Catholic school prevents a girl from joining the football team because of 'immodest physical contact'
Brooke Choi has been playing football for four years, thanks to her father, Mike, who is a high school coach at a public school in Pennsylvania. But for the first time, she isn’t being allowed the opportunity to play her favorite sport after her Catholic school said it wouldn’t be appropriate.
The seventh-grader at Pope John Paul II Regional Catholic Elementary School was excited about pursuing the opportunity to play football on her school’s team for the first time, until she was told that it wouldn’t be possible.
“It’s 2018. I thought we would be past this,” Brooke told WGAL in Lancaster, Pa., about the school’s decision to bar girls from male-dominated sports. However, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia seems to think differently.
According to the local news outlet, the archdiocese cited the potential for “immodest physical contact” as the reason that Brooke is unable to join the team. Her father, however, thinks that’s a convenient excuse.
“If it’s OK for us as a family, then it should be a decision that we make,” he said, “not one that they would make for us.”
In fact, the family shared that Brooke was allowed to practice with the Chester County Crusaders a number of times before the rest of the guys padded up for tackling on the field. Apparently, the school adopted the policy about who can play on football teams in 2014, even though the Choi family said girls had been on the team in earlier years.
“I don’t think anyone should be in this position,” Brooke said. “I just want to be out there. I love football, and I just want to play.”
Administrators from Pope John Paul II Elementary School didn’t immediately respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment. The family said it is prepared to sue.
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
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• Girl gets removed from Catholic middle school for hairstyle: ‘This decision is going to affect black children more than white children’
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