Kacy Stuart is an Atlanta-area 14-year old who made it onto a local school’s football team for place-kicking duties. And she’s a girl. Female place kickers are not new, but her story has a twist. She was sidelined for most of the season by an athletic league official because she’s a girl.
The first team she played cited verses from Romans to express their disagreement with her participation. Her team won 38–7 with her doing all kickoffs and 3 extra points. Her team was scheduled to play this Saturday, but their opponent has withdrawn for unstated reasons.
My gut reacts with: “If she made the team and the coaches want her to play, let her play!”
But two points also stick out to me:
1) If football is strictly a boys’ sport in this league, should a girl be allowed to play? Can a guy play on the girls’ soccer team if he wants to? Is there a double-standard or does it imply athletic inferiority to say that girls can play on guys’ teams, but not vice-versa?
2) It’s not like the place kicker position is a safe one. On every kickoff, the kicker is the last line of defense. They’re expected to battle and make a tackle if the play reaches them. Some kickers run headfirst into the action.
Will opposing players pull up when it comes to engaging Kacy on the field, thus giving them a disadvantage? Or will they take a hard shot at her, likely putting her in more danger than her male teammates?
What do you think about girls playing football with guys? Are there biblical verses that suggest that they shouldn’t?
(reference: Atlanta Journal-Constitution; photo: Kathy Jefcoats)
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It is interesting to me that the Bible was used as a reason to exclude the girl. I wasn’t aware that the Bible addressed issues pertaining to football. Misuse of the Bible has made many people lose respect for all Christians.
An Arkie’s Musings
I’m not sure of specific bible versus but I believe that it’s an unfortunate product of the feminist movement (not that there were many good products).
Girls should not be allowed to play on a boys football team because it’s a boys team. If you were to insist that a boy be allowed to play on a girls soccer or any team it would not be allowed because it’s understood that boys are built differently and have certain athletic advantages. I believe that there are very athletically talented girls out there and if they are good kickers, awesome, but putting them on the boys football team is unfair and can be dangerous.
Also, I know that when I was in high school my peers were only interested in co-ed teams because of the co-ed-ness, not because of fairness.
hmmm. well. if its a guys team – and their rules say specifically no girl allowed, then, no. she shouldnt play on the team. and vice versa.
Sorry…this is one I can’t leave alone.
RE 1)the league issue: Girls football leagues typically don’t exist for one reason – lack of interest. But if the young lady is legitimately talented enough to make the team and no girls league exists, why not? If a girls league existed I would say she had to play in that one instead, but it doesn’t. If a boy wanted to play on a girls’ soccer team and no boys team existed, let him play on the girls’ team. It’s an issue of parity.
RE 2)safety: If she and her parents are aware of all the risks involved (including targeting and increased injuries b/c of her smaller size), they have made an informed decision, just like every other parent of a freshman football player. It’s not a leagues call to make that decision for them.
rowan, I see your point,… but… it just don’t work that way. I (as a male) loved volleyball in high school and there wasn’t a boy’s team. Do you think that I would ever have been allowed to play on the girl’s team? If I were to be allowed, don’t you think that other teams would allow boys to play? Wouldn’t this lead to an “all male” girl’s team eventually? (I am assuming physical superiority in athletics – sorry)
One more angle. If I asked to play on an all girls team, what do you think the coach, administration, school board, and community would say? Wouldn’t fly far I imagine.
She got to play for the same reason you would get to play, Brad – threat of a lawsuit. This basic issue happened at my high school. We had girls on our boys soccer team b/c there was no girls team. Enough girls eventually wanted to play and tried out for the the boys team that the school offered a girls team IN ADDITION to the boys team. We didn’t have enough guys at our school that wanted to play on the volleyball team( they played rec ball instead), but several neighboring schools did and fielded both boys and girls volleyball squads.