I agree, it is crazy. I've heard a robotics club coach (not the one at my DD's school) say (to a prospective member's parent) "It is really great, there is a girls tournament in [nearby large city], so the girls have a chance to drive (the robot) then. Otherwise they wouldn't get the chance" When asked, by another parent, what the girls usually do, the coach replied "most of them are in the promotion team (advertising and fundraising), which is also really important to the team and is such an important role that enables the competition team to do so much more. One or two of them help the programming squad (writing code), but not at tournaments; there's so much pressure and you have to write code on the spot"
What if in trial runs, it were found that the boys were better at writing code under time pressure. What if girls disliked the experience? Would it then be OK to have all the coders at the competitions be boys, or should there be a gender quota system?
The math team our school sends to competitions is about 80% Asian and 80% male. I think that reflects who is best at math competitions. Impartial selection procedures often lead to some groups being underrepresented.
