Anything boys can do, girls claim to do better — and now these gals get to prove it.
A New Jersey archbishop ruled Wednesday that a pair of female basketball players should be allowed to hoop with the boys, despite longstanding rules that bar cross-gender play.
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, of the Archdiocese of Newark, has ordered the 10-year-old girls to be put back on their all-male St. John’s CYO team after they were kicked off two weeks ago, according to NJ.com.
Their nine teammates made headlines in the days that followed by choosing to stand in solidarity with their fellow 5th graders and refusing to play unless they could too, the outlet reports.
After sitting out a game on Friday, the team’s last match-up was cancelled and their season was forfeited.
On Wednesday, Tobin reversed the decision — ruling in favor of letting the girls play and requesting that their squad’s 7-3 record be reinstated. He also demanded that they be allowed to participate in the playoffs.
“Our season is going to continue as a team,” coach Rob Martel reportedly told the youngsters, following the archbishop’s announcement.
His daughter, Kayla, is one of the girls who wants to play.
“We are so grateful,” said Keisha Martel, who is Kayla’s mother and the team’s assistant coach. “This was never about being defiant or wanting to break, bend or change rules. It was about fairness for these 10-year-olds, about finishing the season the way they started — together.”
According to NJ.com, Catholic Youth Organization rules state that certain divisions must be strictly divided into boys and girls teams at the start of the season.
A spokesman for the archdiocese told the outlet that St. John’s athletic director openly admitted that he made a mistake by allowing his squads play together for the past four years.
“While he recognizes that the recent decisions by CYO officials were aimed at an appropriate and consistent application of the organization’s rules, [Tobin] believes that the Saint John’s JV Black team should not have been penalized for mistakes that adults responsible for following the league rules may have made,” the spokesman said in a statement.
The girls at St. John’s were ultimately playing with the boys because the school did not have enough ladies for their own team, NJ.com reports.
“We want the children to play for the very reasons CYO sports leagues were established: to provide a source of both recreation and reaffirmation of our Christian faith,” Tobin said Wednesday.
Archdiocese officials are now seeking to change the current league rules regarding participation and team makeup in the attempt to avoid situations like this in the future.