# In what professional sports do women and men play in the same league? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 22, 2008, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-professional-sports-do-women-and-men-play-in-the-same-league/457337 "2008-07-22T03:33:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-professional-sports-do-women-and-men-play-in-the-same-league/457337/21 "2008-07-22T14:55:30Z")
Women bowlers can and do compete on the PBA. I do not think any won yet but I do believe they have been in the top 5. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-professional-sports-do-women-and-men-play-in-the-same-league/457337/22 "2008-07-22T15:40:11Z")
[QUOTE=WormTheRed] Which makes my WAG oh so true… [/QUOTE] Not so. There’s a separate chess competition for women. The Polgar sisters are among the very few who actually competed with the men. One entirely mixed sport that I’m aware off, however, is [korfball](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korfball), which is played mostly in Holland and Belgium. Under the influence of the socialist movement, which advocated gender equality, korfbal started to be played with mixed teams. ---
**Author:** ![three\_feline\_household](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@three\_feline\_household](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/three_feline_household)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-professional-sports-do-women-and-men-play-in-the-same-league/457337/23 "2008-07-22T15:50:42Z")
Besides Indy Car Racing, there are a number of women in drag racing: Hillary Will, Melanie Troxel, Ashley Force. There have been women in NASCAR and Formula 1 but not at present. There have been female horse jockeys for over 40 years in America. Don’t ask me to name any. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-professional-sports-do-women-and-men-play-in-the-same-league/457337/24 "2008-07-22T15:53:03Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] [IndyCar racing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danica_Patrick) [/QUOTE] Also [NASCAR](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Female_NASCAR_drivers) and [drag racing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Female_dragster_drivers). ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-professional-sports-do-women-and-men-play-in-the-same-league/457337/25 "2008-07-22T16:13:06Z")
[QUOTE=gonzomax] Women bowlers can and do compete on the PBA. I do not think any won yet but I do believe they have been in the top 5. [/QUOTE] Since the demise of the PWBA several years ago, women have competed in the men’s tournaments. Kelly Kulick won an “exempt” spot on the tour a couple of years ago, meaning she was automatically entered in every national tour stop and was guaranteed at least $1800 prize money every week. Unfortunately, she didn’t accrue enough points to keep her exemption the next year. Liz Johnson made the TV finals once, and almost won the tournament. Missy Bellinder has won on the Regional tour, which is sort of the “proving ground” for the National tour. Any female pro bowler can beat any male on any given day. Bowling is probably the sport where men and women can compete on an equal level more than any other. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-professional-sports-do-women-and-men-play-in-the-same-league/457337/26 "2008-07-22T16:22:05Z")
[QUOTE=Švejk] Not so. There’s a separate chess competition for women. [/QUOTE] Not intended as a hijack, but… What? Why would that be? _stupid wag_ ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-professional-sports-do-women-and-men-play-in-the-same-league/457337/27 "2008-07-22T16:32:14Z")
My friend the ballroom dancer informs me that competitive ballroom dancing is a sport (who knew?). If so, then men and women definitely compete together against other couples. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-professional-sports-do-women-and-men-play-in-the-same-league/457337/28 "2008-07-22T16:36:51Z")
[QUOTE=WormTheRed] What? Why would that be? [/QUOTE] Because the level of competition among the men would mean that no woman would stand a chance of winning. There’s nothing stopping women from being as good as men, but the current state of the world is that there are extremely few women would could compete at the highest level. By having a separate women’s tournament you can reward and develop the women players. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-professional-sports-do-women-and-men-play-in-the-same-league/457337/29 "2008-07-22T17:06:24Z")
[QUOTE=Telemark] Because the level of competition among the men would mean that no woman would stand a chance of winning. There’s nothing stopping women from being as good as men, but the current state of the world is that there are extremely few women would could compete at the highest level. By having a separate women’s tournament you can reward and develop the women players. [/QUOTE] Ah - ok. That makes sense, in a way. So, to make a half-assed comparison, the womens tournaments are like junior league before they get to the majors? (no offense meant to anyone) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-professional-sports-do-women-and-men-play-in-the-same-league/457337/30 "2008-07-22T17:19:02Z")
[QUOTE=winterhawk11] My friend the ballroom dancer informs me that competitive ballroom dancing is a sport (who knew?). If so, then men and women definitely compete together against other couples. [/QUOTE] Brings to mind [Mixed Doubles at Winbledon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wimbledon_Mixed_Doubles_champions). ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-professional-sports-do-women-and-men-play-in-the-same-league/457337/31 "2008-07-22T17:29:08Z")
[QUOTE=Max Torque] Hard to say whether it’s more theater or sport, but men and women do often compete on the same team in roller derby. These days, though, it seems that only all-female teams can draw a crowd. [/QUOTE] Sure, they’re on the same team, but they don’t compete against each other. That’s like saying male and female track runners are both on Team USA, even though they’d never race against each other. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-professional-sports-do-women-and-men-play-in-the-same-league/457337/32 "2008-07-22T19:11:41Z")
[QUOTE=Lute Skywatcher] Brings to mind [Mixed Doubles at Winbledon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wimbledon_Mixed_Doubles_champions). [/QUOTE] I thought of this when I posted originally. I really mean men vs. women, not mixed. For example, tennis does not have all the men and women play in one group and mixed doubles **must** be one woman and one man. I heard today that Michelle Wie is going to play in the PGA? Does she play from the same tees as the men? Did she have to “try out” the same way any male would have to to make it? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-professional-sports-do-women-and-men-play-in-the-same-league/457337/33 "2008-07-22T20:03:52Z")
[QUOTE=Telemark] Because the level of competition among the men would mean that no woman would stand a chance of winning. There’s nothing stopping women from being as good as men, [/quote] Unproven. Judit Polgar, who is considerably stronger than Susan, is pretty much in a field of one in terms of female chess talent; there’s scant evidence that there are more female players in the pipeline who are going to repeat her success. I personally have managed to lose to female players in a broadly similar proportion to male, in terms of how often I have played them (seldom), but it’s a huge leap from okay-ish club player to super-grandmaster. Prior to the Polgars, about the strongest female player of all time was Vera Menchik, but her mixed-sex performance was fairly dire; at Carlsbad 1929, for instance, she came in a resounding last, though only the top few male players were World Championship standard. > [@Telemark](#): > > but the current state of the world is that there are extremely few women would could compete at the highest level. > > By having a separate women’s tournament you can reward and develop the women players. Or, as with tennis, you can ensure that at least there’s a competition where women can win. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-professional-sports-do-women-and-men-play-in-the-same-league/457337.md?page=1)