A teammate of the Massachusetts high school field hockey player who had some of her teeth knocked out when an opposing male player shot the ball at her face Thursday is calling on authorities to create a new league for boys only, due to their “significant” athletic advantage.
Kelsey Bain, a captain on the Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School, posted her letter to the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association on X Sunday, after her teammate was drilled in the face by a Swampscott High School player.
After the girl’s “shrieks and screams of fear and pain” filled the stadium, the MIAA issued a statement saying it strives to create a “welcoming, safe and belonging atmosphere for all participants,” in accordance with state laws that ban gender discrimination in scholastic sports.
“I understand that the MIAA is adhering to the Massachusetts Equal Rights Amendment, but continuously using the law as a scapegoat for criticism and issues regarding this topic is unacceptable,” wrote Bain.
“The athletic gap between genders becomes especially significant around the age of 15. Higher levels of testosterone provide an advantage in sports where aggression and risk taking behavior are involved,” she continued, adding, “rules of high school field hockey were created for female versus female play.”
Bain also cited claims that male athletes are 30% stronger on average and can jump 25% higher, throw 25% further, run 11% faster and accelerate 20% more quickly than females.
“How much longer does the MIAA plan on using girls as statistical data points before they realize that boys do not belong in girls’ sports? Twenty injuries? One hundred? Death?,” her letter asked.
Bain called on the regulators to create a new league for boys, pointing out that “at least” 41 boys played on girls’ field hockey teams in the Bay State, and said there was “likely more interest” but the “stigma … is probably a deterrent.”
“Student safety has not been a successful defense to excluding students of one gender from participating on teams of the opposite gender. The arguments generally fail due to the lack of correlation between injuries and mixed-gender teams,” the MIAA had said in its statement, which was met with criticism from Riley Gaines, a former college swimmer turned activist against biological men in women’s sports.
The injury, which occurred during a playoff game, was caught on camera. The Swampscott boy was seen winding back his stick to take a shot on goal, but instead the ball drilled his opponent in the face at point blank range.
The unnamed injured played “sustained significant facial and dental injuries,” Dighton Rehoboth’s Superintendent Bill Runey confirmed.
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