If this was just about a nickname, Lady Raiders would be perfect. But, this is about so much more. Women all over the nation are still fighting for equal pay and equal treatment in society. Still fighting because although battles have been won, the war rages on.

The term Lady Raiders has rolled so pleasantly off the tongues of Moorpark College students and fit so succinctly in headlines for so long. It has cemented itself in place under the guise of sporting tradition so that the underlying implications have been forgotten.

Tradition, a word so often synonymous with words like impenetrable, unchanging, immoveable and unyielding. Like this nickname, like the persistent refusal to grant women equal pay. Lady Raiders is a constant reminder of the fact we still want to differentiate between men and women’s sports because in our minds, there is a difference, an irreconcilable divide.

The sporting arena is not the place of ladies or gentlemen but men and women, male and female beings playing sport.

According to a study by The Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF) in 2013, women’s sports received 7% of total media coverage and 0.4% of total commercial sponsorships.

Keeping the nickname Lady Raiders will only serve to promote age-old prejudices. It’s time to think about a change so that the next time we read about the Raiders, our assumption is not that the article is talking about the men’s teams.

No matter where our women go, no matter who they play, the so-called Lady Raiders are Raiders and they deserve an unqualified claim to the title.

I have heard it said that there are no gentlemen in sports. I move to add that there are no ladies either.