Girls Can't Play Football: Try Cheerleading Instead

I always come home from BlogHer feeling empowered. There are a lot of women out there excelling in fields that have been traditionally male dominated but just when I think things are equaling out I run across something that proves me wrong.

In Ashtabul, Ohio a 10 year old named Alycia Figueroa went with her parents to sign up for little league football. She was told that she couldn't play football. She was old enough. She had the entry fee.

She wasn't allowed to play football because she was a girl.

According to Fox News the president of the Ashtabula Midget Football League told Alycia's parents that she should try out for cheerleading instead.

This isn't exactly breaking news but I have been stewing about this for weeks. TRY OUT FOR CHEERLEADING INSTEAD? How is that even close to the same thing? It is beyond insulting. It would have been one thing to ask her to sign up for the girls midget football league, but no - that doesn't exist. The by-laws (that are older than I am, they were written in 1971) establish that no girls are allowed.

Lyndsey D'Arcangelo writes:

The cheerleading comment by the league’s president only adds salt to the wound. This isn’t 1950 anymore. Look at Brittney Griner. She could school any boy her age on the court. And how about Kara Lawson?
She was bulldozing over boys in the Fairfax County Football league
before she ever got to Tennessee to play ball. Girls are on par with
boys at that age. There’s not as much of a difference in their physical
bodies or athleticism as there is when kids are older. At that age,
it’s anyone’s game.

When I was 10 I played soccer with the boys. I remember it clearly. There was no gender distinction. That was 25 years ago. And it was in Ohio. What is wrong with the Ashtabula Midget Football League. Isn't it time to change the by-laws?

Of course not everybody agrees with me and Lyndsey but don't you think that if Alycia wants to play she should at least be allowed to try out?

Luckily for Alycia her parents were able to enroll her in a youth league across town that accepts girls. As Pat Dollard writes "Football is king in Ohio".

Contributing Editor Sarah also blogs at Sarah and the Goon Squad and Draft Day Suit.

Submitted by Sarah (view blog

) on Fri, 08/01/2008 - 20:15

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Yes

She should definitely be given the opportunity to try out. It's her choice if she wants to play with the boys. I know there are some girls out there, especially at that age, that would really beat up on the boys too. :)

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Submitted by Gustavion on Fri, 08/01/2008 - 09:50

Heck ya.

I absolutely think she should get to play. At 10, it hardly matters if she is a girl. So she has to change in a bathroom instead of the locker room. So what. Cheerleading hardly is a substitute.
I certainly hope when my daughter is ready for group sports she can do whatever she wants, even if its football.

Submitted by ameliasprout on Fri, 08/01/2008 - 10:11

Just Do It

When my youngest played little league football there was a girl on the team who was everybit as good as the boys. She hit hard, ran quickly and was an awesome field goal kicker because she also played soccer.

I think if the girl wants to play she should be able to try, just as a boy should be able to join the cheerleaders if it's his desire to do so.

Doris

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Submitted by Doris on Fri, 08/01/2008 - 10:17

Sigh, not something my town should be known
for.

When I was kid growing up in Hartsgrove, Ohio just southeast of Ashtabula(read:small town that had never let girls play football before) I asked to join the Flag Football league and was accepted. This was when I was in third grade and I am 28 now. There really is no excuse at all for them not allowing her to play. I think it was just the coach being a jerk.

Playing football for me was a great experience. I wasn't treated like a princess and got to dress up in football gear. I loved it. I eventually grew out of that stage and wanted to be treated like a princess, so I gave up football. Hey, I'm a girly girl and I admit it!

At least she had options and I'll know not to take my daughter to that coach's league. Or my son for that matter when/if I have one. We may live in Bula, but not everyone is like that.

Simply,
Loula

Submitted by Loula on Fri, 08/01/2008 - 11:00

How can this be legal??

How come this doesn't fall under gender-based discrimination?

Vered DeLeeuw

http://momgrind.com/

Submitted by Vered on Fri, 08/01/2008 - 13:10

Oh I agree!

That is complete crap. She should be allowed to play what sport she wants, especially if she is capable and asking to do it under the same standards. THere's no way keeping her out is legal!

-Elaine

Tough Girl 101
No one likes a Sissy! Read about the Life of a skydiving, gun toting, fast driving part time soldier and full time student living life after Divorce.

Submitted by battledress on Sat, 08/02/2008 - 15:52

Unreal

If she wants to play football, she should be allowed to play football!

What decade are we in, for crying out loud?

Andrea

The Creative Junkie

http://www.thecreativejunkie.com

Submitted by CreativeJunkie on Sat, 08/02/2008 - 18:40

Sorry, But My Vote Is "No"

A year ago I would have said yes... but now? My vote is "no".

My son plays football (he's 12), and he had a girl on his team last season. She was really good, and she worked her butt off, harder than a lot of the boys on his team. Anyway, the first game, they went out there and it was her extremely bad luck that day that they were up against a tough team. When I say "tough", I mean they played dirty and talked even dirtier. They swore at her on the line, called her names, and made it a point to take her out every play. The third play, they knocked her down and stomped on her so hard they broke her ankle... she had cleat marks on her leg. I got the story from my son, who never thought it was a big deal having a girl on his team, she had already proved herself in practice, and that was enough for him.

It's not the girls you have to worry about... it's the boys who can't handle it.

Submitted by Sammanthia on Sat, 08/02/2008 - 22:50

Make them pay and they will learn to handle
it

Men couldn't handle lots of things. They couldn't handle a woman voting. They couldn't handle a woman owning property. Well they can handle it now. We can't let men's egos dictate what women can or can't do. The boys who did this need to be punished. Their team needs to pay a price. If the price is high enough, they will not do this anymore. Other teams will not do this anymore.

Vered DeLeeuw

http://momgrind.com/

Submitted by Vered on Sun, 08/03/2008 - 17:42

Some men just don't get it

I'm sickened by his comment. Try cheerleading? No offense to cheerleaders, because there are many darn-talented athletic ones, but cheerleading is not a substitute for football.

I think she should have the opportunity to play if she so chooses, however I do worry about girls and boys playing together in a contact sport. I watched my daughter's soccer team play the boys team. Every one was good spirted and the boys were pretty careful not to knock the girls around, but the sheer difference in size on a few of them was scary. Sad to say one girl did get her leg broken but the game was not ugly in any way.

mom of the pre-wrap girls

Submitted by Treece on Wed, 08/20/2008 - 02:09

I feel you

My daughter wanted to play football and her daddy said he would fight for her as long as she wanted to play. we found a way around them not letting her play because their wasn't an actual sport for her to play at the time so we suggested soccer or volleyball. when we came up with those options they couldn't fund them so that they had to let her play no matter what unless they could come up with something for her to do. I have pics posted on my other blog if you would like to check them out.

http://3wonderfulgifts.blogspot.com/

Submitted by aoden1 on Sat, 09/13/2008 - 20:37