A Nebraska soccer organization disqualified an Omaha-area girls’ team from a weekend tournament because it thought an 8-year-old girl on the squad was a boy.
Mili Hernandez has short dark hair and loves soccer, in fact she's so good at it, she plays on the team for 11 year olds, but on Sunday, the final day of a tournament, the Springfield Soccer Club suddenly disqualified Mili's team because she "looks like a boy," according to ESPN.
"Just because I look like a boy doesn't mean I am a boy. They don't have a reason to kick the whole club out," Mili told WOWT TV.
The decision upset the girl.
Her dad, Gerardo Hernandez said his daughter was “shocked” by the move. “She was crying after they told us … They made her cry.”
Hernandez even showed tournament officials his daughter’s health insurance card in an effort to prove her gender, but they refused to accept it.
The incident generated a high-profile response from soccer legends Abby Wambach and Mia Hamm, who both took to Twitter to show their support for Mili.
“Hey Mili, we would love to host you at one of our camps @TeamFirstSA. Be you!,” Hamm tweeted.
“Mili, don’t EVER let anyone tell you that you aren’t perfect just as you are. I won championships with short hair,” Wambach posted.
The Nebraska State Soccer Association has condemned the tournament's decision, ESPN reported, releasing a statement that read in part "While Nebraska State Soccer did not oversee the Springfield Tournament, we recognize that out core values were simply not present this past weekend … and we apologize to this young girl, her family and her soccer club for this unfortunate misunderstanding."
About the Author
