SMITHTOWN, N.Y. (The Blaze/AP) -- An athletics committee on Long Island has ruled that a 13-year-old boy can keep playing field hockey on the girls' team at Southampton High School.
The ruling is a reversal of fortune for the student, Keeling Pilaro. The boy had played on the girls' team at Southampton High this season. But, as The Blaze previously reported, the committee decided earlier this spring that his skills had become too advanced for him to continue playing on a coed squad.
(Related: 13-Year-Old Banned from NY Field Hockey Team for Being Too Good)
CBS News has more about the back story:
Keeling was good enough in eighth grade to make varsity after having been reared in Ireland, where field hockey is a popular sport. But his dreams were recently dashed after it was deemed his participation had an “adverse effect” on the game.“They told me I wasn’t allowed to play because I had advanced skills that I learned in Ireland,” Keeling told CBS 2′s Jennifer McLogan.
Following the decision, the boy appealed. And after a hearing Tuesday, the committee reversed its earlier decision. The new ruling will allow the 4-foot-8, 82-pound student to return for one more season with the girls.
See CBS News correspondent Terrell Brown face-off against the young player:
There are no boys' high school field hockey teams on Long Island. Today's decision was announced by the committee's attorney.
