Girls playing on male high school sports teams

[daringmiss]

Apparently, Our Lady of Sorrows forfeited a State Championship game rather than play against a team with a female second baseman.

bedford.patch.com/articles/should-girls-be-allowed-to-compete-in-boys-sports

Personally, I am offended that this young woman sat out two previous games because of the other team's bigotry.

And don't get me started on the non-scientific poll at the bottom of the article. Seriously, if we think that high school sports are so dangerous that females shouldn't be permitted to play, why are we letting our young men play them?

[315bride]

I can't believe it's 2012 and stuff like this is still happening.

I am unclear how Title IX doesn't come into play here. She is allowed to play baseball if the school doesn't have a softball team.

[ijack]

Whoa. That pisses me off.

[polarbearfans]

I was shocked too. I understand they are an all boys school but mingling or playing sports with a girl is not going to ruin their education or morales. It kind of annoyed me that she sat out two games previously for them. While that was nice in no way should she miss the championship game. That is a huge accomplishment for the team and she shouldn't be denied because she is a girl.

[platinumcoiffure]

That's my neice! It's so exciting all the hype she is getting, and I agree, she shouldn't of sat out those other two games. She is a very talented player and it's a shame they couldn't play a game that they deserved so much.

[honeybee]

It makes me sad too. I played on an all male hockey team in high school. Fortunately the other teams rarely even realized I was female with all the equipment. We occasionally ran into issues but nothing this big. People need to get over themselves.

[Jem]

We had to let a guy play on our field hockey team because we didn't have a boys' team.

I think it is just so ridiculous that stuff like this still happens - who cares who is playing where, just play!

[daringmiss]

The craziest thing is that the real losers are the players from Our Lady of Sorrows. They were prevented from playing in the State Championship - a privilege they earned through hard work and training. The OLoS administration's misogyny deprived these young men of a chance to compete.

[M]

That's ridiculous? What are they afraid of? A girl beating them? They need to get over it.

[ejpint]

I can't believe they made a big deal out of this - it's flipping baseball, I really don't see how gender plays any type of role in this. It's not like they're asking them to go into hand-to-hand combat with her (and if they were, I would still support her right to compete).

[minniebee]

May 14, 2012 8:31:54 GMT -5 ejpint said:

I can't believe they made a big deal out of this - it's flipping baseball, I really don't see how gender plays any type of role in this. It's not like they're asking them to go into hand-to-hand combat with her (and if they were, I would still support her right to compete).

Exactly. Baseball, for the most part, is not a contact sport. It's not like football or basketball or soccer or one of many other sports where there's regular body contact between competitors.

I remember there was a story a few years back about a male wrestler who forfeited a match in the Iowa state wrestling tournament because he wouldn't wrestle against a female. I still think that's a little silly, but it's slightly more understandable because there is actually a lot of touching/body contact in wrestling. In baseball, this is not a big deal.

[WOT?*]

I too don't get the big deal. But if they make an exception for baseball then they must except football, wrestling, etc. Their "moral high ground" is respect for women and if they're chasing or tagging her, maybe it's disrespectful. Or if they accidentally touch her between neck and knee when tagging her out, it could be seen as disrespectful because they're touching a female's private areas without the sanctity of marriage.

That's all I got.

[daringmiss]

Second base requires speed and good reflexes. PlatinumCoiffure - I bet your niece kicks ass!