The Charlottesville Cavaliers had won five games at a national tournament in South Carolina. They were doing extremely well and feeling great about their chances of winning. Then all of the sudden they were disqualified and not allowed to continue playing. Why? Because one of the team members is a girl.
The Virginia team plays with the National Travel Basketball Association. Kymora has been playing with the Cavaliers since she was five-years-old. Her mom, Jessica Thomas-Johnson, said there was no girls’ team for her age so she played with the boys. The boys have accepted her, treated her equally, and made her a part of the team. She has even been to the national games for the last two years.
The new “No Girls Allowed” rule only applies for the national tournament. They can play in league games and scrimmages. Kimora apparently volunteered to be disqualified on her own, so the team could finish the tournament. It was too late and there was also another team who had been disqualified because a girl was part of the squad.
Mom, Thomas-Johnson, said that the officials knew she was a girl when they came in and started the tournament. The president of the basketball league, John Whitley, said the issue was that the girl was playing in the games, not just sitting on the bench. “We have no problem with the girls sitting on the bench…We don’t care who sits on the bench with the teams, that goes for anybody…to sit on the bench.” Whitley said he told the coaches about the new rule, but the coaches broke the rule by playing the girls. Kymora’s coach said he was never told about the rule or else he would have asked her not to play in the tournament.
Kymora’s mom summed it up, “I can’t believe this is 2015, and my daughter isn’t allowed to play with boys…What message does this send to other girls? What message does it send to boys?” She is absolutely right, what is this teaching our kids? Why can’t a girl be on the team? If she can compete on the same level why should anyone deny her that right?
The team wore pink shorts and stood on the sidelines to protest their disqualification. Kymora is hoping to continue playing with the Cavs next year. She wants to fight for her right to play.
