It's been one of the most unique legal battles when it comes to high school sports " high school girls sports " and the concept of Title IX.
And the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association " based on whoever's interpretation you go by " finds itself theoretically violating Title IX no matter what it does.
This has even been a unique case that could set a precedent for others to follow. And after the NIAA's still unsuccessful attempt to unify the NIAA 4A State Girls Soccer Championship in which Northern and Southern schools compete in the same season, the organization still doesn't know where it stands.
Clark County's Southern 4A schools have competed in the winter in girls soccer while Northern 4A schools have played in the fall. In December, 2005, the NIAA board voted to move the Southern 4A girls soccer season to the fall of 2008, hoping to pave the way for a state championship involving Southern and Northern schools this fall.
But Eric Johnson, who has a daughter who is a Green Valley student-athlete, found a unique way to challenge the move. He sued, claiming that moving girls soccer from the winter to fall was in violation of Title IX.
Title IX is the federal law which essentially guarantees the same educational opportunities for females as well as males and has generally be credited with the explosive growth of high school and college female sports over the last 35 years.
It's generally been accepted as long as the same number of comprable sports and opportunities were offered to females as males " no matter what time of the year " then there was compliance with Title IX. But Johnson maintained that because the NIAA was moving girls soccer in the South from the winter to fall, the one less female sport in the winter was a violation of Title IX.
Johnson's daughter plays volleyball and soccer, so as long as the two sports stay in separate seasons, Johnson's daughter won't have to choose between either sport.
And if the NIAA decided to move Northern 4A girls soccer to the winter, then that could be considered in violation of Title IX, since it would be offering one less female sport in the fall.
But Nelson wouldn't say that Johnson has found a loophole in Title IX. "I don't necessarily say that Mr. Johnson found a loophole," Nelson said. "He found an avenue. It's a very interesting arguement." But Nelson said he believed, "His arguement isn't what Title IX is about."
And Nelson said the "season-specific" arguement could have ramifications. "It may be in some strange way a landmark case," he said.
The NIAA reached a settlement for this fall that keeps the Southern 4A girls soccer season in the winter for 2008-2009. What happens beyond that is still up in the air. NIAA executive director Eddie Bonine has said the organization will continue to pursue unifying the 4A girls soccer state championship.
The biggest reason why the NIAA settled was money. Nelson said the cost to fight the case could have ranged in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. "We're just not in a financial situation to fight this," he said.
There has also been discussions about adding a girls sport in the winter in the Southern 4A, so soccer could be moved to the fall, but again there are many challenges to doing that, not the least of financial. "That just doesn't happen overnight," said Nelson about adding a sport.
And because the NIAA doesn't offer a statewide title in 4A girls soccer, it could be considered in violation of Title IX for that. Nelson said he's surprised that nobody from the Northern 4A hasn't sued on those grounds.
The NIAA has been trying to unify the 4A girls soccer season for some time now. "It's been an issue for multiple years," Nelson said.
Nelson said there were two "unofficial" reasons for why the seasons weren't unified before. With boys soccer being played in the fall, many boys soccer coaches coached girls soccer as well and didn't want to lose the chance to continue to coach both.
"I don't think anybody would go on the record to say that," Nelson said. And Nelson said that really isn't an issue anymore.
The other reason was the lack of facilities for boys and girls soccer to be played during the same season in the South, but that's less of an issue because Las Vegas now has a sizeable number of soccer fields.