CHARLESTON — A father says the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission and the West Virginia Department of Education are discriminating against his daughter based on her gender because they won't let her play on the boy's soccer team.
Joseph Gregor's daughter, Anna Gregor, has played soccer since she was 4 years old and is now 16 and an 11th-grade student at Sissonville High School, according to a complaint filed October 6 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
"Anna is an exceptional soccer player," Sharon Iskra, the attorney for the plaintiffs, told The West Virginia Record. "In fact, she is so good, she was invited to train with the Sissonville High School Boys' soccer team and also to serve as their team manager. Her skills and a long summer of hard work earned her a starting midfielder position on that team."
Iskra said she successfully had completed 18 practices when the WVSSAC stepped in and said she had to stop for one reason only: she's a girl.
"First, they said Title IX prohibited a girl from joining the boys' team," Iskra said. "Then they said WVSSAC Rule 3.8 prohibited it. When we pointed out the flaws in both of those arguments, they dismissed Anna from even practicing with the team, citing another rule they said prohibits team managers from practicing with teams of the opposite sex. We've never seen that rule, and we don't think it or their incorrect interpretation of Title IX serve any purpose at all, other than to discriminate against qualified female athletes."
Iskra said that when the rest of the world is moving forward toward greater diversity and integration, it is not acceptable for institutions to just point to a rule and say that's the way we've always done it.
"It is not acceptable to say we have a girls' team and therefore we've done enough, that's the end of the inquiry," Iskra said. "Especially here, where the Sissonville Boys were scheduled to play five mixed-gender teams this fall, we can't conceive of a reason justifying Anna's removal from the team after she had earned a starting position."
Iskra said all they want is for Anna Gregor to be allowed to play.
"We hope Judge Goodwin will order her reinstatement before the season ends and the opportunity is lost," Iskra said.
Anna Gregor played on the girls' soccer team at the high school from 2018 until 2020 and had many accomplishments on the team and in the state. Anna Gregor claims she wants to pursue soccer in college and has worked to best position herself for selection by Division I and Division II schools.
When Anna Gregor decided to pursue more competitive leagues, like club and recreational teams outside of her school's teams, James Swain, the coach for the boys' soccer team at the high school, was supportive of her goals to play in college and invited her to train with the boys' team.
Anna Gregor has been and is being continually and irreparably harmed due to the issue, the complaint states. James Gregor claims his daughter's 14th Amendment rights are being violated, as well as the equal protection principles of the West Virginia Constitution, the West Virginia Human Rights Act and Title IX.
James Gregor is seeking for the court to declare that excluding his daughter from the team is a violation of Anna Gregor's rights and issue an immediate temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction requiring WVSSAC to allow Anna Gregor to participate. He is being represented by Iskra and Arthur H. Bryant of Bailey & Glasser.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number: 2:20-cv-00654