Keeling Pilaro wants to continue playing school field hockey.
Because the high school girls have the only field hockey team in the area, the 13-year-old boy signed up with them two years ago after moving to NY from Ireland. There he grew up with the sport and became a skilled player.
He’s gotten so good, in fact, that he’s now being kicked off the team. The governing body for high school sports in Suffolk County says he’s too skilled to qualify for an exemption allowing him to compete with and against girl players.
But since this is not about Keeling’s size and strength (4-foot-8 and 82 pounds), lawyers say this is discrimination, and Keeling should be allowed to play on the team under Title IX, which allows for equal access to athletic opportunities.
Keeling says he doesn’t care whether it’s a boys' team or a girls', he just wants to play.
Tell Suffolk County to let Keeling play field hockey.
We, the undersigned, ask your organization to reconsider its decision to remove Keeling Pilaro from the only school field hockey team available in your district.
Based on news reports and photographs of Keeling's size, it does not appear that he possesses any qualities that others on the team are incapable of acquiring, and therefore it would be discrimination and a violation of Title IX to disqualify him from playing with the team.
It seems more likely that Keeling's skills, if they are superior to those of others on the team, would have been acquired due to his many years of playing the sport, rather than having anything to do with his sex.
It is sexist and also discriminatory to assume girls on the team would be unable to acquire, if they had not not already reached, skill levels equal to Keeling's.
For these reasons and the fact that Keeling has no other option for playing school hockey, we request that you allow him to continue as a member of Southampton High School girls' hockey team.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
