A father has filed a Title IX complaint against the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association and a school district — years after his daughter was reportedly injured by a male player in a field hockey game.
As reported by the Boston Herald, the Walpole father has filed the complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights against the MIAA and the Somerset Berkley Regional School District for “violating the rights of my daughters and countless other female student-athletes.”
The parent is calling for a federal investigation of the MIAA and the school district for “noncompliance with Title IX and with President Trump’s recent executive orders on protecting women and girls from gender ideology.”
Title IX violations should lead to canceling federal funds from these organizations and schools, the father wrote in his complaint.
The parent’s youngest daughter in November of 2018 was reportedly severely injured by a male player when she was playing in a field hockey tournament game against Somerset Berkley, according to Rick Sobey of the Herald.
“This male player shattered my daughter’s thumb when he whipped a shot toward the goal during the game,” the father wrote in the complaint, as reported by the Herald. “My daughter suffered significant pain from this injury and was forced to miss her freshman ice hockey season because of it… This boy should never have been allowed to play against my daughter in a girls’ tournament game, and his presence on the field led directly to her injury and loss of competitive opportunity.”
The Walpole all-girls field hockey team lost to the Somerset Berkley team with two male players in the state tournament semifinals. MIAA rules require schools to allow boys to play on a girls’ sports team when there is no equivalent boys’ team offered in the same sport.
“In Massachusetts, my daughters’ rights and the rights of all female athletes to safe and fair sports competitions have been violated by the MIAA and schools like Somerset Berkley — all in the name of ‘equality’ for male players,” the anonymous father wrote, as reported by the Herald. “And although my daughters have now graduated, these violations are ongoing.”
