[Gdeaver]

If I have said it once , I've said it 10,000 times. The girls have to learn how to play with the boys and more importantly, the boys have to learn how to play with the girls. This can't happen unless there are enough girls on the team to make this possible. ( Many teams stuck here.) And then it just doesn't happen. Watching our younger middle school kids, they don't have a clue how to play together. It is a learned behavior. I as a mentor try my best to get them to play nicely together in some what controlled situations. Yes, mentors need to help both in this. Of course there is no text book for mentors on how to actually do this. It's been a challenging thing for me as a mentor to deal with. Especially since I never had a daughter. I've found it very help full to constantly discuss the team sociodynamics with the other mentors, the older students. It has really helped having past students that are now in college come back and help out in a young mentor role. When everyone is playing nice together we are a real powerful team and I'm very proud.