12/21/24
June 06, 2017
Girl's Soccer Team Banned from Tournament : An eight-year-old girl's soccer team was reportedly disqualified from a tournament on Sunday because organizers told her she "looks like a boy."
It's a U-11 team. So at age eight, she's been age waivered up at least one age group due to ability and playing with older, bigger girls. (And there's a significant difference in speed, physicality, tactics, and field size). Able to handle that but can't overcome the idiots.
posted by beaverboard at 03:12 PM on June 06, 2017
If anyone is familiar with the American television show, "I Am Jazz," Jazz Jennings was born male in 2000, lived life as a girl since around kindergarten, but at age 8 was banned by her state youth soccer federation from playing with girls' teams. The U.S. Soccer Federation forced the state association to accept her in 2011 and adopted a transgender policy in 2013.
posted by jjzucal at 07:10 PM on June 06, 2017
In 1990 my wife reported a similar story when we were still in college. A 10-year-old girl, Natasha Dennis, played so well in a Lewisville, Texas, soccer game that parents affiliated with the other team demanded a restroom "panty check" to prove her gender. Fortunately that did not occur. The story went national.