Boys club' only
White City High School, located in nearby Morris County, defeated St. Mary's Academy football team 2-0 last week.
A strange score no doubt. But White City didn't win the game with great defense and a safety. St. Mary's wasn't defeated by having an inept offense.
2-0 is the official score of a forfeit victory.
St. Mary's elected to forfeit because of a certain player on White City's roster: freshman guard Kara Dowell.
It wasn't because Dowell should be ineligible, or was so good St. Mary's was afraid. In fact, Dowell rarely even made it into a varsity game. It was simply because she's a girl.
White City coach Bobby Rehse called to see if St. Mary's had a separate locker room for Dowell to change in. Not only was the answer no, but the private, non-reform school, said it would not play if Dowell suited up.
Dowell then offered to sit out. White City stood up for her saying she shouldn't have to do that. When all was said and done, White City was credited with the forfeit victory.
This just seems crazy to me. It's understandable how parents may be afraid for their daughter to play such a physical sport at a fairly high level. Or how an opponent may feel like he should take it easy on her. I can even see why someone might just flat out not think it's right for girls to play a "boys" sport.
Cliché or not however, this is America. If a girl wants to take a pounding on the football field, let her. She has every right to be battered and bruised up like the guys. And there isn't one guy who has to take it easy on her because she's a girl. She is on the field like anyone else.
Deciding not to play because she is a girl takes us back to the civil rights era when teams refused to play other schools because their rosters included African-Americans.
Most people who tell me they don't agree with a girl playing football say it's because of the physical difference. But St. Mary's only said it doesn't play football with girls.
They don't care if she gets hurt, they just don't think it's lady-like. By refusing to say anything more than that, St. Mary's is sending the wrong message to kids, especially young female athletes.
Football is played mainly by males for a reason: It's physically demanding. If a girl wants to challenge that notion, she can. If she can't handle it, like many boys across the nation, she can quit.
White City may not want her to do that anytime soon. A story in the Lawrence Journal-World reported Dowell said her teammates told her she single-handily won a game for them.
Final score: White City 2, St. Mary's 0.
