Safety or Sportsmanship?

I read a story this morning about a high school football team who chose to forfeit a game because the headmaster thought the other team was simply too big and too good.  My first instinct was to dump this story into the "America's going soft" pile but I chose to dig a little deeper.  St. George's Academy (Middletown, RI) and Lawrence Academy (Groton, MA) are private schools in the New England area and play in the Independent School League.  Both teams sported a 2-0 record and were set to compete October 8th.  Seemingly out of nowhere, the headmaster of St. George's decided to forfeit the game out of concern for the safety of his players.  WJAR-TV provides an account of the story as well as parent reaction in the video below (Email subscribers click here). 



Even after watching the video, my overloaded male pride screamed, "Let the kids play!"  So what if the other team has Division I recruits.  Line 'em up and let's see what happens.  Well, I did a little more digging and it appears the headmaster at St. George's may have a point.  Boston.com has an extensive prep sports page and lists the heights and weights of several football teams.  These kids at Lawrence are big, really big.  I won't list all the kids here, but I will give the five biggest players on each team.

St. George's
6'1"  225
6'2"  220
6'1"  210
5'8"  210
6'2"  200

Lawrence
6'5"  350
6'4"  335
6'2"  300
6'5"  278
6'2"  255

I'm not saying anyone should give up.  I'm not saying they should've played either.  What do you think?  Would you have allowed your child to play against Lawrence?  Remember safety and sportsmanship are not mutually exclusive.  Until next time...

Be a Good Sport!

-Sol