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Girl kicker booted off High School football team

Seemingly football is not a proper sport for girls in parts of Georgia. From the Atlanta Journal Constitution-

Kacy Stuart was a kicker on a public school football team last year but apparently doesn’t have what it takes to be a part of a private league. She’s not a boy.

The 14-year-old high school freshman from Spalding County learned Thursday night — while team pictures were being shot — that she was being booted off the field. But her mother said she isn’t going down without a fight.

For two months, Kacy Stuart practiced with the school team, the Crusaders, at New Creation Center, a private Christian academy in McDonough, but was told Thursday she couldn’t be on the team.

“We’ll file for an injunction if we have to,” Angie Stuart said Friday. “We’ll do whatever it takes to keep her on the team.”

For two months, Kacy practiced with the school team, the Crusaders, at New Creation Center, a private Christian academy in McDonough. She participated in drills and even played a scrimmage game Aug. 23.

But a couple of weeks ago, Angie Stuart said, Hank St. Denis, executive board chairman of the Georgia Football League, realized a girl had been accepted onto one of its football teams. St. Denis overruled New Creation’s decision to let her join the team.

“He said she can’t play simply because she’s a girl,” Stuart said.

When she heard the decision, Kacy cried.

“She has college potential,” her mother said. “And she’s willing to give up her life here to move to her dad’s [home] in south Georgia, enroll in public school there and play football. That’s how much she loves this game.”

Efforts to reach St. Denis Friday through phone and e-mail messages were unsuccessful.

Kacy kicked for a junior high team that made the state finals last year. Because her family moved, Kacy had to find a school in another county to attend.

The Georgia Football League’s decision is simply idiotic. There have been instances of girls kicking for HS football teams for at least a decade, and in at least one case for a NCAA team. Are these people in Georgia still living in the 19th century?

As the Georgia Football League is a private organization, a legal fight may be difficult. Maybe with enough bad publicity these people will change their minds.

 
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