I just wanted to say that I appreciate the comments about my story "Switching Playing Fields."
It's been interesting following some of the debates going on.
I wanted to throw some things out there that might be helpful.
I've always been fascinated by boys and girls who venture out of the traditional realm of their gender. Sports is an area I enjoy reading about.
The characters of Torey and Beth are based in part on a very beautiful girl I know in small town Alabama who was the placekicker on her high school football team and played on the boys soccer team because the school didn't have a girls team.
Lucas is also based in part on my experiences, too. growing as the only boy in a ballet class.
I chose field hockey to a degree because it is the one sport that does require the boy to wear a skirt when he plays on the girls, at least in competition in states where its allowed.
Some of what occurs in the story is based on actual accounts. Even in states where boys are allowed to play on girls teams, there is a debate on whether they should be allowed, especially in later years, because of a physical advantage.
There have been all-girl teams that have forfeited rather than face teams with boys where the coaches feel their players are in danger of getting hurt, no matter how real of a threat it actually is.
I also made a veiled reference to the Little League softball world series. The way Little League's by-laws are structured (or was a few years ago) a girl can play baseball. And boys can play on girls softball teams.
It's always a cute story when there is a girl on a baseball team that reaches the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.
It's not always cute when a boy plays softball. When the Little League baseball league folded in an Arizona town, a woman coach recruited four boys for her team in softball. They advanced to the World Series. Like the field hockey teams I've cited, there were teams at the world series that refused to play them and forfeited. They won.
I wasn't alleging a conspiracy among coaches or referees in the story. I preferred to leave it to what fans see at a sporting event. 99 percent of the games you watch don't involve conspiracies.
They do involve referees who miss calls. They also involve referees who call things differently. I've watched girls basketball games where if a player sneezed, it seems like a foul is called. I've watched others in uptempo games where refs "let them play" and brutal shots happen.
I have seen coaches, men and women, who take a win at all cost attitude, and I would put the Creekmore coaches in that category.
I've also seen plenty of cheap shots in my day, sometimes to send a message, sometimes to intimidate.
And finally...I wasn't trying to make all of the bad guys men or women. There are men and women on both sides of the debate on whether kids should play sports of the opposite gender.
There are women coaches like Coach Parker who are strongly opposed to boys playing girls sports even in states where it is allowed.
There are villians and heroes of both genders in Switching Playing Fields, just as there are in life.
That's my two cents worth. Pardon the typos in my stories and in this blog. I just got off work.
And thank all of you for reading my story!

Hugs,
Torey