What are the issues involved in girls playing football with boys?

Boys tend to be larger/stronger.

Clearly, she didn’t get hurt. @bob_ I hear that’s not always what’s necessary in Football. Aside from the fact that there are women larger/stronger than men. Besides, she made captain for a reason.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir I understand that. I meant in general, not in this particular case.

@bob_ You mean that’s what the administrators are thinking – boys are larger, she can’t play?

@Simone_De_Beauvoir Yes. “Boys are larger, she might get hurt, let’s cover our asses.”

@bob_ Hell, if only the even cared about the boys. People had to bitch and look ‘unmanly’ for awhile before football players could even wear helmets.

Here, in Israel, there is a current affair vis a vis a girl playing basketball. She is 11 and it has to do with the religious Orthodox men not allowing the girls to play with boys because of modesty issues. It has caused a minor uproar and I think they are considering both a regular league (girls/boys) and a mixed league.

What @bob_ said. Most boys who play football are larger than the average girl.

My daughter (age 8) played flag football this past fall. Her team had both boys and girls, but at this age many of the children are close in size, and it was only flag football (no tackling). There was one child who forgot the rules and tackled the other kids several times. This child was a girl who ended up hurting the boys she tackled.

I think girls should be allowed to play if they want to. My daughter played better than many of the boys on her team and on the teams she played against. I hate the thought that she might have to give up the sport in two years when she’ll be old enough for JFL. She really enjoys playing the game.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir Totally. So many fucked up brains just for some game, it’s sad.

”There was one child who forgot the rules and tackled the other kids several times.”

@jonsblond: So she forgot the rules… several times?! LOL. That’s awesome. I’m thinking she just enjoyed tackling people, which must have been hilarious. :^)

Anywho… @bob_ has it right with the administrators mind set. Could also be some sort of pseudo sexual thing. “Girls and boys shouldn’t touch like that” or something.

Way I see it, if she earned the captain’s spot, she should be allowed to continue to play.

Over here in england town we play proper football, soccer to the yankee bandido’s.
My daughter plays in goal for her school team, but they don’t currently play in mixed teams.
Lucky for the boys, because if they did she’d kick their arses right outta town, legally of course.

As long as the girls don’t have to play in their lingerie, I think anyone who is good enough and wants to play should be on the team.

I think that these sorts of restrictions are another sort of anti-woman puritansim writ large. It’s sex role stereotyping taking place at a very young age.

My guess is that some prude decided that if a boy tackled a girl, he might accidentally touch (good forbid) her boobs. And that the resulting touch would in some way scar the girl for live. And it might cause ‘unhealthy’ thoughts on the boy’s part.

So rather than teach kids about maturity, they separate boys and girls and pretty much sweel everything under the rug.

@cookieman What’s awesome is she is the pastor’s daughter. :)

@rooeytoo Lingerie football really gets my panties in a bunch. I find it offensive.

@jonsblond – me too! many of those women look to be good athletes, I wish there were a better venue for them to play.

@jonsblond: Fantastic. Sounds like a good Disney movie.