LOCUST GROVE, Ga. — A mother is Georgia is expressing offense at what she perceives as being gender discrimination after the Christian school that her daughter attends decided to discontinue allowing the girl to play on the boys’ football team.

According to reports, the football coach at Strong Rock Christian School recently contacted the parents of 12-year-old Maddy Blythe and stated that although he attempted to keep Blythe on the team, officials decided to no longer allow the girl to play with the boys. She had played on the team during the last school season.

“[The CEO said] that men and women are created equal but different,” Maddy told reporters. “And he said that he prayed about it and it was the wrong thing to do [to permit me to play football with the boys].”

However, her parents disagreed with the decision, stating that women can perform just as good as men.

“My girl can handle herself,” Blythe’s mother Cassy, a former police officer, told CBS Atlanta. “I’ve seen girls in the military. I’ve seen fellow female police officers who went out there and they busted tail and they were just as good, if not better, in some aspects.”

She said that her daughter had pleaded to let her play and is now disappointed that the school has decided to change its policy.

“Madison begged to play football for years,” Blythe outlined. “I broke down last year and let her play for her Christian school. She’s the product of a female cop; who am I to tell her no?”

After Blythe allowed her daughter to be on the team, Maddy served as a defensive tackle for Strong Rock Christian School — that is, until now.

“I was told by the CEO that he did not believe girls should play on boys teams,” she explained. “He was worried 1) the boys might have impure thoughts, 2) the locker room talk might be a bit much for her to handle, 3) boys and girls should not compete in any sport, 4) there are other sports she can play, 5) they are a private school and can make any decision they want, and 6) he prayed about it and this was the right thing to do.”

“He also quoted the Bible by saying that men and women are created equal but different and therefore should not be allowed to play the same sports,” Blythe added.

Following the decision, Maddy’s family decided to start a Facebook page entitled “Let Her Play” to generate support, as well as a petition against “gender discrimination” at Solid Rock Christian School.

While school officials have not yet commented on the matter publicly, athletic director Phil Roberts told local station 11Alive News that “official policy is that middle school girls play girl sports and middle school boys play boy sports.”

Some Christians believe that it is important for women to remain feminine and not blur the lines of differentiation between boys and girls. As previously reported, Wesley Strackbein of Vision Forum Ministries in San Antonio, Texas outlined that he believes it is unBiblical for women to serve manly roles, such as participating in the nation’s Armed Forces.

“[I]t is Biblically impermissible and a profound judgment upon our nation for men to abdicate their role as protectors and warriors by permitting and perpetuating the practice of women in the military,” he wrote in an article on the ministry’s website. “It represents an abolition of womanhood and the perversion of God’s design. It represents a deeply-rooted rebellion against the natural roles and functions by which God has distinguished manhood from womanhood.”

Photo: CBS Atlanta

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