男女混合体育运动

There is an argument about whether or not boys and girls should be able to play sports on the same team.
关于男孩和女孩是否应该能够在同一支队伍中进行体育运动，人们存在争议。

This can be a particularly tricky argument, but in the end, the benefits of coed (男女同校) sports outweigh any negative aspects.
这可能是一个特别棘手的话题，但归根结底，男女混合体育运动的益处大于任何负面影响。

“It is a well-known fact that boys are built to be stronger and bigger than girls. However, that does not mean that girls are too fragile (易碎的) to play sports with boys,” says Madeline R.
Madeline R. 说：“众所周知，男孩天生比女孩更强壮、更高大。然而，这并不意味着女孩太脆弱（易碎的）而不能和男孩一起运动。”

She’s right. Boys are naturally built to be stronger, but girls can still compete with boys.
她说得对。男孩天生体格更强壮，但女孩仍然可以与男孩同场竞技。

In 2013, over 1,500 girls played boy football, and some were the best on their team.
2013年，有超过1500名女孩参加了男子橄榄球比赛，其中一些人甚至是队里的佼佼者。

Both boys and girls can gain skills from playing with and against the opposite gender (性别).
男孩和女孩都能通过与异性（性别）一起训练和比赛来获得技能。

A girl playing sports with boys will help the girl improve, making her stronger, tougher, faster, and more powerful as an athlete than she would have been playing with girls.
女孩与男孩一起运动会促进她的进步，使她作为一名运动员变得比只与女孩打球时更强壮、更坚韧、更迅速且更有力量。

Boys can also gain new skills from girls, becoming more agile and flexible (灵活的).
男孩也能从女孩身上学到新技能，变得更加敏捷和灵活（灵活的）。

Playing in coed sports might not be for every girl; some might be more comfortable playing sports with the same gender.
参加男女混合体育运动可能并不适合每个女孩；有些女孩可能与同性别的人一起运动感觉更自在。

But for the girls that have the physical ability, sports skills, confidence, and desire to compete with boys should have the choice to play coed.
但对于那些具备体能、运动技巧、自信心以及与男孩竞争意愿的女孩来说，应该拥有选择参加男女混合运动的权利。

During an interview, Katie Smith, a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star, talked about how she always played with boys when she was young.
在一次采访中，美国国家女子篮球协会（WNBA）球星Katie Smith谈到了她小时候总是和男孩一起打球的经历。

She recognized early on that boys provided her with the best competition to improve her skills.
她很早就意识到，男孩为她提供了提升球技的最佳竞争对手。

There are many social benefits, too.
此外还有许多社交方面的益处。

According to Laura E. Berk, a child psychologist, sometime kids aged between 9 and 11 will begin to develop gender stereotypes (性别刻板印象).
根据儿童心理学家Laura E. Berk的说法，9到11岁的孩子有时开始形成性别刻板印象（性别刻板印象）。

Playing coed sports can help prevent gender stereotypes, and learning to view the opposite gender as a friend and not something frightening is something that can be useful throughout life.
参加男女混合体育运动有助于防止性别刻板印象，学会将异性视为朋友而非令人恐惧的对象，这种认知将使人终身受益。

It increases a girl’s confidence level, too.
它还能增强女孩的自信心。

Letting girls compete with boys enhances their view of themselves and makes them more flexible.
让女孩与男孩竞争能提升她们的自我认知，并使她们更具适应性。

“Sports for girls has many benefits, including better grades, better body image, less depression and a higher chance of graduating from high school,” says Leigh R.
Leigh R. 说：“女孩参与体育运动有很多好处，包括成绩更好、身体意象更佳、抑郁更少以及高中毕业率更高。”

She’s right, and the improvement in all of these areas will increase if girls can play with and against boys.
她说得没错，如果女孩能与男孩一起训练和比赛，所有这些方面的提升将会更加显著。

These are all reasons why boys and girls should be able to play sports together on the same team.
以上种种都是男孩和女孩应该能够在同一支队伍中共同运动的理由。

While it might not be for everyone, there are definitely people out there that are looking to improve their game, and coed sports is an excellent way to do that.
虽然这可能不适合所有人，但肯定有人渴望提升自己的竞技水平，而男女混合体育运动正是实现这一目标的绝佳途径。