Foothills Academy (Scottsdale, Ariz.) doesn't have a girls soccer team, so a pair of sisters — Alyssa and Colette Hocking — were added to the boys squad.
On Friday, rather than play Foothills Academy,
Faith Christian (Mesa) forfeited the game.
In
this story by Richard Obert of the Arizona Republic, Faith Christian's administrative leader Dick Buckingham told the newspaper: "I know it appears to fly in the face of what everyone is wanting to promote today, and that is equality. It is based on a religious perspective that God created guys and girls differently. The difference physically, there is a strength advantage that men have over women. We want to teach our men that honor of ladies is just not in sports. We struggle how to teach that if we're allowing them to play against young ladies in a competitive game.
"We're the ones harmed because we're giving up a game. We think it's better to do that than give a mixed message."
Earlier last week, Foothills Academy drove an hour to face Our Lady of Sorrows, which also refused to participate if the girls played. With the urging of the sisters' mother, Foothills Academy played the game without the girls.
After that match — it lost in overtime — the team decided it would take a stand. When Faith Christian stated it wouldn't play Foothills Academy unless the sisters bowed out, the team didn't budge.
"Actually, it was the team's decision," Foothills coach Steven Rains told Obert. "They would not play without their team. They felt the girls earned the right to be on the team. And they won't play without them."
Said Colette Hocking: "It made us proud to be a part of this team and happy that they had our back. We didn't think this would ever happen, like discrimination is still going on. I think the main lesson is that the boys took our side and they stood up for us and they supported us."
