Seven years ago, the PIAA enacted rules that make it virtually impossible for a boy to play on a girls’ high school team.
But as the Post-Gazette’s Mike White points out in a new in-depth piece, there are several incidents of that happening.
White reports that Greensburg Salem has three males on their girls’ lacrosse team this past spring with one resembling “a football lineman and has a huge size advantage over most girls.”
The PIAA’s executive director Bob Lombardi tells White the school is in “clear violation and could face penalties.”
WPIAL’s executive director Amy Scheuneman tells the Fan Morning Show, “There’s some parameters that allow to us some principal involvement and then their inability to compete in a postseason if they do have boys compete, so as you will see they are not in our postseason.”
Scheuneman adds that the WPIAL will look further into it next year.
The Fan Morning Show discussed the issue on Friday and while Chris and Colin said principals are allowed to approve a boy playing a girls’ sport, that doesn’t mean they should.
“I don’t care who this makes mad . . . if you’re a high school boy like this kid that is pictured in the Post-Gazette today and you play on the girls’ lacrosse team or you want to play girls’ field hockey, you have no pride, you have none,” said Colin Dunlap. “I don’t care what the particulars are if they don’t have a boys’ team at your school or whatever.”
If I was in high school and I wanted to play girls’ lacrosse or girls’ field hockey, first of all my friends would kick my a** and second of all my mom, more importantly, would look at me and go absolutely, positively, the answer is no.”
Even though girls’ lacrosse doesn’t hit like they do in boys’ lacrosse, Dunlap says the size difference is “irresponsible, dangerous and ridiculous.”
While Dunlap partially blames the boys, he wants to know what parent is allowing this.
“Why is it being permitted once it’s presented to people, once it’s presented to the adults in the room?” asked Chris Mack.
Dunlap says it’s because people are worried about losing their job or a lawsuit or being insensitive, adding people just need to use logic.
Dunlap adds it also puts the other team in a bad position.
It puts those kids in a bad position . . . all of the sudden there’s a 6’5”, 215-pound boy and they go, ‘wait a minute, my daughter’s just a sophomore here, she’s 5’1”, she’s 100-nothing.”
The guys both agree that if a girl is good enough to play high school football or golf or another sport they should be permitted to play with the boys, with Mack adding if a student is questioning their gender then he’s willing to have a conversation, but if a boy knows he is a boy there is no way he should be allowed to play on a girls’ team.