'Not right' or may 'have happened if a girl' hit it: Coaches, ADs on boys and field hockey

The dangers (real or perceived, depending on your perspective) of boys playing MIAA field hockey have been in the news recently in the wake of an unfortunate incident in a playoff game. A Dighton-Rehoboth girl suffered a serious facial injury when hit with a ball off the stick of boy playing for Swampscott in a Division 3 first-round game.

Swampscott won the game, 2-0, before losing to Foxboro by the same score in the Round of 16.

Citing the federal Title IX and the Massachusetts Equal Rights Amendment, the MIAA wrote in a statement, "The ERA was applied to school athletics in 1979 in the matter of Attorney General v. MIAA, 378 Mass. 342 (1979), a case which schools continue to follow today. ERA also has been applied in such a way as to allow for mixed-gender teams. The court determined that a blanket rule prohibiting boys from playing on girls teams, where there was no equivalent boys team, violated the ERA.

"As a result of this 1979 ruling, the MIAA amended its rules to state, 'A girl may play on a boys’ team if that sport is not offered in the school for the girl, and a boy may play on a girls’ team if that sport is not offered in the school for the boy.' Boys have been competing on girls’ teams, and girls have been competing on boys’ teams, for more than forty (40) years."

Dighton-Rehoboth field hockey captain Kelsey Bain drew international attention — even England's Daily Mall tabloid sunk its teeth in — with a letter to the MIAA urging the association to amend its rule. Bain wrote, "The MIAA needs to do better."

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The Patriot Ledger, Enterprise, and Taunton Daily Gazette anonymously polled Central Mass. and EMass athletic directors and coaches for their reaction to the incident as well as their general feelings on boys being allowed to play sports on girls teams.

Do you think there should be co-ed sports teams in high school?

Four athletic directors and eight coaches responded. All four of the ADs and four of the eight coaches said they were against boys playing on girls teams in any sport. Two other coaches voted yes and two others were not sure.

A sampling of opinions from the ADs:

AD Number 1: "I think it is a tough situation as there is no field hockey for males in the area. It is an Olympic sport [for men] but unless you make a national team there is no other way of playing it. With that said, I think the impact of males in a female sport outweigh the current situation of no teams for males. There are too many negatives that outweigh the positives to allow a male to play in a female sport."

AD Number 2: "It is an unfortunate situation and something I feel strongly about. When a boy plays a girls sport that involves physical contact we are putting their safety in jeopardy."

AD Number 3: "It’s not right. We seem to be over-thinking this. It should be black and white, cut and dry. Boys playing girls sports puts all participants at risk for injury. I was a part of a situation like this in the past where the male made a significant contribution to the girls team he participated for and in doing so, scared our girls from playing against the team."

AD Number 4: "It was only a matter of time before a male athlete seriously injured a female athlete in field hockey. We've seen a few issues in volleyball already. Although I'm sure it was not intentional, biologically boys are going to hit the ball much harder than girls."

The coaches who responded were more divided on the issue with several noting that girls unintentionally injured other girls while playing sports all the time.

One called it simply "a very unfortunate accident," while another noted, "It was an accident and could have happened if a girl had hit that ball."

Facemasks and safety equipment during penalty corners in field hockey

Multiple coaches said the entire incident could have been avoided if MIAA players donned facemasks to defend penalty corners. (The Dighton-Rehoboth player was injured on a penalty corner.) That's the tradition in the NCAA as you can see at the 9:36 mark of this YouTube replay of last year's Div. 1 national championship game between Northwestern and North Carolina.

"Masks are an option on defensive corners in high school, as are goggles," said one South Shore coach who was quizzed on the subject apart from the survey. "Some teams in our league do use masks. (My players use goggles.) In college, the clock stops on corners, so most teams do take the time to use them.

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"This is the first season (MIAA) teams have used the optional masks (because there is no more goggles requirement). The defense is allowed to go behind the net and put on their masks or goggles. The ref holds the corner until all defenders are ready for the corner."

"I feel awful about the young lady that was injured," one coach wrote in the survey, "but why didn't she have a mask on for the corner?"

"After watching the clip of the corner, one can see it was not the result of the boy hitting the girl directly into her face," another coach wrote. "The ball ramped up either off the DR defender’s stick or her DR teammate’s stick. Also, corner masks on the defense should have been worn and this awful accident would have been prevented.

Is field hockey only a girls' sport?

"This situation is not male/female playing field hockey. Males play field hockey all over the world and in some countries field hockey is most popular amongst men. It’s just here in the USA that most feel it’s only a female sport."

Until male athletes in the state begin playing field hockey in large enough numbers to prompt high schools to create boys teams, the issue will linger.

Asked for possible solutions to the problem, one AD wrote: "Those who support boys playing girls sports would have to work to build male interest in female sports and then build new programs from scratch (i.e. boys field hockey) similar to how youth basketball and soccer programs began many years ago."

One of the coaches had this suggestion: "First solution is to create Regional Teams for boys to compete 7v7 until there is enough interest for 11v11. My other solution would be that each team is allowed to roster 2 boys for the tournament in addition to regular team roster. That way if you are facing an opponent with a boy on their team then you have the option to play a boy to help neutralize his speed and skill."

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Massachusetts field hockey injury: What high school coaches are saying