According to reports, a high school girls' field hockey team forfeited a game against another school instead of playing against the boys on the opposing team.
The girls on the field hockey team at Digton-Rehoboth Area High School in Massachusetts Refused The reason they cannot play in the game against Somerset Berkeley Regional High School is because one of the Somerset players is a boy. Daily Mail.
The girls' team is taking advantage of the school's new policy, instituted in June, which allows teams to “decline to play against an opposing team” because the opposing team includes members of the opposite sex.
“There are times when safety must be prioritized over winning,” the school district said in an official statement explaining the decision for teams not to play against male players.
“We understand that this withdrawal will impact our chances of winning the league and possibly qualifying for the playoffs, but we hope other schools will consider similar measures to ensure safety and promote fair competition for their female athletes,” the statement added.
The letter also explained that the last time the girls' team played against a team with boys players, one of the girls' players was seriously injured during the game.
During a game against Swampscott High School last November, a female player from Dighton-Rehoboth High School was hit in the face by a shot from a male player on the opposing team and was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
“After the injury, teammates were crying not only for their teammate, but also for the fear of having to get back on the field and continue the game, playing against a man who had hospitalized one of his teammates,” team co-captain Kelsey Bain wrote at the time.
“This tragic case shines a light on the rules and regulations for male athletes participating in women's sports,” she said.
Somerset Berkeley Superintendent Jeff Schoenover, meanwhile, maintained that the school follows all rules set forth by the Massachusetts High School Athletic Association and allows boys to play in any category they wish.
In Massachusetts, boys are allowed to join girls' field hockey teams because the state's school system doesn't support boys' field hockey. In this case, the state is not only allowing transgender athletes to choose a sport, but also allowing them to play on girls' field hockey teams because there are no other ways for boys to play the sport at their school. And this is all in an effort to establish “equal rights,” supporters of the bill say.
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