SOMERSET ― Somerset Berkley Regional’s high school field hockey team beat Doherty, 5-0, Monday at Hanson Memorial Stadium. The Blue Raiders advanced to the quarterfinals of the Massachusetts Division 2 championship and will play Hingham in a quarterfinal at Hanson on Saturday afternoon.
Somerset’s best player is senior Ryan Crook, the son of longtime Somerset field hockey coach Jen Crook. Lucas Crook, Jen Crook’s oldest son, helped the Raiders win state championships along with sister Cami in 2018 and ’19. Now Ryan ― South Coast Conference MVP each of the last two seasons ― is going for a third straight state title.
Coach Crook’s Blue Raiders outshot Doherty, 17-0, Monday and sisters Emma and Olivia Cormier combined for three goals in the rout. Ryan Crook had an assist and a late-game goal on a spectacular Orr-esque rush from midfield, giving him 201 career points. Somerset’s senior boy was faster than most of the girls and a superior stickhandler, but did not injure or knock any girls over in a chippy game that saw the Worcester school rack up three penalty cards ― one red, one green, one yellow.
Nobody on either side wanted to say much about the elephant in the room, a.k.a. the boy on the field. Coach Crook and her son both declined to talk about it. Doherty’s talented senior captain, Riley Cormier, after delivering thoughtful responses about the game, quickly snapped “no comment” when asked about playing against a boy.
Well-coached, I’d say.
A crowd of about 200 attended and there was some occasional needling from the Doherty side. When Crook was upended in a routine collision near midfield, a Worcester fan hollered, “That was a flop! He should play for the Canadiens!”
Another Doherty fan approached this reporter and said, “I was a field hockey official and this has been going on in our state for a long time. I just want to know why he doesn’t have to wear a skirt like his teammates.”
Because of our state’s interpretation of Title IX and the Equal Rights Amendment going back to the 1970s, boys can compete on girls’ high school teams when a public school doesn’t offer a male equivalent sport. Since there are no boys’ high school field hockey teams, boys are allowed to play, and it gets extra attention when tournament time rolls around.
In November 2026, boys playing girls’ sports is a third-rail topic across America. It’s a go-to favorite of Fox News and President Trump. When a blue wave swept across America in last week’s midterms, voters in four states chose to bar transgender athletes from competing on female sports teams.
But this is not about transgender athletes. And it’s fair to state that at this point in American sports history, transgender student-athletes have impacted far fewer girls’ sports teams than a state law that dates to the Jimmy Carter administration.
“We’re the only state in the country that allows boys to play girls’ field hockey,” says Bob Baldwin, executive director of the MIAA. “This is the law. It’s the [state] constitution. We’ve devoted two pages to this on our website. ... Through the years, the participation of boys on girls’ teams has been somewhere between 20 to 50 or 60 per year. It’s been pretty consistent. ... It’s allowed to happen and there’s not a whole lot we can do unless the law changes.
“Also, it’s not just field hockey. There’ve been male volleyball players on girls’ teams, but most high schools now offer both girls’ and boys’ volleyball. There’s even some quarrel with baseball and softball because some will say that’s really not the same sport. Are you kidding me? This week we’ve got a board meeting to cover girls’ flag football, which has started up in some schools. What if a boy wants to play?”
Good luck with that one, chief.
In 31 seasons as Somerset head coach, Jen Crook has won 464 games and four state championships.
In 2024, one season after one of its girls was hospitalized after being hit in the face by a shot by a male player (from Swampscott), Dighton-Rehoboth Regional forfeited its games against Somerset Berkley, a league opponent. The schools have not scheduled one another since.
“It was an unfortunate incident that happened,” Jen Crook told the Globe in 2024. “[The Dighton-Rehoboth injury was a ball that] ricocheted off a girl’s stick and it had nothing to do with the boy’s shot. But whatever. If they’re uncomfortable playing against a boy, then so be it. They can come watch this guy [Ryan]. He’s not dangerous. I would not put a boy or girl out there if they were dangerous.”
When I reached Somerset Berkley athletic director Joseph Francis on Monday, he made it clear that “neither Jen Crook nor Ryan Crook wishes to discuss the matter, and neither has a comment.”
“I don’t personally have a comment on it and would point you to a statement we released a couple of years ago,” he said.
Somerset’s 2024 statement: “The Somerset Berkley Regional School District follows all MIAA regulations and school district policies for participation in interscholastic athletics. Somerset Berkley supports the right of all students to access and participate in athletics for which they are eligible.”
Eileen Donahue has been coaching at Division 3 Watertown for 41 seasons, winning 22 state championships and more than 800 games. She scheduled Somerset Berkley this fall to get her team tournament-tough. Watertown won, 3-2. Ryan Crook had a goal and an assist.
“That’s such a touchy subject,” said Donahue. “The rule is the rule. Still, it’s an advantage. The boy impacts the game, you know? We did play them this year because I was looking for competition. The boy makes a difference. It’s hard to keep the ball away from him.”
Newton North coach Lauren Baugher was a four-year NCAA field hockey player and is in the University of Delaware’s Athletics Hall of Fame. She’s been teaching and coaching in Newton for 30 years and played on the USA’s women’s masters field hockey team in Spain in 2018.
“I’ve played with and against men,” said Baugher, 52. “Pickup games at BU. There are a lot of international guys that play in the city. In my experience, it’s a different game. Women tend to be more finesse, passing. The men are very good, but it’s just a different style.”
Neither Baugher nor Donahue has coached a boy on their high school teams, but both have coached against teams that had at least one boy playing.
“Our girls just get super-motivated when there’s a boy on the other team,” said Baugher. “They get fired up to play them.
“It’s a difficult topic. I can’t imagine what that kid, Ryan, is going through. Title IX is really important. I want women to have opportunities, too, so if I don’t support boys playing, I’m being hypocritical. ... I think when a boy is on a team it brings a whole new element. But girls have been fighting for equality for a long time and I don’t want men not to have that opportunity, too.”
So there. The ride seems a tad less joyful when simple questions are received with apprehension, but regardless of what anybody thinks, Somerset Berkley is playing by the rules, and might win a third straight state championship on the weekend of Nov. 20-21.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at daniel.shaughnessy@globe.com. Follow him @dan_shaughnessy.