I was talking to a mom the other day who had an athletic 11-year-old daughter. The daughter, we’ll call her Jill, loved sports and wanted to play on the boys baseball team, but the rules in her league prevented her from doing so. At Jill’s age there was a boys and a girls baseball team, no co-ed teams. When I asked the mother what she thought about Jill wanting to play, she admitted that she was happy the rules of the league prevented her from playing. I asked her, ‘Why?’ and she told me that she didn’t want her girl getting hurt by the boys.

I played sports when I was younger and never would discourage my daughter from playing on the boys’ team if it’s a possibility that she can. If she tried out and was fast enough and strong enough to play with the boys, she should be allowed that chance. It was disappointing to hear this mother’s take on the situation.

What if your son came back and wanted to play on the only lacrosse team in the school and it’s a girls’ team? Would you let him? Would he be made fun of? How would he handle that? What would YOU do? Let me know.

Read our article, written by Angela Batchelor, on what the local rules when a boy wants to play on the girls team or vice versa.

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