Payson and Whitney Swan of Windham High School and Sarah Stebbins of Yarmouth Hi

Payson and Whitney Swan of Windham High School and Sarah Stebbins of Yarmouth High School are exemplars of the new breed of Maine schoolgirl athlete. The girls and others like them have grown up since Title IX of the Education Amendments to the Civil Rights Act mandated gender equity in sports in 1972. While recent events at the University of Maine at Orono focused attention on the gender inequities that still exist in collegiate athletics, Maine\u27s secondary schools have for the most part managed to level the playing field. Details, related article on Phyllis Graber Jensen, Maine Times photographer, whose 1970 complaint contributed to the New York City Board of Education\u27s 1971 vote to allow girls to compete with boys in non-contact sports