Had a U10 girls tournament this weekend. Other team had what we thought was just a girl with short hair. He was absolutely faster and stronger then everyone. Scored 3 goals on absolutely wicked shots. One was a direct goal from a corner kick. We all just thought she/he was just a really strong girl. Turns out it was disclosed prior to the game that it was a boy, transitioning to a girl. I'm fairly liberal so really don't care about the transition aspect. Just thought it was interesting that it is allowed given that 9 and 10 year old boys (which this girl technically was) are stronger, more aggressive then 9 and 10 year old girls. I guess the best solution would be to play him up maybe even 2 age groups but given that this was a tournament they were going for blood.
I am fairly liberal as well, so on one hand I really don’t care…I don’t care how they identify, what they wear, call themselves, or even where they take a piss… But in a competitive setting that seems a tad unfair, at least that’s my initial gut reaction…I mean technically, he/she is a boy…I have no real problem that he/she thinks like a girl, wants to be a girl and may someday actually, for all practical purposes, be a girl/woman…but right now, physically, he/she is a boy… I don’t think rules should be made or bent because people “want”…they exist to keep things fair for everyone…and I think in all fairness, he/she should be playing on a Boys team….girls do it all the time, and it doesn’t have anything to do with their identification…
Agree with everything you said. Unfortunately, we live in a society that is so hypersensitive to everything that nobody would dare deny this boy/girl the opportunity to play with the team he identifies with. What if my daughter identifies as an 8 year old? Couldn't our U9 team have added her for the tournament? Where do you end it?
Good grief. The soccer league did the right thing. That kid is probably facing more issues in everyday life than I can even imagine. Let her play on whichever soccer team she wants. Kids come in all shapes and sizes at age 9/10.
In youth sports, we group kids by age and sex… By age; kids are supposed to play at and with their own age group…the exception being, its ok to play up, but not to play down…. By sex; outside of specific co-rec situations, the boys play with and against the boys; the girls play with and against the girls….the exception being its ok for a girl to play with the boys, but not for a boy to play with the girls… We may someday have a female NBA player, but we will never have a man playing in the WNBA… I didn’t make these rules, social norms or standards….but they certainly exist…and I would say they exist for good reasons…. I am not unsympathetic, I am sure this kid is going through a lot….but my empathy is trumped by my principle that everyone is expected to follow the rules; we don’t bend or break the rules just because somebody “wants” them to be different, especially if doing so would come at the expense of others… This kid has every “right” to be play youth soccer, but he/she doesn’t have a “right” to self-determine where he’s placed outside and independent of the established rules… I am not unwilling to be educated on this subject; a subject I admittedly know very little about…convince me this boy isn’t really [physically] a boy and I am more than willing to change my mind…
It doesn't work that way in life nor should it. There are rules and a majority of those rules are designed with both competition and safety in mind. I'm willing to overlook the competition aspect but not the safety aspect. Most 9 and 10 year old boys are stronger, faster, more aggressive then girls of the same age. I say most because my daughter is clearly better at soccer and more athletic then some 9 and 10 year old boys. However, this was clearly not the case here. He/she should be playing up to at least u12. And if he is already and they brought him in as a "guest" for the tournament, shame on them.
No, it's true: On the whole, nine and ten-year old boys are stronger and more aggressive than nine and ten-year old girls.
What is untrue about this? The fact that it was disclosed to our coaches prior to the game? Political Correctness now trumps safety concerns and competitive advantages.
If you knew in advance, and the safety issue was real and important, your club and/or coach, should have refused to play in order to protect your girls. Clearly, this decision has been thoroughly negotiated somewhere up the chain of command. You can't play in a tournament without being registered in a league associated with a state association or national group (US Club). In particular, while most leagues wouldn't care if a girl registered in a boys' league, they would care if a boy registered in a girls league. So, how'd she get a player pass to play in a girls league/on a girls' team? It's not like you can just put together a team for a tournament and show up with a piece of paper that says - Dear Tournament director, here is my team. No, they don't have player passes and no they don't have birth certificates, and no, we don't play in any particular league, but we want to play in your tournament. And by the way, we have this boy on our team, but he's transitioning to a girl, so it's OK. Someone gave that child a player pass to play on a girls team. Take it up with that entity.
League rules/policy if you identify as a girl you need a letter from your health care provide or psychologist and that is all you need to play with girls as a boy. I think our coach found out when the ref was going thru the player card deal and it must have been disclosed at that point.
I don’t think we clearly know anything… This could easily be a case where higher ups are making no real official decision at all, but simply passing the buck down the food chains so to speak… For all we know, this kid is carded as a boy…but the club doesn’t want to say no, the tournament doesn’t want to say no….so they pass it down to the opposing coach to say no just prior to the game, which probably doesn’t happen, because nobody wants to be seen as the un-PC bad guy (insensitive asshole) who steps up and says no…. Not saying, that’s’ what gong up in this case, but I certainly wouldn’t be shocked if it was… Edit: OK, so there is a rule in place to handle this situation…color me shocked, but if those rules were followed, I guess I have no problem with this…
Yes rules were followed i'm not saying they cheated or anything. I just cant believe its a rule and is allowed to begin with.
Yeah, I am bit shocked there is a rule as well…but there is and they followed it, so much of my argument falls apart…. Do I like that the rule? Not really, but now knowing there is a rule and the possibility that a “boy” maybe be eligible to be play against your daughter, the impetus falls on you to make sure that doesn’t happen if you are so bothered by it….you either feel so strongly about it, you pull your daughter from such situations or you let it go….I’d probably let it go, but then I don’t have daughter who plays soccer… I do have a daughter that plays volleyball…and while at U10 I probably wouldn’t have much issue with a similar situation….at say U15, I think would have a problem…boys just, by and large, hit harder at that point; blocks and net play would worry me…it would become a safety issue.
I want to know what league this is so I can read the policy. After that response, I think you are making this whole thing up.
No 9 year old boys are not stronger than 9 year old girls and in fact there is no real reason kids cant play co-ed soccer up until puberty. And the only reason co-ed should not be allowed is because it is girls who hit puberty first and for a couple years can actually be bigger and stronger.
What is untrue about this? Just the entire story, that's all. My guess is you read some piece of crap news bot spouting a fake story on your Facebook feed and your little conservative mind exploded. But by all means post the tournament where this happened, or better yet post the link to the "Red State Patriot Info War Journal" that your crazy hunting buddy shared with you because he knows your kid plays that sissie futball.
I'm sorry you're upset that you have a transgender kid. I dont owe you any proof of my story. Who the hell would make something like this up?
Who would make it up? I don't know, who would make up a story about a Presidential Candidate running a child sex trade through the basement of a pizza shop but folks believed that and you believed this too. I didn't happen and if it did your life has not been affected or altered in any way. Move on.
Made up or not, it’s an interesting and valid subject, even if completely academic…but then I like to argue/debate….. For those that don’t want to actually discus the topic at hand, I’d suggest you take your own advice and move on [from this thread…]
Ok, lets play ball. Some 9 year old boy decides he wants to be a girl and lobbies to play on a girls soccer team. What is the gain for the kid?
Validation in a validation driven society….if little Johnny thinks he’s a Sally, then by god, he’ll be treated just like any other girl….even if it makes little sense to do so, to anyone else; maybe even actually harmful or unfair to others…but as long as little Sally feels good about himself everyone else is expected to remain silent and forget the inconvenient fact that physically she’s still a boy…. Even if this is "fake news," tell me this isn’t the mentally behind this kind of stuff?