CNN
A Catholic-youth football league in Philadelphia finds itself in the middle of a controversy. After allowing a female player to participate for five years, the Archdiocese has now decided to bar her from taking the field.
11-year-old Caroline Pla has been suiting up for football since kindergarten, but her playing time with the Catholic Youth Organization ended after last season. The archdiocese of Philadelphia enforced its ‘boy’s only’ policy for football, sidelining the all-star guard and defensive end.
The media blitz and petition haven’t swayed the archdiocese. In a statement it said in part, “traditionally football is a boys only sport due to its full contact nature. Most parents and players have preferred this; some now disagree.”
A panel selected by the archdiocese will review the rule with a decision expected by mid-March.
3 Comments to “Girl Banned from Playing Football”
February 19, 2013 at 6:09 AM
Interesting topic… but I would encourage my daughter to try other sports. Football is a violent sport. As boys and girls progress through there adolescences the gap in strength and size begins to get further and further apart. I am sure some girls can hang and even outperform boys between 5-15 years old. At that age the sport is not as violent. Once you start talking about 8th grade and beyond the sport tends to separate the weak from the strong. And I am talking about boys. I played football from 2nd grade through high school. I know firsthand how violent the sport becomes as boys get older. I just would not want my daughter exposed to it.
February 19, 2013 at 7:11 AM
isnt it nice for you to have that choice? This kid does not. Its been taken away by an organization that refuses to look at issues objectively. It doesnt seem like they want to mandate that girls play. They want a kid to have a chance to play if he/she is capable. Appears like another pretty easy issue made overly complicated by the catholics….
February 19, 2013 at 12:46 PM
I'm going to wait for more info by the archdiocese and his panel. I CAN assume that the archdiocese is a male, right? Wonder what the decision would be if the child was born hermaphrodite, by God's will? Heh, that puts it into a different perspective.