Murphy + Longo: Dads defending daughters
We’ve held many titles in our lives: athlete, Marine, mayor, mentor, coach. But the most meaningful one we will ever hold is Dad.
We are fathers of daughters: bright, determined, compassionate young women with big dreams and even bigger hearts. We’ve watched them learn, compete, and grow in a world that is becoming more complicated by the day. We’ve taught them to work hard, play fair, and stand up for what’s right. Yet today, we are watching a system that has stopped fighting for them.
Across America, the landscape of girls’ sports is shifting. Policies once designed to ensure fairness and opportunity are being re-written in ways that can disadvantage the very girls these sports were created to empower. When female athletes lose spots, medals, or scholarships they earned, it sends a painful message: your hard work doesn’t matter anymore.
We cannot, and will not, accept that.
Every parent, coach, and teammate knows that fairness and integrity are the foundation of competition. Sports teach discipline, resilience, and self-belief that carry into adulthood. Protecting those lessons is important for preserving the principles that keep Pennsylvania and America grounded. It’s about ensuring that every young woman has an equal chance to compete, to grow, and to discover what she’s capable of.
This conversation isn’t about exclusion. It’s about fairness, safety, and respect. Every father understands the difference between fairness and favoritism. What’s happening in women’s sports today risks replacing fairness with ideology, and that’s not progress. It’s confusion.
Frank: “As a former NFL player and Chair of Athletes for America, I’ve competed at the highest level. I know the difference that strength, size, and speed make. But more than that, I know what it’s like to see my daughter look me in the eyes before she steps onto the field. She deserves a fair shot, not a sports career that is dictated by the wants of young men.”
Jondavid: “My daughter’s still a toddler, but I already see the fight in her, that spark God put in every little girl to dream big. As a Marine and a mayor, I’ve sworn an oath to protect what’s right. I’ll never stand by while a generation of girls is told that fairness is offensive. This isn’t about politics. It’s about truth.”.
What we protect today determines what they inherit tomorrow.
We are not writing this as public figures. We are writing it as fathers. Fathers refuse to trade courage for comfort. Fathers who believe our daughters deserve that same fair playing field we grew up with. Fathers who will not quietly watch the promise slip away.
As parents and as leaders, we believe it’s time for communities, schools, and athletic organizations to reaffirm the principles that made women’s sports possible in the first place. Clear, consistent standards that protect fair play for female athletes honor the intent of Title IX and the American values of equality, opportunity and dignity.
Protecting fairness in women’s sports should not be controversial. It’s a foundational truth that helped shape generation of confident, capable women who learned discipline, courage on those fields and courts. Title IX opened doors — our duty is to ensure they remain open.
We understand the cultural pressure to stay quiet. But silence serves no one. Courage has always been the spark that moves communities forward. When parents, coaches, and communities stand up for fairness, they show our daughters that integrity is not outdated – it is essential.
To every dad across America: this is your moment, too.
You don’t need a title or platform to take a stand. You need conviction. Stand up for your daughters. Teach them that truth and compassion can exist side by side and that it’s possible to be both kind and honest.
This is not a matter of about left or right. It is about right and wrong. It is about defending what is real and protecting what’s sacred. We believe in an America where fairness is non-negotiable, truth isn’t for sale, and women’s sports continue to provide a level playing field for every girl with a dream.
Our daughters are watching. Let them see courage.
Frank D. Murphy is the Chair of Athletes for America, former NFL player, and founder of CCS Plan Legacy Institute.
Mayor Jondavid Longo serves as the Chair of AFPI – Pennsylvania, Mayor of Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, and is a United States Marine Corps veteran.
