The Dighton-Rehoboth subject hockey staff has determined to place the protection of its gamers forward of two potential victories this season, forfeiting each of its video games towards an opponent that features a male on its roster.
It’s a transfer that caught the eye of distinguished girls’s rights advocate, 12-time All-American swimmer Riley Gaines, who inspired different colleges to face up.
“Safety and fairness should take priority over inclusion,” Gaines stated Tuesday in a put up on X. “Schools shouldn’t participate in the farce. I know it’s easier said than done, but all schools should follow Dighton-Rehoboth’s example.”
Gaines’ remark got here after Dighton-Rehoboth Superintendent Invoice Runey knowledgeable the media Monday night that the regional highschool’s subject hockey staff had opted to forgo its recreation towards Somerset Berkley, scheduled for subsequent Tuesday.
The staff additionally determined to forfeit its second recreation with Somerset Berkley, scheduled for Oct. 8.
Not all have been on board with the event, with a critic saying on social media, “So quitting is encouraged now? sad how far our nation has fallen.”
In a launch to the media, Runey cited the district’s “Interscholastic Athletics” coverage, which the College Committee handed in June permitting student-athletes to forfeit video games towards groups with gamers of the alternative intercourse.
Coaches received’t be penalized for forfeiting video games towards such groups.
“Our Field Hockey coaches and captains made this decision, and we notified our opponent accordingly,” Runey said in a launch. “The district supports this decision as there are times where we have to place a higher value on safety than on victory.”
“We understand this forfeit will impact our chances for a league championship and possibly playoff eligibility,” he added, “but we remain hopeful that other schools consider following suit to achieve safety and promote fair competition for female athletes.”
Matt McKinnon, Dighton-Rehoboth’s athletic director, stated the staff made the choice “toward the end of the summer,” one which he referred to as a “surprise to Somerset Berkley,” in a assertion to The Solar Chronicle.
On Tuesday, Somerset Berkley Superintendent Jeff Schoonover shared this assertion: “The Somerset Berkley Regional School District follows all MIAA regulations and school district policies for participation in interscholastic athletics. Somerset Berkley supports the rights of all students to access and participate in athletics for which they are eligible.”
Somerset Berkley has been a subject hockey powerhouse over time, a staff that has had boys assist make them quite a few Division 1 state titles.
The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Affiliation has stated it received’t intervene in Dighton-Rehoboth’s coverage that enables an athlete or coach to choose out of enjoying towards mixed-sex opponents.
In accordance with the MIAA handbook, males are allowed to take part on feminine groups in Massachusetts primarily based on the state’s Equal Rights Modification.
Boys’ subject hockey shouldn’t be provided in Massachusetts, permitting males to play the game on women’ groups, per the MIAA rule.
Dighton-Rehoboth, a rural district of roughly 2,500 college students in Bristol County, has risen within the nationwide debate of whether or not women and men must be allowed to intermingle in sports activities following a scary incident involving its subject hockey staff final 12 months.
A lady participant, in her senior 12 months, needed to be rushed to the hospital after struggling vital facial and dental accidents when a Swampscott Excessive College boy participant’s shot struck her within the face.
The identical participant who took the shot, off of a nook, scored each targets in a 2-0 shutout for Swampscott in a match contest.
Swampscott Athletic Director Kelly Wolff referred to as the incident “an unfortunate injury” that got here on a “legal play” and the shot “deflected off her teammate’s stick.”
The character of the play additionally triggered a debate on MIAA tools guidelines– subject hockey gamers are allowed to put on facial safety on offensive corners, however the tools shouldn’t be required.
“The Swampscott player who took the shot is a 4-year varsity player and co-captain who, per MIAA rules, has the exact same right to participate as any player on any team,” Wolff stated in a press release on the time.
A authorized observe from the MIAA highlights how “boys have been competing on girls’ teams, and girls have been competing on boys’ teams, for more than 40 years,” primarily based on the Equal Rights Modification and Title IX.
Runey and a staff captain, after the “horror” final November, referred to as on the MIAA to revisit its pointers. He additionally identified how the development of apparatus and coaching that student-athletes obtain in the present day ought to require officers “to be more thoughtful about all of our rules and policies regarding safety.”
“Seeing the horror in the eyes of our players and coaches upon greeting their bus last night is evidence to me that there has to be a renewed approach by the MIAA to protect the safety of our athletes,” Runey wrote in a letter to the varsity group.
The MIAA has stated “student safety” shouldn’t be a “successful defense” in not together with males from enjoying on feminine groups and vice versa. “The arguments generally fail due to the lack of correlation between injuries and mixed-gender teams,” the affiliation stated final 12 months.
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