Nichole+H’s+2017+OpEd+Article

= Boys Play Tough, So Can Girls =

** By Nichole Hendrix **
====** Okay, I have played soccer for most of my life and I have gotten good at it. However, I was always known for hurt every game.But I was getting hurt because I was playing tough on the field. I would even practice with my brothers team and I would go against the older boys unafraid to put my body out there. Yet the guys would be cautious, since they didn't want to hurt me. I mean,yes, they were 4 years or older than me, but that shouldn't have changed the way they played. Why is it that because I'm a girl, guys play down? I'm just as capable as any of them, yet because I have the lable "girl" they think they need to be careful and treat me as something fragile? **====

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====** Well let me tell you something, that is not needed. Just because I'm a girl doesn't change the game does it? No I don't think so. It shouldn't. However, I can't tell you how many times I have come across guys while playing soccer don't want ot go against a girl because they can't "handle it". Oh, because we are physically different and are "girls," they think we are not tough enough to play at the level of a boy? How was that conclusion reached? Let me tell you that I played co-ed spring soccer, so I was playing against 16-19 year olds both girls and boys when I was 15. And most of the guys were cocky, so they didn't think much about playing against girls, they thought girls wouldn't do much anyway. Knowing me, I didn't like that, so I gave them Hell, I would knock them down or be such a pest that they would get so flustered and mess up. But because I pushed back so would they. There was a t **** ime when one of the guys knocked me down pretty hard and he reacted like he had shot me or something, but I was fine, yeah it hurt but I wasn't dying. So don't think that if you hit me I'll die or something, I can take it, so treat me as an equal on the field. **====

====** Personally, I will put my body out there when necessary, whether it be agianst a gilr or boy. Because of that I always come home with scratches or bruises after a game, but that's just how I play, I'm not afraid to get cut or bruised, it will heal. I do what I need to do. But people need to stop thinking that girls are not strong or tough enough to play at the same level. We are very capable. What do we need to do to get people to understand? Do we need to be like Viola in the movie, She's the Man, and disguise ourselves as boys and play on the boys team? **====