We spend a great deal of time here on Highbrid Nation discussing the issue of racism. This weekend afternoon I figured I’d discuss a story about a different form of prejudice….SEXISM. The story come from Beaverton, Oregon where a 12-year-old basketball stud was kicked out of her basketball league all because she’s a girl.

6 foot tall, Jaime Nared was dominating the girls division…kicking butts and taking names. So much so that her coach and parents decided her talents were better suited for the boys’ league.

As we all know, girls hit their growth spurt much earlier than boys so she towered over many of her pre-pubescent male counterparts. The other players’ parents were fine when Jaime first joined the league thinking she’d suck.

“They were great … until she blocked the first shot. Then they were like, ‘Hey, we don’t want this big kid coming out and making us look bad,’” Michael Abraham, Jaime’s coach told ABC News.

Self-righteous parents started taking notice of Jaime’s domination and complained to organizers of the league called The Hoop. Jaime was told she could no longer play with the boys, citing some cockamamie rule against mixed-gender teams. Sound like separate but equal?

ABC News has more on the story but being the pot stirrer that I am I’ve hunted down the contact information for the organizers of the league. I’m going to wave the flag on this one and am asking Highbrid Nation to join me. Below are the contacts for the “powers that be” over at the The Hoop. Will you join me in calling and writing them to voice your displeasure on their sexist ruling? The Highbrid Nation is now roughly 60,000 strong. If even half of us contact The Hoop we may be able to make a difference. I’ll keep you posted. Use the comment section to alert us to what the response was. Thanks for your help.

David Vizzini
General Manager
vizzini@thehoop.com
503.644.2191 X304

Matt Isborn
Director Programming / Marketing
Isborn@thehoop.com
503.644.2191 X317

Neal Franzer
Director of Operations
Franzer@thehoop.com
503.644.2191 X319