Twelve-year-old Caitlin Alvaro's parents wanted her to play on an all-boys basketball team in Ridgewood, New Jersey. In 2004, Caitlin's parents signed her up for "Biddy Basketball," a non-profit recreational league which holds practices and games in public school gymnasiums. Biddy Basketball has separate boys and girls teams, but Caitlin's father wrote on her registration that "I want her to play with the boys." The league declined to honor this request.

Caitlin's parents kept trying to get her on the boys' team. Her mother sent an email to one of the coaches, referring to a meeting in which "Biddy was told that the school board will not violate Title IX and would have to ban the program from the schools if they did not permit C.A. [Caitlin Alvaro] to play."

The boys played with higher 10-foot hoops and were more competitive, which Caitlin's family wanted. A school official contacted several offices for civil rights and found that "neither the height of the basket nor the size of the ball would be considered discriminatory." It is logical that such a difference could not be considered discriminatory under Title IX because, in many sports such as lacrosse, it is standard for women and men to use equipment that differs significantly in size and shape. Mr. Allen observed that "basketball is considered a contact sport, which means that separate teams are legal. In fact, even if there was only a boy's basketball team in existence, Biddy could legally deny girls access to that team because basketball is a contact sport."

Abruptly and without warning, James Sincaglia, Chief of the Bureau of Enforcement at the New Jersey DCR, called the Board of Education and advised it to "terminate its relationship with Biddy and stop them from using the Board of Education's facilities unless the Board of Education forced Biddy to allow C.A. to play on the boys' team."

Biddy Basketball held firm in its position. Then the New York Times weighed in, explaining how the controversy led to "Ridgewood's Board of Education being named in an amended complaint … as abetting discrimination for letting the league use its gyms." (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E0DC103BF935A35751C0A9639C8B63&sec=&spon=). The New York Times falsely implied that Caitlin wrote on the first application "I want to play with the boys", when it was her father who wrote that "I want her to play with the boys" (emphasis added). The New York Times editorialized without basis that this controversy had caused some "soul-searching in a village that likes to consider itself progressive."

In its response to the amended complaint against it, Biddy Basketball identified itself as a private organization not subject to Title IX. Biddy's response also recognized the inherent differences between boys and girls, noting that the boys play "aggressively", while the girls play with "finesse". But pressures against Biddy continued to escalate until the organization was forced to permit Caitlin - and other girls with a suitable level of ability - to play on their boys' teams. Biddy may have felt compelled to settle because New Jersey has one of the most stringent anti-discrimination laws in the nation, the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination ("NJLAD"), which applies to private groups not subject to Title IX.

Was the Ridgewood Board of Education's role in this actionable? The District Court of New Jersey held that the Board of Education did not discriminate because it did not "aid or abet" the alleged "discrimination". J.A. v. Vill. of Ridgewood Bd. of Educ., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41100 (D.N.J. May 13, 2009). The Ridgewood Board of Education merely allowed use of its gymnasiums for this activity, and that is not a sufficient basis for suing the school over the separation of boys' and girls' sports teams.