Riley Gaines praises HS field hockey team's decision to forfeit, takes swipe at NCAA president

Riley Gaines praised a Massachusetts high school for deciding its girls field hockey team should forgo playing a team that had boys on it, and she also took a swipe at NCAA President Charlie Baker.

Gaines, the host of OutKick’s "Gaines for Girls" podcast and the director at the Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute, appeared on "Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich" to talk about Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School’s decision to forfeit against Somerset Berkley.

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"This is what leadership looks like. There was a team, it was last year, actually, it’s the high school – it’s called Dighton-Rehoboth field hockey," Gaines said, mentioning last year’s incident. "They are playing another team, Swampscott. A boy is on that team. He slaps a shot, it hits one of the female players in the face. I mean, Dan, she lost all of her teeth. She had to go undergo facial reconstruction surgery to reconstruct her face, her smile."

"The superintendent released a statement, and he said safety matters more than victory. And I thought that was just incredibly well put. He even went on to say, you know, we might not even get a playoff spot. We might not be able to compete in our league’s championship, and that’s OK because I’m doing my job of prioritizing and protecting my students, my athletes."

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Tuesday’s decision to forfeit, which came after coaches and team captains convened on the matter, came after a new policy that was put in place allowing players and/or coaches to opt out of any games or competitions against an opposing team that "includes a member of the opposite sex."

"In accordance with School Committee Police JJIB – Interscholastic Athletics, whose updates were approved by the Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School Committee on June 25, 2024, the District has notified Somerset Berkley Regional High School that we will be forfeiting the Field Hockey contest scheduled for September 17," the school district’s statement read. 

"Our Field Hockey coaches and captains made this decision, and we notified our opponent accordingly," the statement continued. "The District supports this decision as there are times where we have to place a higher value on safety than on victory. We understand this forfeit will impact our chances for a league championship and possibly playoff eligibility, but we remain hopeful that other schools consider following suit to achieve safety and promote fair competition for female athletes."

Gaines said she wished Baker would follow suit.

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"I wish the NCAA president, Charlie Baker," Gaines said, "I wish they had half the gumption that this superintendent – I believe his name is Bill Runey – I wish they had half of the courage and the spine that Bill Runey possesses."

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