Boy sticks it to girls' field hockey

A Pennsylvania high school boy is making quite a name for himself in hockey circles, having notched three-goal hat tricks in successive games to help his Wyoming Seminary team from Forty Fort, Pa. improve to 24-2.

But some of the names used for this standout may not be printable, because Cornelius Tietze is not dominating fellow opponents on an ice rink - he is playing field hockey.

A story on Yahoo Sports says Tietze is a junior and German native, and the only male on the squad's field hockey team.

The website PennLive.com asked the question about the fairness of allowing a male athlete to play in a sport traditionally played in America by girls alone. The replies were overwhelmingly against Tietze's participation, but oddly enough, the two posters who identified themselves as field hockey players - one male and one female - defended his right to play, saying that the only people who really cared were the parents of field hockey players, not the players themselves.

The situation really brings the concept of "fair and equal" to the playing field, which in the case of most of Wyoming Seminary's opponents, has been less then level.

Maureen Polley, a coach for Villa Maria High School - one of the teams beaten by Wyoming Seminary - was quoted after the loss, "He's just so quick. That's the quickest kid we've seen all year. We worked hard and knew what we had to do and we did a good job on him for awhile, but then his athleticism just took over."

I know tri-county area schools have had girls on their football and wrestling teams, and in those instances, the girls were choosing to compete against boys who were generally bigger and stronger. Granted, wrestling is capped by weight classes.

In Tietze's case, however, he is choosing to play against girls who don't seem to be as fast or as quick, giving him a distinct advantage. Generally speaking, high-school age boys are going to be bigger, stronger and faster than girls of the same age. It's a physiological observation, and is meant in no way to downplay the athleticism of girls.

In a sport like field hockey, which requires speed and stamina along with upper-body strength, Tietze's genetics provide him an unfair advantage. I'm not about to dive into the deep end of whether Title IX or anything else gives him the "right" to play field hockey, I'm saying that sometimes what's "right" is not always the best thing to do.

Contact Craig Purcell at 824-1036 or cpurcell@tcnpress.com.