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Thursday, September 21, 2000

One of the most important but one of the least-talked about factors in athletic competition is fear. It's simply not macho to reveal such feelings, whether the concern is over a 95 mph fastball or a mid-field collision with a larger, faster opponent.

But there were the members of the Fox Chapel team going so far as to talk about forfeiting their game with Woodland Hills for a reason as old as games themselves: Fear of bodily injury.

Woodland Hills twice sent Fox Chapel players to the emergency room last season, and the memory of the pain was fresh in the minds of all the players. There was no denying it: They were scared.

If these players sound like a bunch of wimps not worthy of the uniforms they wear, hear more of their story.

The athletes in question compete in field hockey, a sport played in only a small number of WPIAL schools, and one almost exclusively played by girls. All members of the Fox Chapel team are girls. All members of the Woodland Hills team are not.

Woodland Hills had four boys in uniform Tuesday at Fox Chapel. The boys were dressed like the girls, in skirts, but it wasn't hard to pick them out. Two of them, both starters, were about 6 feet 1, maybe taller. They were well-muscled. They were bigger, stronger, faster and more coordinated than their opponents.

No wonder the Fox Chapel girls were thinking about forfeiting.

Senior Ashley Hayden was sent to the hospital twice last season in boy-involved injuries with Woodland Hills. The second, a shoulder separation, ended her season. Another player, Courtney Santilli, needed medical attention for a possible dislocated jaw.

With that in mind, Ray Hoppa, the Fox Chapel athletic director, was opposed to the game being played.

"About two weeks ago, I asked the girls to take a vote about not playing the game," he said. "This was strictly for the safety of our girls. For that reason, I said, 'Let's not play.'"

The girls gave it a lot of thought and voted. They decided to play.

The game ended in a 2-1 victory for Woodland Hills. There were no injuries, no cases of boys running over girls.

But that doesn't make it right.

Legally, boys can play field hockey or any other girls' sport that is not offered for them. But it's wrong, dead wrong, and greatly corrupts the concept of fair play which is supposed to be such a part of high school athletics.

High school boys, ages 16-18, playing against girls is a total mismatch. These boys would not be allowed to compete against eighth-grade boys, but on an athletic level that's what they're doing when playing against the girls. It's not fair, it shouldn't be allowed.

Hoppa approached the WPIAL and PIAA, but neither could help. The WPIAL defers to the PIAA, and the PIAA -- surprise, surprise -- isn't ready to act. It is bound by a 1975 ruling by Commonwealth Court, which gives boys the right to play.

Melissa Nash of the PIAA said, "We asked our legal counsel to look into it last May as to what the chances of the court ruling being overturned. They came back and said it would be very expensive and the chances were very slim."

Maine was more proactive.

Larry LaBrie, the assistant executive director of the Maine Principals Association, the state athletic governing body, said, "We have a human relations commission which directed us to allow boys to play. We took them to court, and the court said boys could not participate."

There are a lot of Neanderthals out there who think because the occasional girl opts to kick for the football team or try out for the wrestling team, that this gives boys the right to intrude on girls' sports. The comparison is absurd.

Richard Tyler, the executive director of the Maine group, said it best.

"'When girls play boys' sports, they don't change the sport. When boys play girls' sports, they do, because they tend to assume leadership positions, therefore depriving girls of the opportunity to benefit from participating in an interscholastic sport."

Woodland Hills Coach Christina Shedlock played only two boys at a time against Fox Chapel. "Because of all the problems, I try to avoid as much conflict as I can," she said.

It's a nice gesture of sportsmanship but one which merely serves to accentuate the fact of the boys' athletic superiority.

Michele Fischer, Fox Chapel's coach, also did not want her team to play.

"It's very intimidating for the girls," she said. "To see a boy as big as these ones are to be barreling down on them, it's difficult."

The PIAA is abandoning its responsibility. The least this organization, believed to be awash is money, could do is challenge the more than 20-year-old Commonwealth Court ruling. Title IX, which was created to give girls athletic opportunities, but which also gives boys the same choices, is a complex issue. There are many arguable points. And, who knows? If the PIAA went to court, it might run into a panel of judges who cherish fair play and what is right as much as the law.

Maine was able to convince a court of what is right. The PIAA should attempt to do the same. The PIAA is there to represent the kids. And in this case, it's not.

Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com.