Boys being pushed into girls’ football league

[PriOn1]

I found this article on Twitter and find it rather odd. It’s about a boy who wants to play in a girls’ football league. It doesn’t say that the boy “identifies as a girl” or anything similar. From the way it reads, he’s a boy who wants to play in the girls’ league because it’s easier.

What I don’t understand is the reaction of the Football Association, who seem to be insisting he must be allowed to play.

So I found myself wondering whether they missed out the fact that he claims to be a girl, or whether it might be more nuanced. For example, if there are already boys in the girl’s league who do claim to be female, does it then become discriminatory to exclude other boys?

Any thoughts or enlightenment? I shall now go off to search for other sources of information…

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

This makes me so angry. As a kid growing up I was never make to play anywhere despite being really quite good. I only got to play in the parks with the boys and I held my own.
However I had no opportunities at school, no girls team until I got to ALevels and certainly wasn't allowed to join the boys team even though I was better then some of them.
I wouldn't have dreamt of causing a fuss to be allowed to play and nor would my parents. You just accepted it and eventually I found girls teams and all was well. I think with the right training and guidance I could have reached a good level.
If this boy had no options I'd be more sympathetic but not only are there plenty of boys teams but there are mixed teams too!
It's not the kids fault, I 100% blame the parents for pushing this.

If the girls have any gumption they should just not pass to him, make him unwelcome. Then kick the shit out of him (accidentally of course)

Well this is the inevitable result of establishing that female resources are for the use of any males who feel 'unsafe' or 'uncomfortable' or any other reason, and that females have no business wanting things or having ambitions of their own when there are male people wanting supply from them. Male feelings are of great importance, female lives and equality ...? Phhhhbt. Nice people don't care about such things.

Thanks TQ+ lobby. <Slow clap>

@WhistPie What a cruel and vile thing to say about a child.
It's not the kid's fault that grown adults are willing to indulge this entitlement.

Sinner do you mean a boy playing in the women’s premier league? If so, can you reference please? Or have I misunderstood…

If this boy had no options I'd be more sympathetic but not only are there plenty of boys teams but there are mixed teams too!
It's not the kids fault, I 100% blame the parents for pushing this.

thats the crux of this specific issue isn’t it?

there are options. Plenty of them in fact.

a) join another team (there’s plenty about)
b) arrange a regular social football game by hiring a weekly pitch at your local goals centre or similar
c) sign up as volunteer coaches and create your own league team
d) join a mixed sex team
e) play for a school football team
f) get involved in wildcats tournaments

the fact that they’ve discounted all of these and want to remove a place from a girl smacks of entitlement.

our girls team is capped at 13 players because the coaches say any more and it means a lack of fair game time for everyone. So if a boy decided they wanted to play for our team because they couldn’t get into the boys, that means a place for a girl is unavailable despite HUNDREDS of local boys teams in the same age bracket.

we have 6 teams in our girls league because there simply aren’t the girls teams available due to a lack of volunteers/coaches. The boys have 10+ so there are hundreds of options.

the real issue seems to be with their current coaches who are competitive and want to win.

Absolutely. The history if the FA and the current males shoujd be allowed in all female spaces without question bollocks.

It was the FA who banned women playing football all those years ago (when there were some fantastic female players and teams) - hence we got the only male football teams / leagues situation. It’s disgusting actually. The fact they’re are panicking now because female football has taken off (again) is staggering in its misogyny.

https://www.dickkerrladies.com/the-fa-ban

Yep the FA banned women playing competitive football in 1921. So fcking predictable.

Patriarchy then. Patriarchy now.

It is difficult for boys who haven't been born into football interested families, most often with siblings and parents who play. Even by five, I could see a major difference in the boys' football skills in the playground with the boys who'd been kicking a ball about with dad since they could toddle, and running around with siblings playing. The ones who started only when they started school were not very good at it, and so weren't wanted by the boys who were, and it caused a lot of issue with friendships because the football playing boys wanted to play every break time - hours of practice daily - and the boys not part of that gang were left outside. Even the coaching classes were mostly aimed at the boys who were building already established skills, so the boys new to it quickly felt no good and dropped out.

But this would suggest a need for a different kind of club and coaching, aimed at those boys who haven't had that start but have the interest, for boys with access barriers, for boys that need something less intimidating than a full on game with boys going for it at full speed and strength. What you'd call it, I don't know. But this need for boys should not be solved by mugging the girls for what they've got.

The FA is not fit for purpose for women's football. They're already destroying the women's game by encouraging males with a female gender identity to play against adult women. We'd be better off with a separate governing body.

Quite,if he's shit at football maybe he could try something a little less physically demanding.

It’s very verruca salt isn’t it?

You've misunderstood. She's pointing out that the U16 rule is ridiculous because 15 year olds are old enough to play professionally.

As far as I can see, the FA's official position is that all under-16 competitions are mixed.
My brother played football as a kid and I'm sure that the female players were siphoned off to seperate teams at a much younger age than that (10ish?)

Has the rule changed or was it never a national rule?

His parents could encourage him to do something for which he has a talent.

I mean, is football the ONLY thing boys can do? How very gender stereotypical and limiting.

He should not be allowed. However, it is becoming very clear to me there is a huge gap in capacity for all to engage in sports as we age.

Ideally there would be a non competitive 5 aside option. His parents should in my opinion be looking for that as a reasonable option. Given the obesity crisis surely funding should be allocated.

I agree.... reading between the lines....and I may be wrong, but....the boy doesn't want to play with other boys, because isn't good enough to play with other boys, so wants to ride roughshod over all the girls instead.

There is a mixed league but they only want him to play with the girls.

entitled children grow up to entitled adults ... nice !

HagoftheNorth · Today 11:35

Sinner do you mean a boy playing in the women’s premier league? If so, can you reference please? Or have I misunderstood…

No, sorry, I obviously phrased that poorly, they play in the men's Premier League. I'm not sure if the 15 year old is now a bit older, I just remember a commentator recently saying that he'd had his first PL start aged 15. Blowed if I can remember his name.

Ethan Nwaneri – 15 years, 181 days old?

Thanks, Cher's - he looks a likely candidate.

Ethan Nwaneri made his Premier League debut for Arsenal at 15 years old.

Cher beat me to it!

Knowing how harsh teenagers can be... but won't he get mocked mercilessly for aying with the girls by ther boys? Not right obviously.

Also he/his parents have insulted every girl in that league by saying they aren't as good. And they think h will be welcomed?

Honestly the entitlement of parents with their little darlings who’ve never heard the word no.
Rather than accept their son isn’t very good they want to ruin the enjoyment of 1000’s of girls. Its just typical of the ‘me me me’ attitude we’re seeing in society.

My DS is grown now but as a little one playing football the entitlement and attitudes of parents was shocking. Boys of 3/4/5 with parents yelling at them like they were watching a premier league match rather than young kids. And I’ve seen punch ups on the touch line between parents/managers/referees at primary school age matches.

I was obsessed with football as a child. Never got good enough to play with what local girls' provision there was, although I played after school with girls who were training with the local club's ladies' team.

Clearly I missed a trick. I should have demanded a place on a team for younger kids, or maybe I could have insisted on joining a team set up for children with physical disabilities. That's apparently what you're supposed to do, is it?

Instead I accepted that my skill was never going to match my passion, and switched sports, to something I could be good at. He should do the same.

My 13 year old nephew (who is already a good 7 inches taller than me) could run rings round me on a pitch, and I played women's football for 30 years.

And then there's the potential future problem of voyeurism......