This is an old debate that I thought had been settled years ago.<p>Show me a scientific survey that proves the average girl is just as strong and athletic as the average boy. If you can't, then you're doing a disservice to the girls by putting them into a genderless field that disadvantages them by ignoring reality.<p>Just look at world records in track and field by gender. Usain Bolt is almost a full second faster in the 100 meter than any woman *ever*. 18 and under males in high school competitions routinely beat women all time world records.<p>It's obvious that there are very few women that can compete successfully in a genderless athletic arena. So in what way would eliminating gender in sports be fair or beneficial to women? The net effect would be to deny them the opportunity to compete against their most obvious, logical and natural peers.<p>Absent some sort of gender based quota system, genderless athletics would deny a lot of women the opportunity to participate at all. Is this really the goal?
I have struggled to find a stretching workout with the ability to work out if you are a man. Fortunately, I found it on the other side of the city. Despite the fact that 90% of the visitors are young girls, I believe that this is an absolutely healthy sport for any gender and age.