just please don't beat me in tennis.

I had this fantabulous post planned for you today.

I have a clip of Slim Harpo's Te-ni-ni-na-nu and I was going to gush about what a brilliant musician he was. But then I saw news reports Friday of WPIAL officials urging athletic directors to create policies that would prohibit girls from competing and boys sports and boys from competing in girls sports.

The officials - in one story I read - said they were more concerned about boys competing in girls sports than they other way around. They cited two boys who competed on high school girls volleyball teams last fall.

My thinking on this is that if these officials were so concerned about girls facing boys across the volleyball net, they might have voiced those concerns last fall during the girls volleyball season. Instead, it became the hot topic of discussion a mere one day after Quaker Valley Girls Tennis player Annie Houghton captured the boys WPIAL tennis championship.

The gender issue is a tough one but it matters to me. In ninth-grade, I played on the boys tennis team at my high school. This was a necessity because my high school was small and didn't have a girls tennis team. When the playoffs rolled around, I won. Then I won regionals, something similar to WPIALS, then my coach and I traveled almost two hours to Columbus, Ohio where I got blown off the court by a really tall guy whose name I can't remember. What I do remember were his serves. His arm was a canon. And while this guy was bigger and stronger than me, he was also a much better tennis player. After I lost, I didn't wail about his obvious physical advantage. It only inspired me to get better.

During that momentous season, I heard no mention of gender equity issues. Not even a whisper. I wasn't good enough. It takes girls like Annie Houghton to cause that kind of outcry.

Annie Houghton will compete in the PIAA tournament next month.