Girls who play high-school sports in Michigan will no longer miss out on opportunities to be recruited by college coaches and receive athletics scholarships, thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal today to review lower-court rulings in the case.

The decision does not directly affect colleges, but could help provide additional opportunities for high-school athletes in Michigan, said Neena Chaudhry, senior counsel for the National Women’s Law Center, which helped represent female athletes in the case.

Several courts, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, had previously found that the state high-school athletics association’s scheduling of girls’ seasons violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the federal law barring sex discrimination by institutions that receive federal funds. The Supreme Court’s action lets the Sixth Circuit court’s opinion stand. —Brad Wolverton