Girls' Field Hockey Team With Five Boys Bothers Coach

Not surprisingly, the presence of five male student-athletes on Greensburg (Pa.) Central Catholic High School's field hockey team is generating controversy. "It is not unheard of to see a boy playing field hockey in the [Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League]," wrote Pittsurgh Post-Gazette reporter Mike White earlier this week. "It has happened numerous times over the past few decades at different schools. But five on one team? That is unheard of in the WPIAL, and is not being met with open arms around girls' field hockey circles."

Dom Antonucci, Ryan McHugh, Eric Lewis, Tyler Hillman and Ben Kerestan all wear skirts in public this season because the Centurions did not have enough female field hockey players. One says he's playing to stay in shape for the boys' lacrosse season in the spring, while another claim's he's on the team "just to do it."But not everyone is thrilled they're doing it. "I'll be honest, I don't think it's fair at all to have that many boys playing at one time,"Vincentian Academy coach Lauren Dorsch told White. "Aside from fairness, I don't think it's safe. I have three girls out right now with a co-ed sport now? Are you going to be allowed to have 10 boys and one girl playing?"Vincentian lost to Central Catholic, 2-0, as the Centurions got off to a 3-0 start this season. McHugh had seven goals, and he and Antonucci both weigh more than 165 pounds. Not surprisingly, the boys are a main reason Central Catholic is an early favorite to win the WPIAL championship.In 1975, a Commonwealth Court issued a permanent injunction directing the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association to permit girls to practice and play interscholastic sports with boys. But it works the opposite way, too: Boys can play any girls' sport - even if the school has a boys' team in that sport. Centurions coach Molly Reese told the Post-Gazette that her female players accept the five boys on their team, and she even defends their presence. "We've played against boys before when we've had an all-girls team, and we've won," she said. "We're playing by the same rules as everyone else.""On our hockey team, girls are welcome to play, and our lacrosse team had a girl a few years ago," McHugh said. "Girls can play guys' sports, and our school doesn't have a men's field hockey team. ... We're not doing it as a joke. If we were joking, we wouldn't go to practice five days a week for two hours a day."