Maddy Blythe is a 12-year-old athlete from Locust Grove, Georgia and she was one of the stars of the football team at Strong Rock Christian School, where she was on the defensive line, tackling anyone who tried to get past her.

That is, until this week, when she was kicked off the team.

What did she do wrong? Was she not attending practice? Was she a bad player? Nope. It turns out God really doesn’t like female athletes and neither do the boys who might lust after her.

Her mother posted this on Facebook:

Her school called me in for a meeting to discuss her future. I was told by the CEO that he did not believe girls should play on boys teams. He was worried 1) the boys might have impure thoughts, 2) the locker room talk might be a bit much for her to handle, 3) boys and girls should not compete in any sport, 4) there are other sports she can play, 5) they are a private school and can make any decision they want, and 6) he prayed about it and this was the right thing to do. He also quoted the bible by saying that men and women are created equal but different and therefore should not be allowed to play the same sports.

Yep, Maddy shouldn’t be playing sports. I guess Jesus wants her to make food for the boys on the team or something… and how dare she taunt the other athletes with her ovaries?!

Strong Rock Christian School, whose slogan of “Inspiring the next generation for Christ!” now sounds like a joke, may be right that they can legally kick her off the team, but that doesn’t mean we can’t point out what an awful, embarrassing decision this is. The school’s CEO, Patrick W. Stuart, should have to defend his decision and keep digging the hole he’s in even deeper into the ground… but, so far, the school has just said “no comment.”

I’m sure Stuart would love to hear from Christians, especially, who think he’s out of his mind.

In the meantime, Maddy and her mother Cassy have started a Facebook page called “Let Her Play” to support equality for all female athletes. It won’t change the CEO’s mind, but it will raise awareness of the issue.

Gotta love how Christian schools teach you to be all that you can be with Christ! Unless you’re a woman, in which case you should just do whatever the men tell you to do.

So let’s get the obvious question out of the way: Why did Maddy’s family enroll her in a private Christian school where pushing antiquated gender roles isn’t exactly unusual? I asked Cassy and this is what she told me:

We knew from the begining that we wanted [Maddy] to attend a private school so we would have a say in her education. My mom was a teacher and thought Strong Rock would have good academics and teach the kids good values. There are not many larger private schools to choose from where we live. Atlanta is over an hour away. We are Christian, but that’s not the reason we chose the school.

There’s no plan to transfer her to a different school just yet (or homeschool her). The family is still waiting to hear school officials’ responses to all the media requests.



