This is too silly to resist.
Yahoo! is reporting that a Georgia Christian school has forced a 12 year old girl off their football team. It's not that she isn't talented, because the coaches love her ability. What the problem is, as interpreted by the school's Chief Executive Officer, is that the school officials are afraid the boys on the team will begin to have impure thoughts and lust after their teammate.
Strong Rock Christian School in Locus Grove, Georgia is, like most Christian schools, privately run, and while they have each athlete's best interests at heart, it is the moral concerns that have forced Maddy Blythe off the football team, despite the fact that her coach went to bat for her to save her spot on the roster. CEO Patrick Stuart even went so far as to use Biblical terminology to explain his decision.
We've seen young women try out for high school & college teams, and one girl actually had the distinction of being named homecoming queen and kicking a game-winning field goal in the same night. In Maddy's case, Stuart is afraid that as her body begins to mature, it will lead to the boys on the team letting their hormones get in the way. It doesn't have to be that way. I'm assuming that when she played, Maddy was given a separate space in the locker room, bordered by a partition to prevent any accidental or intentional peeping while she changed clothes. If that isn't already the case, it should be. According to Maddy's mom, Stuart told her he'd prayed about the situation, and felt that cutting Maddy from the team was the right thing to do, even if it was strictly for moral reasons.
On one hand, I can understand Stuart's rationale here. He's trying to protect his players from temptation. However, if they've already trained their minds to cast aside impure, lustful thoughts, there isn't an issue, and that Maddy should be treated as an equal as a teammate. So far, there's not been much complaint to the effect of cries of sexual discrimination. As noted, the Strong Rock football coach has supported Maddy. On the other hand, in any other part of the country, this might not be as big an issue. It is in the Southern states where they're most overzealous when it comes to the Bible. They're the ones who need to wake up and join the 21st century.
2 comments:
I've heard this story and I'm skeptical that "lust prevention" is the real reason.
While I agree with the old adage, "Boys will be boys", I think it's more of a girl vs boys ego thing.
Firstly, I'm surprised a girl was allowed on an otherwise all boy team and allowed to play against other all boy teams. Women are generally physically weaker than most boys and the chasm gets wider when puberty starts. It's one thing if this girl were on an all female team battling another all female team, but eventually she is going to get crushed by the boys - if they really wantto win. This of course presents another dilemma which could be reason for letting her go - the boys' protective instincts. They may be distracted not so much because of lust but because she could be seriously hurt by the opposing players so the guys have to rally around her - or at least think they have to. That can lead to loss of focus on the game and losing games. Of course that would mean a lawsuit from the femi-nazis who have yet to realize men and women are different.
Imagine the lawsuits if the girl were pummeled by another male player - her parents would blame the school and demand football be outlawed! Not to mention suing the boy who pummeled her in the name of "equality".
Your rationale makes sense, and the protective instincts were noticibly missing from the Yahoo! article. Gee, there's a shocker right there.
Post a Comment