DIGHTON, MASS. (WHDH) - The Dighton-Rehoboth School Committee has unanimously approved allowing student-athletes to opt out of games if the opposing team has players of the opposite sex after a field hockey player was seriously hurt by a boy on another team last season.
The new policy reads in part: “No student athlete on a single-sex team shall be penalized by the District in any manner for refusing to play…against an opposing team because that team includes a member of the opposite sex.”
The same goes for coaches and entire teams — if they decide to stay on the sidelines.
Superintendent Bill Runey said the issue is not about equal rights, it’s about safety.
“This doesn’t have anything to do with transgender anything like that … this is simply the fact that we feel strongly that the inherent risk of participating against a 16-17-18 yr old male is significantly higher,” he said.
During a playoff game last fall, a senior on the Dighton-Rehoboth team took a direct shot to the mouth from a boy who plays for Swampscott. Runey said the player suffered severe facial injuries and had to undergo surgery.
“We knew that some of our field hockey players would have been uncomfortable moving forward in the state playoffs back in November if they had to play another game against the male,” he said, adding that he hoped the MIAA would step in and make a change.
“But, unfortunately, no change has taken place,” he said.
The MIAA allows for girls to play on boys teams and boys to play on girls teams if their school doesn’t offer the sport for both.
In a statement Friday, the MIAA said it “reiterates its adherence to federal and state law that date back to 1972 and 1979, respectively.”
“The decision by the Dighton-Rehoboth School Committee was a local decision and as such the MIAA does not involve itself in local policy,” the MIAA said. “The D-R membership and participation in the MIAA has always been valued and we will continue to serve them and all our member schools and districts as a resource.”
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