Sixteen-year-old, Emily Nash, a student from Lunenburg High School plays on the boys golf team. She played in the Central Mass. Division 3 boys golf tournament, hitting from the same tees as the boys. She won with a score of 75 and the runner up scored 4 strokes behind her. She couldn’t claim the trophy though because she was a girl and she won’t be advancing to the state tournament. According to pga.com, article “MIAA explains why female high school golfer who won the boys’ tournament was not allowed to claim the trophy.”

According to MIAA Rules, “Girls playing on a fall boys’ team cannot be entered in the Boys Fall Individual Tournament. They can only play in the Boys Team Tournament. If qualified, they can play in the spring Girls Sectional and State Championships.”

Girls can play on the boys team during the fall but their score only counts towards the team’s total and not individual capacity. If they qualify during the fall boys season then they can compete in the girls tournament in the spring.

“She should’ve gotten it [the trophy]” said Junior Connor Small, member of the Triton Golf team, “ she won fair and square.”  

Junior, Matt Duncan also a member of the golf team, believes she should have been able to claim her win, “it goes against the equality of men and women,” he said. “If she wins, then she deserves the win.”

According to CBS Boston, the boy who came in second and claimed the trophy offered it to her but she declined and is not calling for a rule change.

In 2011, MIAA made many rules applying to boys playing field hockey after there were a lot of boys beginning to play on the girl field hockey teams. The MIAA field hockey committee voted 12-0 on this changed rule, with their main concern being safety. In overtime only one boy is allowed on the field and only two are allowed at all other times. They are not allowed in the goal and they are not allowed to play in the striking circle. So if there are so many rules against boys playing girls sports there has to be rules against girls playing boys sports.

Golf coach of Triton, Mr. Richard Dube, agrees with the rule that states she cannot win a boys tournament. “The girls have their own tournament in the spring so I think it’s a fine rule,” he said. “Boys can’t play in the girls tournament so why should girls be allowed to play in the boys?”