Girl kicked off boys team

[Mark Padgett]

What do you think? Fair or not fair? Remember - the facility is a private gym.

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/ore...210.xml&coll=7

[Adam]

Not sure about fair, but it seems stupid to me. They're within their rights, and if the parents who support the league want it that way....

Doesn't mean they're less than stupid, but....

These boys will be competing against women for jobs when they get older, they need to learn now it's okay to compete normally. Sounds like the parents are making excuses for their kids' inability to compete with her.

Fair or unfair? Who's to say, hopefully the valuable lesson she will learn at this young age is... life is not always fair!
This could be a huge motivating factor for her to succeed as well.

Remember the old fashion saying:
If you can't beat 'em, kick 'em out!

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

What do you think? Fair or not fair? Remember - the facility is a private gym.

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/ore...210.xml&coll=7

Mark - how come all these things happen in Oregon? Is it the water (rain)? Or is that you guys have a newspaper that goes out and covers it and its out here too and we just don't hear about it?

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by grunewar

Mark - how come all these things happen in Oregon? Is it the water (rain)? Or is that you guys have a newspaper that goes out and covers it and its out here too and we just don't hear about it?

Actually, this is a good observation on the state of news here. Having a background in the news business (former radio news director) and having grown up in and worked in a much larger market (Chicago), I have a perspective on the news industry here. The word I would use to describe it is "provincial". Since not much goes on (relative to larger markets) but the "natives" imagine Portland as a large market, the news media "inflates" stories that would either be "back page" or not reported at all in true large markets.

I'm not sure I got that point across so that you guys understand what I'm trying to convey, but I hope it comes across not as a put-down of my "adopted" state but just as an objective assessment of overly emphasized news coverage.

BTW - I don't think this is specific to Portland. I have witnessed it as I have visited many other "medium sized" markets.

[ODJ]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

Actually, this is a good observation on the state of news here. Having a background in the news business (former radio news director) and having grown up in and worked in a much larger market (Chicago), I have a perspective on the news industry here. The word I would use to describe it is "provincial". Since not much goes on (relative to larger markets) but the "natives" imagine Portland as a large market, the news media "inflates" stories that would either be "back page" or not reported at all in true large markets.

I'm not sure I got that point across so that you guys understand what I'm trying to convey, but I hope it comes across not as a put-down of my "adopted" state but just as an objective assessment of overly emphasized news coverage.

BTW - I don't think this is specific to Portland. I have witnessed it as I have visited many other "medium sized" markets.

Yup. You nailed PDX media. Not that ORD is much better.
Try smaller markets where fully 50% of the TV newscast is ripped straight from the morning paper. I've never found that class in the J-school catalogs: "Lazy reporting rip-offs and how to make your day easier."

[JRutledge]

If there is a girl's team available she should be playing on that team. I do not know if they would allow a boy to play against the girls either if that situation was possible. Fair or not really should not be the issue. Would everyone be happy if the girls played against the boys all the time? And when she gets to high school I do not see her playing against the boys then.

It sounds like the outrage is misdirected.

Peace

[psycho_ref]

Some outsider thoughts:


http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...7132841AAkHaOV

[psycho_ref]

It made CNN

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/...boys.team.koin

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

If there is a girl's team available she should be playing on that team.

I'm not sure where and when to draw the line either........I am asst coach of a 14/15 baseball team that has a female player as do most teams in the league. She's as good if not better than half the males in the league and there are absolutely no issues.

But, as JRut points out there are not enough females to makeup softball teams and this is their only option for now, and has been for many yrs in our area.

[Mark Padgett]

Without taking up any issues having to do with "political correctness", I think a line could be drawn at contact. If it's a contact sport (and there's plenty of contact in basketball), maybe you could make the case for separate teams. Baseball, which is a non-contact sport (despite some close plays at the plate) could be mixed, as could tennis, golf, bowling, swimming, track, etc.

Let's face it, would anyone out there support co-ed ice hockey? Come to think of it, there was this one girl in my high school who, er, never mind.

[psycho_ref]

You know guys, I sense there might be a lot of people who are afraid to take this topic on.

So point blank, here is what I think: GIRLS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO PLAY WITH BOYS.

Where and when do we draw the line. 14-15-16 years old? based on skill level, who judges that? Based on the sport? Should they be allowed to play rugby or wrestle with the boys? Too many factors. So ok, we say let's use our common sense, c'mon now, we have all been out there and seen coaches, players, parents, and even us referees, sensibility is not part of our repertoire (as a general public that is).

If it gets rough, she fouls someone hard, he will be teased mercilessly, and/or then he returns the favor and she gets hurt, everyone will look at him like he is a horrible kid for fouling a girl. It's lose-lose. Not to mention everyone will get sued for allowing it to happen, and then we would be reading a different article. I'm sure this would not happen at the 12 year old level, but like I said, why go down that road and when/where do we draw the line.

The rule is there for a reason. Leave it be.

[Mark Padgett]

http://www.koin.com/content/mediacen...m&navCatId=156

[Jimgolf]

We run co-ed teams in our organization for grades 3-8 and there are no issues like this. Boys that have self-esteem issues because of being outclassed by a girl will have the same issues later in life when they are outclassed by other boys. The key is to raise the boys properly so that their self-esteem isn't based on beating girls, but on understanding their own talent and getting the most out of it.

It is fascinating that the self-esteem of poorly raised boys is considered more important than the self-esteem of the girl in question. The boys lose games 90-something to 20-something, and the girl scores 30. With the girl gone, they still lose 60-something to 20-something, but now they have self-esteem?

Sorry, not buying it. These boys need to take up a different sport, or get used to taking a beating.

Meanwhile the girl is taught that women are second-class citizens. I guess that's true in this country, but it's a shame she has to learn it so young.

[Smitty]

Another option would be to move her up to play with the freshman or JV teams. I know this girl - she's incredibly talented and tall for her age. She towers over all the other 6th grade girls and boys. She is soft spoken and the sweetest kid you'll ever meet, and hates the attention this has caused. I blame it all on the coach. He could have done a better job of playing her on a team where she'd be challenged and blend in based on her skill level.