To be appalled at these parents trying to force a girls football team to let their son join?

[AngeloMysterioso]

The FA is threatening to suspend a girls’ football league after a boy’s parents complained because they wouldn’t let him join.

There’s nothing in the report about the boy being trans, or identifying as a girl- he just doesn’t want to play with boys and doesn’t have the ability level.

I’m just gobsmacked at the entitlement of these parents, which they are also teaching their son - that they expect a girl to have to lose her place on a team just because he isn’t good enough to play with the boys.

DM article- so far not being reported by any other news outlets but will keep checking.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13149771/west-riding-girls-football-league-boy-footbal-association.html

It was definitely still the case up until at least 2000 that 11 ish was the cut off point. Sensibly so, I think, even though it was probably massively frustrating for the girls who had to leave their teams, as the minority.

Cubs and scouts is completely different. It’s non competitive and cooperative.

My dd is 15. The thought of her playing competitively against the boys in her class is insane. Some of the boys are well over 6 foot with size 13 feet. There is a real trend these days to be buff and some boys spend hours perfecting their 6 pack. Fifteen year olds have no idea of their strength and that they could snap my dd in half!

Because if they were competing with a boy who had that girl's exceptional talent, that girl would not be winning. Yet, those parents would write that off as that girl not being good enough, or training hard enough in comparison to the boys she is competing against. And they would not even consider the impact that this would have on that girl. All because some parents will declare, it is just a bit of fun, or that 'girls can compete against boys at x age'.

Yes this is really often overlooked. Girls who are competitive in boys teams above the age of puberty are exceptional at their sport.

They often continue to play in those teams because there are not many opportunities in teams of their own sex and they do it for development reasons. They are there on merit and because they are prepared to take the risk that is posed by the power and strength of the boys on the team.

In my daughters sport, which is even more under represented for girls than for boys than football, other than county fixtures she doesn't really get all that competition/ development any more in playing in girls teams. She won player of the season in a local women's team when she was only 13. So she does play in boys and lower level mens cricket teams because she can cope at that level, whereas some of the boys in her boys mixed team aren't good enough at the sport yet to do that. But if any of those boys went and joined the girls team for the same age group it would be a massive risk to the girls on the team.

A boy of her age at county level wouldn't have any interest in either her boys or men's teams because they would be too good, they play in higher leagues because they have both the talent/ technique and strength/speed from being male/ going through male puberty.

I always think that the fact that Serena Williams says she would lose 6-0 6-0 to Andy Murray illustrates the point well. Serena is an amazing athlete but would not have a chance against ranked males. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1606459836413781

Pretty sure that admitting that boy would breach the girls' rights under the EA2010.

From a school perspective we regularly have boys coming in with weekend sports injuries, normally bruises and sprains, but fractures are not uncommon and there is the odd more serious break.

very very rarely does a girl come in with an injury

Indeed, lifeturns, I remember last year on AIBU a parent wrote that their daughter was upset that she seemed to have been beaten by a male who was identifying as a girl in primary school races. The amount of posts that were all 'it is just a bit of fun' or 'my daughter is faster than the boys so it is just false to say that boys are in general faster etc' and the list was endless. I was told off for being a parent who was obviously 'too competitive'. Just for stating that girls deserved to be recognised for their exceptional talents in sport.

I come from a sporting family that competed in different sports at all levels. Not me, although I did represent my school once. However, I cannot imagine my female cousins reaching the levels they did if their talent had been written off as some parents inadvertently do in their rush to dismiss the facts.

But fuck, there is now so much known about the dangers to female bodies when coming into contact with male bodies in sport or from an object being hit or kicked by a male body it seems absolutely inconceivable that a sport's organisation such as FA has simply ignored the risk. It is fucking negligent.

And that is even before considering the danger of a female body having to over extend to be competitive against a male body with physical advantages. Particularly during the menstrual cycle when connective tissue is at risk. This can be career shortening or completely career preventing if a girl's sporting career is just starting.

It is good to see though that each year, more and more parents are taking notice and reading studies and understanding the issues. But it feels slow.

@MumblesParty
I, genuinely, simply missed the word 'some' out of my post. Apologies. And, actually I was only referring to the one super ignorant poster who then went on to detail about her sons. It's the sign of the times, 'if it doesn't affect me, I don't care.'

Didn’t think I’d be getting these out again so soon

Maybe instead of spending lesson time telling 10 year olds they can switch sex if they're feeling troubled; the time might be better spent explaining the enormous differences in xx bodies compared to XY. Maybe some of the parents on this thread could sit in.

This has been very well explained up thread

Allowing boys to join a girls team is completely different. The girls then have no choice but to risk playing with someone physically bigger and stronger than them. It’s not fair. It’s no better than a 15 year lad deciding he wants to play in his 6 year old brother’s team!

//

This

How? FA rules state mixed teams are allowed up to 18

Nothing is sacred anymore.

Just because it's the FA's rules to discriminate against girls doesn't make it lawful.

So all this is because some parents can't say "No" to their son. Life is hard /You can't always get what you want etc etc

Oh boy and we wonder why most men grow up with the entitlement issue.

The FA is an organisation. The EA2010 is a law. Organisations are not allowed to make rules that break the law.

I’m sorry but I think boys joining girls teams is the corollary of girls in boys teams. To say they have no choice isn’t an argument.

You might think that, but it's not.

Try and think about it this way: allowing 13 year old boys to play in Under 16s boys rugby/football is not the corollary of allowing 19 year old boys to play in the Under 16s boys rugby/football.

Or do you think that is the same?

Maybe think a little bit more then @Northernparent68 . Because, no, it's not. The girl joining the boys team isn't stopping any boy from playing (because there's hundreds of boys teams), she isn't putting any boy at risk of physical harm (because their body is stronger than hers). Both things which happen the other way round. And, if you're thinking/going to respond something facile like 'I know one girl who's taller than one boy I know', then please, don't bother.

I can't help thinking of Veruca Salt - whatever she wants, her parents facilitate it.

It's disgusting that they might be forced to let him play as single sex sports are important to girls & women.

Regardless of what the FA says, there is a physical difference between the sexes at every age.

Anyone who whitters on about 'Not my Timmy...' is deliberately being obtuse.

Having watched my two boys play football from U8s to U18s and then Sunday League, there's no doubting it's a very physical game. Puberty doesn't strike all boys at the same age, and you can see this clearly on the pitch. Most of the injuries happen around U13, U14, U15, when there are big differences in stature. The physical differences are similar to those between male and female. My youngest broke his collar bone at 14 because he collided awkwardly with another player.

Interesting that people have mentioned the technical skills of the girls against the power of the boys. Our friends' daughter stayed with us when she was around 11 years old. She played football in the US, which was just the done thing for girls there. She ran rings round the boys, and they were a little taken aback. As a stronger male on the pitch, how might you deal with that? Fortunately, my boys didn't go in with any force (all the parents were watching and it was just in the park).

In rowing (not a contact sport), British Rowing offers the following categories - Open (for anyone), Women (those assigned female at birth) and Mixed (where at least 50% in the boat are in the Women's category). Seems fair, but let's hope such categorisations don't result in more babies being assigned female at birth, so as to enhance their choices in life.

Oh my goodness @Hillarious , that is the next step I hadn't thought of. Super rich people paying off a midwife to 'observe' their little baby boy as a girl!! Or, not rich, and seeing their little boy as a route out of poverty.

Well this is where we are when we decide the rights of individuals override the rights of the majority. When we have a society that places a higher value on being special and different than it does on fitting in to existing structures and systems that were set up with the majority in mind. Where girls are encouraged to empathise with special boys and welcome them with open arms, flattered even that they are honouring them with their presence. Those parents can't see beyond their desire to get what's best for their special son. They see all the other special male people being allowed to intrude into female spaces and think, perhaps understandably, why not?