Thursday, October 25, 2007
Men in Skirts?
Should men be able to partake in women’s field hockey at the high school level? Each year in my home state of Pennsylvania this issue comes up. PA is widely regarded as one of the best, if not the best, states for high school field hockey. Evidence would be that 6 out of the 20 players on Ohio’s roster alone are from PA. Only two are from Ohio. But regardless of how good these young ladies are, it is still difficult for these girls to compete with the opposite sex. At my high school we had a guy who was a year older than me who played for the team. He eventually went on to be the only player on the US national team from the east coast. This guy was bigger than pretty much all the linebackers I faced in my high school career. When put next to a female it looked like Shrek and Princess Fiona. The safety of the girls is at risk when they collide with players of their own sex, let alone another. Also, the ball will travel faster when hit by males. It’s often controversial that some teams would field half or more of their team with males against schools that had no males at all. One local school, Antietam, does not boast a football squad due to being such a small school. They would usually field a field hockey team, consequently, with multiple males. Many schools would choose to forfeit their game with Antietam for the safety of their players (http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=59856). Others had administrations who wouldn’t hear the end of it from angry parents if they didn’t forfeit. There is only one right and clear solution in my eyes. Men should not be playing high school field hockey. They are physically overpowering and it is just not fair for the wellbeing of the young ladies trying to play the game.
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3 comments:
This assesment was very interesting Taylor. At first I had no idea what to say to this topic because it is very unheard of, but as you went along i definitly got your point of view and I agree with it. There is a reason why women dont play physical sports along side men, because they will get hurt. I think the only way men should ever play fieldhockey is if they play other men not women. There is a huge risk when playing them both against eachother. Men are jsut more physcial by nature, and so they should not compete against women. Its just the way it is and the way it will always be, so the schools in PA should definitly get up on it.
Taylor,
I totally agree with you. I have heard this topic argued many times and it's interesting to hear both sides. But in the end it's not fair or safe for Males to play field hockey with females. Like you said the ball will be hit with so much more force and could become very dangerous. I know that I wouldn't want to play with the girls not because they are girls but because I would feel hesitant every time I played. I wouldn’t know if I could hit one and every time I would shoot I feel I could hit it my hardest. If I was a female I wouldn't want to play with a Male. There are other sports that males can play other hen field hockey. For example football, soccer and or even cross country. Lastly I wouldn’t want to be wearing a skirt around because I would be embarrassed.
I agree with you completely Taylor. I've never heard of this problem before, but I feel the same way. Males and Females playing together in a very physical sport is unfair. Even if girls have the same skill set most, if not all, girls can not compete physically with the males. Plus how do the men feel hitting the women. I do not believe that men should hit women and this sport allows it. The sport was made up for an opposite of football. It was not meant for men to play in this league. The men should either form their own league and team or go play football or another sport.
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