CLARK, N.J. (AP) – Two girls have been cleared to rejoin a boys’ Catholic youth basketball squad in New Jersey after church officials reversed an earlier decision that the fifth-grade team could not be coed.
Archdiocese of Newark Cardinal Joseph Tobin announced the change Wednesday.
The boys on the St. John’s team in Clark had decided to give up their season rather than play a game without their female teammates. The rest of their season was then forfeited.
The archdiocese had said that Catholic Youth Organization rules state that teams should be boys or girls only. However, NJ.com found that the league rules do not mention whether the teams in St. John’s division – the JV black league – can or cannot be coed.
Archdiocese spokesman Jim Goodness said Tobin believes that the team shouldn’t have been penalized for mistakes that adults responsible for following league rules might have made.