Rob Iola
August 30th, 2008, 06:48 PM
Kacy Stuart has the leg to be a prospective high school place-kicker in Georgia.
Problem is, the administration of the Georgia Football League, the association for private-school teams in the state, said the 14-year-old freshman can't play because she's a girl, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
According to the girl's mother, Kacy was dismissed from the New Creation Center Crusaders, a private Christian academy in McDonough, Ga., as team photos were being shot Thursday, even after she had practiced with the team for two months.
"We'll file for an injunction if we have to," Angie Stuart said Friday, according to the Atlanta newspaper. "We'll do whatever it takes to keep her on the team."
Kacy had participated in drills and even a scrimmage last Saturday before executive board chairman Hank St. Denis discovered a girl was playing on one of the teams in the private school league, Kacy's mother said.
St. Denis then requested Kacy not be allowed to play, effectively overturning New Creation's decision to grant her a spot on the team.
"He said she can't play simply because she's a girl," Angie Stuart said.
Efforts by the the Journal-Constitution to reach St. Denis on Friday through phone and e-mail messages were unsuccessful.
Being a girl football player wasn't an issue for Kacy in middle school, where her team, Union Grove Middle School, went to the state finals, the Journal-Constitution reported.
Coaches for a public high school team even had plans for Kacy.
But the Stuarts moved from Henry County in Georgia to Spalding County, and Kacy enrolled in Skipstone Academy, which is too small to field a football team.
So Kacy went out for the New Creation team in McDonough, 30 miles southeast of Atlanta.
"There doesn't seem to be anything in the [league] bylaws to prevent a girl from playing," Angie Stuart said. "No one else has a problem with it. The coaches, players and other teams have accepted her. If she can play for a public school, why not a private school?"
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/highschool/news/story?id=3560929
Problem is, the administration of the Georgia Football League, the association for private-school teams in the state, said the 14-year-old freshman can't play because she's a girl, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
According to the girl's mother, Kacy was dismissed from the New Creation Center Crusaders, a private Christian academy in McDonough, Ga., as team photos were being shot Thursday, even after she had practiced with the team for two months.
"We'll file for an injunction if we have to," Angie Stuart said Friday, according to the Atlanta newspaper. "We'll do whatever it takes to keep her on the team."
Kacy had participated in drills and even a scrimmage last Saturday before executive board chairman Hank St. Denis discovered a girl was playing on one of the teams in the private school league, Kacy's mother said.
St. Denis then requested Kacy not be allowed to play, effectively overturning New Creation's decision to grant her a spot on the team.
"He said she can't play simply because she's a girl," Angie Stuart said.
Efforts by the the Journal-Constitution to reach St. Denis on Friday through phone and e-mail messages were unsuccessful.
Being a girl football player wasn't an issue for Kacy in middle school, where her team, Union Grove Middle School, went to the state finals, the Journal-Constitution reported.
Coaches for a public high school team even had plans for Kacy.
But the Stuarts moved from Henry County in Georgia to Spalding County, and Kacy enrolled in Skipstone Academy, which is too small to field a football team.
So Kacy went out for the New Creation team in McDonough, 30 miles southeast of Atlanta.
"There doesn't seem to be anything in the [league] bylaws to prevent a girl from playing," Angie Stuart said. "No one else has a problem with it. The coaches, players and other teams have accepted her. If she can play for a public school, why not a private school?"
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/highschool/news/story?id=3560929