Having boobs can be pretty freaking great – until somebody decides to be a jerk about them, in which case, things can get pretty freaking awful really fast. Case in point? The ridiculous drama that 12-year-old Maddy Paige is facing right now. She has actually been kicked off her school football team because – get this – she’s growing boobs.

Yes, seriously. Maddy is going into seventh grade at Strong Rock Christian School in Locust Grave, Georgia and she’s been playing football since she was in the second grade. She loves the sport and in sixth grade, she was a starting left defensive tackle on the football team at her school – so obviously, she was planning on trying out for the team next year. But that’s not going to happen, because Strong Rock Christian School administrator Patrick Stuart doesn’t want her there.

When Maddy was told that she wasn’t welcome on the team anymore, her mom, Cassy Blythe, went to talk to the school administrator. His reasoning behind his decision? Cassy told WXIA-TV that, “In the meeting with the CEO of the school [Patrick Stuart], I was told that the reasons behind it were one, that the boys were going to start lusting after her and have impure thoughts about her and that the locker-room talk was not appropriate for a female to hear… even though she had a separate locker room from the boys.”

Cassy also said that Patrick Stuart quoted the Bible. She told Fox5 in Atlanta, “He couldn’t find an exact quote of why she couldn’t play. He said the best I can come up with is that men and women are created equal, but different.” Um, okay.

But wait! It gets better! A representative from Strong Rock emailed news agencies with a statement saying, “Our official policy is that middle school girls play girl sports and middle school boys play boy sports.”

Am I missing something? I genuinely do not understand the explanation that Maddy’s mother was given on why she shouldn’t even bother trying out next year. Here’s what it sounds like: either they just don’t want a girl on their team, so their making lame excuses… or they feel like Maddy’s body is going to be distracting to the boys because she’s a girl. It’s probably a combination of both, but either way, it’s completely unfair.

Cassy sums it up pretty well when she says, “It shouldn’t be held against Maddy that the boys can’t control their urges and their thoughts. They need to learn how to handle what’s going on with them just like she needs to learn how to handle what’s going on with her, growing up. And I think that it could be a good learning experience for both the boys and any girls that decide to play football.”

I mean, what exactly makes a sport a “girl sport” or a “boy sport?” I don’t understand. Are they trying to say that a girl can’t play football because it’s more male-dominated? That’s a ridiculous thing to say, especially in this day and age where we know full well that a girl can play and enjoy a sport like football. As for the excuse that she shouldn’t hear the locker room talk, that makes no sense – as Cassy points out, Maddy has her own locker room.

Also, why is it fair that Maddy should get punished over thoughts her teammates may or may not be having about her? If the boys are going to “lust after” her, that’s not her fault. As women, we can’t control the fact that we have breasts or butts and it’s not our fault if a guy decides to look at them and become distracted by them. We’ve already discussed how large cleavage can sometimes be more of an obstacle than a blessing – this seems like it’s just another example.

It stinks to see a young girl be left out of something she loves just because her school administrators are sexist. Maddy is devastated over the decision – she loves football so much that her dream is to get a football scholarship for college. That’s obviously not possible if she’s not allowed on the team simply because she’s a girl. Maddy told one news outlet, “I’m still taking it all in, knowing that I’m not going to be able to have as much as fun as I did last year. But really, it just really, really hurts because knowing that all that fun is going to be taken away just because I’m a girl.”

If you agree that Maddy should be given the chance to play football on her old team, check out the Facebook page her mother created for her called Let Her Play. It’s acting as sort of a petition to get Maddy permission to try out for the team and already has over 11,000 likes at my last count. Like, share and spread her message.

This definitely isn’t the first time that a woman playing football has been treated unfairly simply because she’s a not a man. It’s so unfair and it’s crazy that in 2013, we still have to deal with stuff like this. Maddy should be allowed to try out regardless of what she looks like or what gender she is. Just because she’s a girl doesn’t mean she doesn’t deserve a chance.

Do you think this school decision is ridiculous? Should Maddy be allowed to try out for the football team just like anyone else? Do you like football? Tell us in the comments.

 

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