New S.D. Schools Policy Will Let Girls Play Contact Sports

High-school girls will be allowed to wrestle and play football with boys under a proposed policy change being drafted by the San Diego Unified School District, Supt. Thomas W. Payzant said Tuesday.

The change, which does not require the approval of the Board of Education, was prompted by a request from Mira Mesa High School sophomore Kerry Hanley to try out for the boys’ wrestling team, according to school officials and Mira Mesa wrestling coach Jon Talbott.

“I think if a young woman wants to participate (in contact sports) even though it has not been traditional or common, I think the young woman should be allowed to do it,” Payzant said. Payzant said he has not asked for coaches’ opinions of the current practice, which he called “a wrong procedure.”

Wayne C. DeBate, secondary athletics manager for the school system, said, “I guess we were trying to stay a jump ahead of what we figured might be inevitable.”

Talbott said he is not opposed to the 95-pound Hanley trying out for his team because she is about as strong as her male competitors in that weight class. But in heavier weight classes, girls would be overmatched, he said.

Male wrestlers have generally accepted the idea of Hanley seeking a spot on the team and said they would not be uncomfortable wrestling her, Talbott said. “They said that if she can do all the workouts, then I guess she can come out,” he said.

“I would hope they would treat her just like another wrestler,” Talbott said. “That’s the only way it can really work. If she holds her own, she holds her own. If she doesn’t, that’s her problem.”

Payzant said he hoped to adopt the policy next Tuesday--when it will be reviewed by the school board--in time for wrestling team tryouts, which begin Nov. 18. It would cover football, but not basketball, which is also classified as a contact sport, because high school girls can play on separate girls basketball teams.

DeBate said girls already are permitted to play on boys’ water polo teams.

The policy change would add San Diego to a growing number of communities around the country allowing girls to try out for traditionally all-male contact sports. Courts in New Jersey and Ohio have awarded girls the chance to try out for football teams. A Connecticut athletic conference and the Portland, Ore., school board dropped their prohibitions voluntarily.

On Sept. 30, Los Angeles Unified School District officials dropped an unofficial school board policy and allowed freshman Lizzie Luna to play for Westchester High School’s “B” football team.

Grossmont Union School District trustees in La Mesa voted, 4-1, in May to prohibit 5-foot-11, 155-pound Karen Davis from playing on the Helix High School football team. A September advisory ruling by the state legislative counsel that Davis should be allowed to play came after Davis had given up her dream of playing for the team. The Grossmont trustees later changed the policy to allow girls to try out for contact sports.

High school football coaches had differing opinions of the proposal Tuesday.

“I don’t mind it a bit,” said Steve Miner, coach at Madison High School. “I have no qualms whatsoever. If the girl has got the physical requirements to play, I don’t mind a bit.”

John Schlackett, football coach at Morse High School, said that “wrestling would be trouble with some of the young men. People say that it shouldn’t matter or anything, but I think it would be real difficult for some young men to go one-on-one against a young female.”

Dick Haines, football coach at Vista High School, called the proposal “kind of stupid. Do you actually think girls can play football? I challenge you to get the best girl you can find and put her up against one of my 6-foot, 5-inch offensive tackles who runs the 40 (yards) in 4.8 (seconds).

“I love ladies and they can do a lot of things I can’t do, but I just don’t think football is one of them.”

Hanley probably will not make the varsity, where City Eastern League champion John Medina should win the 95-pound spot, but she could have a shot at the junior varsity, Talbott said.

“She can do 10 pull-ups, and she’s a pretty good little runner,” Talbott said. “At 95 pounds, she’s not a whole lot different strength-wise than a lot of the guys.”

Contributing to this report was Chris Ello, a free-lance writer for The Times.