Title IX requires schools to provide equal opportunities for male and female sports participants. A pair of area schools have handled that the same way when it comes to tennis.

Instead of creating a girls' program to play during the PIAA's fall season, Palmerton and Lehighton have had girls participate during the boys' tennis season in the spring.It's a tradition that has dated back decades at both schools and shows no sign of ending with both schools featuring several female members this season.Palmerton' coach Alex Knoll and Lehighton coach Dave Sherry welcome the ladies onto their teams with open arms, and not because they have to."I've always had girls on the roster as long as we've had a team here at Lehighton," Sherry said.With female players maneuvering their way into the lineup, there have been times where the female players have not only made the team, but led the way for the two programs. In recent years, the two teams have seen the female players "man" a singles spot, and earn their teams points with individual wins over their male opponents.Both coaches foresee their current female players duplicating that past success during the upcoming season."Emily (Cerimele) may realistically crack into the singles lineup this year for us," Sherry said. "Also, Andrea (Schafer) was in the starting lineup last season and played doubles. She is very steady and smart, and will be able to get us some points this year."The Bombers' Knoll sees similar things happening in his squad's future."Kristen (Ahner), will definitely see time in matches this year," he stated. "We also have three freshmen girls that came out for the team this year and I definitely foresee them getting into the lineup and earning playing time down the road."Sherry looks forward to a specific freshman female and her development as time goes along."I have a freshman that should be pretty good by the time she's done playing for us in Maura Phelan," he said. "She'll be someone to look forward to in years to come."Opponents of the Blue Bombers and Indians have come to expect playing against females. However, instead of taking it easy against their female foes, both Sherry and Knoll say the opposite is usually true."There's no difference in high school, when a guy plays against our girls," Sherry said. "The boys, when they play against girls, they don't let up. They take it just as seriously as they do playing against a guy. So that's what makes it that more impressive when a girl can beat a guy."Knoll sees another aspect of it, saying, "When a female plays in a co-ed sport, I'd hope that the guys wouldn't take anything off their shots. When competing against anyone, whoever the opponent, guy or girl, I'd hope that the player takes the chance to improve and plays with the same amount of effort, no matter who is on the other side of the net."Sherry concluded, "In doubles, some of the guys that play against them are much bigger and they are able to cover so much more of the court, too. So when our girls play these matches and win, it's a big deal to us and them. It's not easy, it's hard."The addition of female players to the boys' teams at the two schools appears to be a win-win situation.The boys teams get added talent and depth on their rosters while the girls, who more than likely wouldn't have enough participants to field their own team in the fall, still get a chance to play the sport."If there is not a girls' team in existence, the female players should not be penalized," said Knoll. "So this option works. In the past four seasons, under my tutelage, there haven't been enough girls out for the boys' team to field a girls' team. You would need to field a team that has enough players and a support system and it just wouldn't be productive to field a team that has to forfeit matches as a result."In the future, there may be enough to field a team, but that isn't the case right now."Whether everyone is a believer in co-ed sports at the high school level really isn't a concern for Sherry or Knoll.At the end of the day, both coaches agree that female players are a positive for their programs.Good or bad, right or wrong, fair or unfair, the truth remains that the tennis player needs to play the ball and not their opponent.