I would like to be able to congratulate the Somerset Berkley field hockey team, who just won the Division 1 state championship, but I just can’t (“Somerset Berkley repeats as D1 champ,” Sports, Nov. 17). I am a longtime high school field hockey coach, recently retired, and I have faced the situation of boys playing on field hockey teams many times, going back to the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association’s first court case in 1992.
The Somerset Berkley girls are extremely talented players, but the two boys on the Raiders put the team over the top. I watched them play last year and this year, and it is clear that boys at this age have an unfair physical advantage in speed, quickness, and strength. So many outstanding field hockey teams have been deprived of their chance at a state championship because of the dominance of male opponents.
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It’s absolutely time for the MIAA to come up with a solution. No one is against boys playing field hockey, but Title IX was meant to create more opportunities for girls. The ideal solution would be to create boys field hockey, but otherwise consider bringing back the mixed-gender tournament, or accept the modifications presented by coaches, such as limiting boys’ participation in certain aspects of the game. Otherwise it should be renamed coed field hockey.
Jody Quill
North Eastham
