Field hockey team refuse to face opponents who let boy play due to safety concerns

The Dighton-Rehoboth girls field hockey team from a school in Massachusetts, United States, have chosen to forfeit an upcoming match because their opponent included a member of the opposite sex on their side.

The Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School team were due to face Somerset Berkley Regional High School on September 17, but a new policy put into place has allowed them to opt out of the match.

It is the first time that the policy has been exercised since its introduction in July, brought on after a member of the Dighton-Rehoboth was “significantly” injured the previous year while playing against a male player.

“We understand this forfeit will impact our chances for a league championship and possibly playoff eligibility, but we remain hopeful that other schools consider following suit to achieve safety and promote fair competition for female athletes,” said Superintendent Bill Runey in a statement.

In November, during a Dighton-Rehoboth play-off game, a boy on the opposing Swampscott team fired a shot that hit a female player, causing "significant facial and dental injuries."

Under the Massachusetts Equal Rights Amendment, boys are allowed to play on girls' teams when there is not an equivalent team for male athletes.

Runey had previously called for the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association to change its policy requiring face protections, but made little progress.

“In the absence of that, again, we’ve had to take matters into our own hands because we realised we would probably have to forfeit some games over this, but we’re prioritising safety over victory,” he confirmed.

"We felt that the injury that happened back in November was so grave, so devastating, that it would've prompted change.”

The policy only applies to mixed-gender teams, ensuring that they cannot forfeit matches solely because an opposition team has a transgender athlete.

The decision comes amid changing and often contentious times for gender in sport, after Imane Khelif became Algeria’s first Olympic gold medallist in women's welterweight boxing while at the centre of a huge gender storm.

Khelif was disqualified from the Women’s World Championships last year for allegedly failing International Boxing Association gender eligibility rules, but has always competed in the women's boxing division and was born as a female.

While female darts players have been threatened with disciplinary action if they refuse to compete against their transgender rivals.

British player Deta Hedman pulled out of her Denmark Open quarter-final against Noa-Lynn van Leuven, an openly trans woman, in May.

And earlier this month, governing body World Darts Federation said in a statement: “The WDF wishes to clarify its position on player withdrawals.

“Once the first dart has been thrown in a tournament, any player that subsequently withdraws from playing a match may be considered to be bringing the game into disrepute and could face disciplinary action.”