Catholic School Forfeits Championship Because Of A Girl
Paige Sultzbach won't be playing in her championship baseball game in Phoenix. In fact, her whole team will be sitting this one out.
A Catholic school that was supposed to face the 15-year-old's baseball team forfeited instead of facing a girl on the field.
Paige is the only girl on her high school team, something that both she and the boys are fine with. There is no girls' team at her level, so she joined the boys. (Does that make it a co-ed team? I don't know.)
The Catholic school, Our Lady of Sorrows, responded to the controversey; according to Associated Press:
Officials at Our Lady of Sorrows declined comment. In a written statement Thursday, the school said the decision to forfeit was consistent with a policy prohibiting co-ed sports.
The statement also said the school teaches boys respect by not placing girls in athletic competition, where "proper boundaries can only be respected with difficulty."
Needless to say, the response to the Catholic school's unsportspersonlike behaviour has been scathing.
I have been struggling with the whole single sex/co-ed sports team issue. We are not a particularly sporty family. But my kids play in a local ball hockey league. This year the league set-up an all-girls division in the hopes of keeping the girls playing longer.
It seems that as the kids got older, girls were dropping off as they weren't as competitive as the boys. They didn't feel as important to the team and weren't enjoying it as much.
I signed my daughter up for the minimally co-ed league because, at the age of six, I want her to know that she is as tough and fast as the boys. Also, it was logistically much easier for me.
From what I understand the girls' league is a huge success. The girls play well and there is less grandstanding and more passing. They hope to expand next year.
That's great. But my daughter only has one other girl on her team and is starting to hate ball hockey. So now we have a boys' league with a couple of high-level girls players and girls' league.
Is that the optimal situation? Not just for ball hockey but for all sports? Maybe it is. I don't know.
What is your experience? Do you think co-ed teams or single sex teams are better for kids? Do you think the Catholic school had reason to forfeit?
Want more chaos? Last year, I had a sad/happy post from a mom who got diagnosed with cancer and lost the first year of her baby's life.
« The Joys of Motherhood | Main | BFFs?: Can Mothers Be Too Close To Their Daughters? »
