http://www.usatriathlon.org/News_Info/demographics.htm
And notice that the older females are not participating as much?
Why are we getting more younger women but can’t snag the older ladies?
(Not that I’m complaining. I just hate it when a 70 year old woman goes flying by me on the run. :)-)
-Robert
Why? I think the answer is here*:
Top 20 USA Triathlon-Sanctioned Races in 2002 by Participation
Event Participants
*Danskin Seattle 3,553
Mrs. T°s-Olympic 3.326
Wildflower-Olympic 2,233
*Danskin-Dallas 2,179
*Danskin-Denver 2,171
*Danskin-Madison 1,917
Plus, the growth of tri clubs, especially ones geared to beginners or that have good social aspects, is a big draw. My club had grown to nearly 400 members in the past couple of years and the Tri & Give program we developed is probably 80% female. Plus, there is a women’s only tri club/training group here and they have very healthy numbers every year. Kind of the “if you build it, they will come” thing.
As for the older age groups? Don’t know. Do people who have been around for a while not stick with it? That would be something interesting to follow-up on.
clm
Is the Danskin series still alive and well? I thought it had been dropped.
But, maybe the number of successful women’s only races suggests that race directors need to be doing something different to attract women to the races with men? Start them first? Have their races on a different day?
This can’t be a solidarity thing I know. 
Maybe it’s the “I don’t like going to the gym with all those men gawking at me” problem?
Anyway, this is a salutory development in terms of the younger women. Maybe older women just haven’t gotten the message that it’s ok to exercise…
-Robert
I think there are significant socio-cultural factors at work here also.
True.
-Robert
Sadly Triathlon gives women an ugly body. There are some exceptions to this rule, but on the whole girl triathletes are not hot/pretty.
Oh, I’ve noticed the same thing. All those women are dogs. Particularly the ones in the 18-70 age groups.
Freestyle, you are being naughty.
-Robert
Yes, just go over the hottie thread, and see all the dogs there.
I would write more, I have to go check that thread.
Not kidding! Sometimes I have erratic heart beats in races, which I attribute, typically, to a later starting 40 year old female flying by me at super-sonic speeds on the run and looking like JLo.
-Robert
You need to exam rule 5.10d, recently amended to allow drafting on the bike for distances not to exceed one mile in such cases. That rule change really improved my racing mindset.
The under 30 women are all post Title IX. Attitude among them is that is a sport sounds interesting, hey we’ll take a couple months, do some training and see how it goes. The over 50s grew up with a whole different mindset towards girls athletics.
The young women numbers are even more impressive when you figure its common for the 25-35 year olds to take some time away from the sport to go reproduce.
Yes, good points. I’m also impressed that the numbers of male and female participants in tri keep rising despite wide-spread obesity. Although some people complain about seeing “fatties” out there in races, I think it’s a good development as well.
As you and BenInFl know, I am a strong supporter of Title IX.
-Robert
Overall, I like the opportunities Title IX has given female athletes. I just hate how it’s implemented at the college level. Cut the number of football scholarships by 20% across the board, and you’ve still got a larger roster than both pro level and most high school. Then shift those men numbers around and you can preserve both the wrestling and cross country teams.
You’re preaching to the choir.
90% of all football programs lose money and most Division I teams are losing over one million dollars a year. How about a college football coach with a multi-million dollar contract? Sheezh…what a waste of resources. Swimming, wrestling and cross-country men’s teams do not have to be cut to have a workable football team.
-Robert
The table presents USAT membership rates, not participation rates. Membership rates may, or may not, be directly related to participation rates. There probably is a direct relationship, but you cannot tell from this data.
It’s really hard to quantify the economic impact of a football program on a college or university. When Illinois made the Rose Bowl in 1983 or so, an alumnus gave some absurd sum, the number $40,000,000 sticks in my mind although the story is second hand so I might have the number wrong, to build a new library. Was this counted as part of Illinois’s football revenue that year? Probably not, but it was directly related to the success of the football team. Many events, like homecoming, which generate a lot of alumni giving, are also structured around the football program. I say this as a minor sport athlete that used to gripe continually about the focus on our pathetic D3 football program.
I know that Michigan’s football and basketball programs fund the entire athletic department, including all other varsity sports, club teams, intramural sports and the gyms for student and alumni use. The training facilities that Michael Phelps will be using in a couple weeks were bought and paid for with money earned by the guys in the winged football helmets.
Danskin is alive and well, with new cities and dropping others (NorCal–venue problems). There is also the Reebok women’s tri series and other random local women’s only races.
In NorCal, the Vineman folks put on a women’s only 1/2 IM a few (4?) years ago which was supposed to be a one-time event. It’s still going well and pulls in women from all over the US. I have some clubmates who picked it as their first 1/2 IM over Half Vineman ~because~ it’s a women’s only and smaller race. They volunteer at HVM and didn’t want their first experience at that distance to be testosterone driven (+2,000 v. +200 participants–very different vibe at the two races).
About attracting women to races–well, that’s not a problem here (NorCal) since most sprint races will have at least 50%, if not more, women. My tri club is +50% women (I think). I can’t speak to other parts of the country. I do know that some pretty good (fast) women in ALL age groups in this area are starting to get ticked off at some RDs for ALWAYS having women start last. When there are many waves, that means starting 2 hours later and then, having supplies or finish line food run out.
clm
“Not that I’m complaining.”
Me neither.
I’m not in favor of getting rid of the football altogether, I just think it consumes a disproportionate amount of resources, especially once you get below the 40 biggest programs in I-A. (get below that, and very few programs will run a surplus)
Set up rules at the NCAA level to tighten up the budgets. If no one is allowed to put up their players in a hotel the night before a home game, it’s a net cost savings without anything on-field really being impacted. Cut rosters, and I see more parity coming to the sport- the big name schools will have a harder time stockpiling all-staters, and you give the second tier schools a better shot at recruiting the good players. And if the second tiers start performing better, they generate more revenue for their programs as well.
Curb the expenses at the non-revenue sports too. I remember reading a tearful story about Minnesota’s men’s golf team winning the NCAA championships the year before it was scheduled to be eliminated in a round of men’s non-revenue budget cuts. Then I go to the Gophers web site and discover they’d been sending the team to Puerto Rico for tournaments. They have the Sunbelt conference golf tournament at my development’s golf course every year. Never mind that the closest Sunbelt school is a four hour drive, the furthest away are in New Mexico and Colorado, and the local airport isn’t necessarily cheap to fly into.
maybe the number of successful women’s only races suggests that race directors need to be doing something different to attract women to the races with men? Start them first? Have their races on a different day?
Nooooooooooooooo! I do not want to be treated differently because I am a woman. I don’t want to have my race on a different day, I don’t want to be coddled by the RDs because they think I have different “feminine” needs. I want to compete with the best athletes, regardless of gender.
I’m going to speak frankly for a moment here about these women’s only races. I do appreciate that they are getting more women into sports. But generally speaking, I don’t like them. Sometimes I want to just scream, “Get over it!” Men aren’t evil or scary unless you allow them to make you feel uncomfortable. I feel very sad for women who are afraid to compete with men. The whole “sisterhood” thing is nice and all, but too many of these women’s only races do a disservice to the other women who insist on competing on equal ground.
Also, if there started to be a bunch of men-only races that I wanted to compete in but wasn’t allowed to because of what my swimsuit is covering, I would be TICKED OFF!
“I just think it consumes a disproportionate amount of resources, especially once you get below the 40 biggest programs in I-A.”
Especially when you consider the number of college football players and scholarships in relation to the number of available NFL roster spots. NFL teams are allowed 53 players or so, and I looked up an Ohio State roster and it had 99 players. I’m all for participation in college sports, but that might be excessive, especially if you’re getting rid of other teams in echange for those numbers.