Under a new school policy established this summer, the Dighton-Rehoboth field hockey team will forfeit its South Coast Conference game against Somerset Berkley next Tuesday to avoid facing an opponent with a male player on the roster.
The action follows a serious injury suffered by a Dighton-Rehoboth player last November in an MIAA Division 3 first-round state tournament game against Swampscott. A shot off the stick of a male player struck the Dighton-Rehoboth player in the face, and her injuries required hospitalization and extensive dental work.
In July, the Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School Committee changed its interscholastic athletics policy to allow players and/or coaches to opt out of games and meets in which the opponent includes a member of the opposite sex.
In accordance with the state’s equal rights amendment, which is followed by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, boys are allowed to compete on girls’ teams when that sport is not offered with a male equivalent. In 2021, the MIAA voted to create a seven-on-seven all-boys’ field hockey league, but there has not been enough traction or participation to make it viable.
Somerset Berkley, which won back-to-back Division 1 titles in 2018-19 with two prominent male players on its roster, has one male on this year’s team. After going unbeaten in the 2023 regular season (17-0-1), the Raiders are off to a 2-0 start.
On Monday, Dighton-Rehoboth superintendent Bill Runey used the policy for the first time. On Tuesday, the district’s athletic director, Matthew McKinnon, confirmed to the Globe that the school also intends to forfeit its game against Somerset Berkley scheduled for Oct. 8. The decision, according to Runey, was made by the team’s coaches and captains.
With the two forfeit losses, recorded as 3-0 defeats for MIAA power rankings, D-R will play 14 regular- season games on the field. The Falcons have made four straight postseason appearances.
Runey does not expect to forfeit any more than those two games.
“To our knowledge, Somerset Berkley is the only field hockey squad with males on our regular-season schedule,” he said.
“We understand this forfeit will impact our chance for a league championship and possibly playoff eligibility, but we remain hopeful that other schools consider following suit to achieve safety and promote fair competition for female athletes.”
In a statement, the MIAA said regular-season athletic contests are managed at the local level between the competing schools.
Longtime Somerset Berkley field hockey coach Jen Crook said Tuesday that the move by Dighton-Rehoboth was not a surprise.
“Aware during the summer,” wrote Crook via text message. “Old news here.”
Kat Cornetta can be reached at sportsgirlkat@gmail.com.
