The varsity soccer game last night was set to kick off at 5:30. The teams took the field and then first one team was pulled off and then the other team returned to the bench. In the stands, we all were wondering what was going on as the center referee stood next to the visiting team's bench and spoke with their head coach. Referees and coaches conferred and the players stayed off the field.
It was confusing to say the least. Finally, a visiting team player came across the field to speak to her parents and we learned that because their team has two girls on it who wear 'head wraps' the referee needed clarification on whether they could play as he felt the state soccer laws prohibited such items.
Now, girls are not allowed to wear earrings, rings, bracelets etc as those items could cause injury. A soft head wrap, I guess, could cause a problem if it came off the player's head.
We think, although this wasn't confirmed, that the two girls were Muslim. The visiting player who spoke to the parents said that they've never had a problem before and they have several girls on their team from Africa who play with these head wraps on.
I guess the referee got a waiver or permission to proceed with the game because after about 15 minutes, the teams took the field and the match proceeded. The girls with the head wraps did play.
We won 10-0. It could have been 20-0, but our team wasn't allowed to score beyond a certain point or they could only take a shot after so many passes had been made. About 4 goals were off of headers.
It was an interesting night. The comments from the parents about what was going on were quite interesting as well. But that can be a post for another day.
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