Yonkers Boy"s Appeal to Play on Girl"s Team Denied
A couple of weeks ago, a story broke about a boy from Yonkers, NY who was banned from playing on the girls team for being too strong. He appealed the ruling, but yesterday, his appeal was denied. More interesting than the story itself was the response from people all over the country commented on it. The level of ridiculousness and idiocy that this story evoked was incredible.
These comments started at calling him a "sissy" and escalated to much worse.
It appears that very little progress has been made when it comes to sensitivity around gender issues.
First, let's go over the facts of the case. Jenson Daniel is a 5'11", 145-pound senior. His high school doesn't have a boy's team. They let him play in the last five matches of the season last year, but this year they put him through a physical that included a long jump, an arm hang and a 1.5 mile run. The state determined from those results that he could not play due to exceeding the girl's averages.
In the five matches in which he played last season, the team was 3-2. So he's not exactly a ringer. But so what if he was? If boys are going to play with girls, the deciding factor can't be ability. Only boys that are bad athletes and below average players can play with the girls? That's ridiculous. If a boy wants to play college volleyball and his high school team doesn't have an opportunity for him, his best bet is to play with the girls. Even if he's good. Especially if he's good.
But let's be honest, high school girl's volleyball is not exactly a pipeline to a college scholarship in men's volleyball.
Men's and women's volleyball are in my opinion two separate sports with the same rules. The way we play the sport is different in strategy, plays, motivation, etc. If the boy is tall and strong and talented, playing with girls may not be particularly challenging either. The girls play on a net seven inches lower than the one on which he'll play in college, should he make it that far. That will be quite an adjustment to make.
Obviously, his better bet is to play boy's club volleyball. That is, if there is club team within a couple of hours of where he lives and if his parents have the money to pay for it. If neither is true, the girl's team is all he's got. Title IX applies to both men and women. It says "no person" shall be denied opportunity to participate on the basis of gender at a place that accepts federal funds. Therefore, Jenson should be covered under the law.
One of the most ridiculous comments I read was from a guy who wrote "Women claim they are just as good as men, until a guy wants play on their team. Then it's he is too big, strong, fast and good so it's not fair. So which is it?"
I don't even know where to start with this one. One thing that annoys elite female athletes more than anything is average men who think they can play with us just because they are men. We get a special kind of joy out of kicking their butts all over the court. It's like Bobby Riggs, and old out of shape ex-tennis player, thinking he could beat Billie Jean King in her prime. It's insulting and ludicrous.
That said, there are literally no elite female athletes running around saying that we are stronger or faster than elite male athletes. An elite female weightlifter is not going to out-lift a male weight lifter. An elite female sprinter is not going to out-run an elite male sprinter. The times are narrowing, especially in distance running. There are a few sports where we can compete with men head-to-head, but because we generally can't carry as much muscle mass as men, we are at a disadvantage in strength, speed and vertical leap.
There are some women who defy these standards - Destinee Hooker, for example, can out-jump most men, whether they are average or elite athletes. But for now these women are the exception, not the rule. Maybe one day we will catch up, but we're not there yet. We play sports just as well as men do. But pitting elite men against elite women is a mismatch.
Think of it this way. If Dwight Howard, the Lakers new 6'11" center, was to guard a 6'2" male player, how do you think that would go for the smaller player? If you match AVP big men Phil Dalhausser or Ryan Doherty against a smaller player like 6'1" John Mayer, how successful would Mayer be on average?
On the all-male rec team I played on a few years back, I was about average height at 6'2" and I had pretty good success in hitting, even against taller, but less-skilled blockers. However, if you put me on a Division I men's college team or on the men's national team, I would be under-sized and I'd struggle three quarters of the time against those much bigger and very well-trained blockers.
That's why boys playing on girl's teams is not the same as girls playing on boy's teams. A boy playing with girls has a distinct advantage that the girl doesn't have when it is the other way around. That's why Jenson was denied the opportunity, but that was not the right decision. Obviously, these types of stories are occurring with increasing regularity. I have no problem with either gender playing amongst the other in these cases because if no opportunity is given to play with your own gender, you should be able to play with the other.
Playing volleyball with girls is better for this boy in Yonkers than not playing volleyball at all. There is a precedence for this. I remember a player in the men's Final Four recently who said he played on a girl's team in high school for the same reasons. Somehow he turned that into a starting spot on a national championship contender. It's rare, but it can happen.
One final ridiculous comment I saw about this story was "If you let this boy play then what is to keep another boy from playing, and then another?" I say bring it on. This is the best case scenario. If you love men's volleyball you should love the idea of boys playing on girl's teams. Lots of them, as many as possible. The more boys that make a stink about not having a boy's team offered at their high school, the better the chance that high school administrations will be shamed into creating one.
This boy in Yonkers has been called every name in the book. He gets cat calls at games. He is harassed and made fun of constantly. Yet, he hasn't let any of that deter him. He loves volleyball and all he wants to do is play. This kid is anything but a sissy. This boy and others like him could be just what the sport needs to make the difference for the growth of high school boy's volleyball. That could lead to growth at the college level.
Jenson says he will appeal again. He knows that by the time this is resolved, the season, and his opportunity to play will have passed him by. He'll be in college next year. So why continue to fight?
"It might not help me, but I’m not looking for the benefits of myself," He said to CBS News after the ruling. "I’m looking for the benefits of the kids yet to come.”
These comments started at calling him a "sissy" and escalated to much worse.
It appears that very little progress has been made when it comes to sensitivity around gender issues.
First, let's go over the facts of the case. Jenson Daniel is a 5'11", 145-pound senior. His high school doesn't have a boy's team. They let him play in the last five matches of the season last year, but this year they put him through a physical that included a long jump, an arm hang and a 1.5 mile run. The state determined from those results that he could not play due to exceeding the girl's averages.
In the five matches in which he played last season, the team was 3-2. So he's not exactly a ringer. But so what if he was? If boys are going to play with girls, the deciding factor can't be ability. Only boys that are bad athletes and below average players can play with the girls? That's ridiculous. If a boy wants to play college volleyball and his high school team doesn't have an opportunity for him, his best bet is to play with the girls. Even if he's good. Especially if he's good.
But let's be honest, high school girl's volleyball is not exactly a pipeline to a college scholarship in men's volleyball.
Men's and women's volleyball are in my opinion two separate sports with the same rules. The way we play the sport is different in strategy, plays, motivation, etc. If the boy is tall and strong and talented, playing with girls may not be particularly challenging either. The girls play on a net seven inches lower than the one on which he'll play in college, should he make it that far. That will be quite an adjustment to make.
Obviously, his better bet is to play boy's club volleyball. That is, if there is club team within a couple of hours of where he lives and if his parents have the money to pay for it. If neither is true, the girl's team is all he's got. Title IX applies to both men and women. It says "no person" shall be denied opportunity to participate on the basis of gender at a place that accepts federal funds. Therefore, Jenson should be covered under the law.
One of the most ridiculous comments I read was from a guy who wrote "Women claim they are just as good as men, until a guy wants play on their team. Then it's he is too big, strong, fast and good so it's not fair. So which is it?"
I don't even know where to start with this one. One thing that annoys elite female athletes more than anything is average men who think they can play with us just because they are men. We get a special kind of joy out of kicking their butts all over the court. It's like Bobby Riggs, and old out of shape ex-tennis player, thinking he could beat Billie Jean King in her prime. It's insulting and ludicrous.
That said, there are literally no elite female athletes running around saying that we are stronger or faster than elite male athletes. An elite female weightlifter is not going to out-lift a male weight lifter. An elite female sprinter is not going to out-run an elite male sprinter. The times are narrowing, especially in distance running. There are a few sports where we can compete with men head-to-head, but because we generally can't carry as much muscle mass as men, we are at a disadvantage in strength, speed and vertical leap.
There are some women who defy these standards - Destinee Hooker, for example, can out-jump most men, whether they are average or elite athletes. But for now these women are the exception, not the rule. Maybe one day we will catch up, but we're not there yet. We play sports just as well as men do. But pitting elite men against elite women is a mismatch.
Think of it this way. If Dwight Howard, the Lakers new 6'11" center, was to guard a 6'2" male player, how do you think that would go for the smaller player? If you match AVP big men Phil Dalhausser or Ryan Doherty against a smaller player like 6'1" John Mayer, how successful would Mayer be on average?
On the all-male rec team I played on a few years back, I was about average height at 6'2" and I had pretty good success in hitting, even against taller, but less-skilled blockers. However, if you put me on a Division I men's college team or on the men's national team, I would be under-sized and I'd struggle three quarters of the time against those much bigger and very well-trained blockers.
That's why boys playing on girl's teams is not the same as girls playing on boy's teams. A boy playing with girls has a distinct advantage that the girl doesn't have when it is the other way around. That's why Jenson was denied the opportunity, but that was not the right decision. Obviously, these types of stories are occurring with increasing regularity. I have no problem with either gender playing amongst the other in these cases because if no opportunity is given to play with your own gender, you should be able to play with the other.
Playing volleyball with girls is better for this boy in Yonkers than not playing volleyball at all. There is a precedence for this. I remember a player in the men's Final Four recently who said he played on a girl's team in high school for the same reasons. Somehow he turned that into a starting spot on a national championship contender. It's rare, but it can happen.
One final ridiculous comment I saw about this story was "If you let this boy play then what is to keep another boy from playing, and then another?" I say bring it on. This is the best case scenario. If you love men's volleyball you should love the idea of boys playing on girl's teams. Lots of them, as many as possible. The more boys that make a stink about not having a boy's team offered at their high school, the better the chance that high school administrations will be shamed into creating one.
This boy in Yonkers has been called every name in the book. He gets cat calls at games. He is harassed and made fun of constantly. Yet, he hasn't let any of that deter him. He loves volleyball and all he wants to do is play. This kid is anything but a sissy. This boy and others like him could be just what the sport needs to make the difference for the growth of high school boy's volleyball. That could lead to growth at the college level.
Jenson says he will appeal again. He knows that by the time this is resolved, the season, and his opportunity to play will have passed him by. He'll be in college next year. So why continue to fight?
"It might not help me, but I’m not looking for the benefits of myself," He said to CBS News after the ruling. "I’m looking for the benefits of the kids yet to come.”
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