Harrold district at forefront of 2 gender-barrier issues
The tiny northwest Texas school district in Harrold is known for its independent streak: It was the first in the state to allow teachers to carry concealed handguns and also the first to challenge a federal transgender restroom policy.
Now, the district is preparing to field a coed high school football team.
Until Monday morning, the 2016 edition of the Harrold High School Hornets had just five players out for football. But the Hornets compete in Class A, six-man football, the smallest football classification in Texas.
Student transfers and a general disinterest in playing meant that head coach Craig Templeton could not fill all roster spots this season. And to make matters worse, of the 30 high school students enrolled at Harrold, only eight are boys.
Templeton, the longtime athletic director, principal and coach, has contended with low numbers the past two seasons, but only five players meant he would likely have to forfeit this season. But, just when the Hornets thought they might not even make it out of two-a-days with a squad, in stepped junior Olivia Perez.
The 5-foot-4-inch, 115-pound stalwart on the Lady Hornets’ volleyball team saw what was happening to Templeton and her male classmates, so she decided she wanted to help.
“Olivia came to me on Friday about potentially playing for us this year to make sure we had six players. I wasn’t so high on the idea at first, and I wanted to make sure everything was OK on her end, so I told her to take the weekend and think about it,” Templeton said.
When Monday morning came, Perez was still solid on her decision. Templeton tentatively agreed to ease into the situation, and as of now, she is a member of the Harrold Hornets.
Harrold vs. Washington
On another matter involving gender challenges, on Friday, lawyers from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office will be in a federal courtroom in Fort Worth on behalf of the Harrold school district to try to block implementation of the Obama administration’s recent guidelines for accommodating transgender students in public schools.
Harrold, about 150 miles northwest of Fort Worth, is the lead plaintiff in the suit, which includes Texas and at least 10 other states. It claims the Justice and Education departments want to turn schools into “laboratories for a massive social experiment” by saying a student’s internal sense of gender identity is protected from discrimination.
School districts nationwide learned about the “experiment” on May 13 when Washington issued a directive that transgender students be allowed to use restrooms that represent their gender identities, not their biological sex. School districts risk losing federal funding if they do not comply.
On May 23, Harrold school trustees, at the request of Paxton’s office, unanimously approved a policy that states, “Every multiple occupancy bathroom or changing facility shall be designated for and used only by individuals based on their biological sex.”
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor is to hear the state’s request for a preliminary injunction to block implementation of the federal guidelines.
According to the suit, the Harrold district’s operating budget for 2015-16 is more than $1.4 million. Of that, $117,000 is from the federal government.
It’s about friendship
The Harrold Hornets’ season is still very much in jeopardy.
“I would say right now, this is not even a day-by-day situation. It’s more like an hour-by-hour thing going on,” Templeton joked on Wednesday.
“My main priority right now is to protect Olivia. She came out to workouts with us on Monday, but she had a volleyball game on Tuesday, so she hasn’t had a lot of reps with us. I don’t know if this will work or not, but her reasoning is so selfless, and the five boys I have are working their tails off, so I think the least I can do is give this a shot.”
Besides just trying to help her school field a team, Perez had another idea in mind when she decided to don the pads and cleats. Harrold’s lone senior, Brady Blakely, is a talented player who won first team all-district honors as a defensive lineman last season. Perez didn’t want her friend to not have the chance to play in his final year at Harrold.
Blakely’s father died of cancer in November on the night before Harrold played rival Chillicothe. The Eagles paid tribute to him by wearing the Hornets’ purple colors and with both teams joining in a prayer led by Templeton and Chillicothe’s coach Clint Miller.
Perez knew how important Blakely’s senior year meant to not only him as a player, but as a way to honor his father for one last season.
“When they told me they didn’t have enough for a team, I stuck my head out and told Coach Templeton that I wanted to play. I want to play for Brady, because I know his dad would’ve wanted him to be on the field for his senior year,” Perez said.
“I talked it over with my mom, and she was OK with the idea, especially since I was doing it for Brady. She knows I’m tough. I’m familiar with the six-man game because I’ve been the team’s manager before, and I like football in general. I’ve also grown up rough-housing with my brother and my older cousin. They never treated me like a girl. I think I can handle some contact and come out all right.”
Blakely’s voice cracked slightly as he talked about what Perez has decided to do, especially as it pertains to the relationship with his father. When some of his male classmates decided not to play football this year, the senior was overwhelmed that his female buddy might help salvage the season.
“I was counting on a couple of guys to come out this year that didn’t, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes. I’m very grateful to Olivia for at least giving us an opportunity to play football,” Blakely said.
“We all have nothing but gratitude for her, and we’re going to do the best we can to protect her. She’s one of us.”
Two sports affected
As great as Perez’s intentions are, there is a harsh reality that both Templeton and head volleyball coach Carla Kent face. The Lady Hornets have the talent to potentially grab a district title in volleyball, but are competing with only six players right now. But if Perez were to get hurt, it’s likely that the football and volleyball seasons would grind to a halt.
“Right now I’m a really, really nervous coach,” Kent said somewhat jokingly on Wednesday morning. “I am prepared to fully support Olivia with what she chooses to do. The team supports her. But I would be lying if I didn’t say I am a little bit worried about her getting injured. She is a tough girl, but some of those boys are pretty big out there.”
Girls have certainly been seen on football teams before, but normally that comes at the junior high or sub-varsity level in high school. And rarely, if ever, has a female athlete been on the field for every snap as a starter.
The fact that Perez will never leave the field if Templeton moves forward with the idea — that’s something that Templeton says absolutely calls for precaution.
“I’ve got to do my best to devise a plan to keep her somewhat protected out there. My main concern is on kickoffs and kickoff returns. A lot of the most violent collisions happen on those exchanges,” Templeton said. “We will probably work her at end and split her out as much as possible to avoid the pile-ups that can happen in the middle. As for the special teams, I’m not sure at this point how that will work.”
Perez got her first taste of contact Wednesday morning and held her own for the most part. She wasn’t familiar with the usual football drills or the terminology, but she certainly didn’t back down because of it. Templeton took several opportunities to teach his players, and in particular Perez, about the importance of tackling with the head up, looking at the target.
The good news for the Hornets is that Templeton has canceled any potential scrimmages, and their first opponent, Patton Springs, has already forfeited because of a lack of players. That means Perez should have several weeks to ease into the gridiron routine before taking the field under the Friday-night lights.
But, even if the Hornets never play a game this year, or if they run through their now nine-game schedule and stay completely healthy, neither scenario is what’s important. As of today, five kids who want nothing more than to simply play football now have the opportunity because a classmate “stuck my head out.”
And that, Templeton said, is an effort worth applauding.
This is an AP member exchange that includes material from Star-Telegram archives.
This story was originally published August 11, 2016 at 10:53 PM with the headline "Harrold district at forefront of 2 gender-barrier issues."