’t think about it, certainly never complained that it was inherently unfair. When Doris Sable…
