FILE: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. A mother filed a federal lawsuit last week to allow her son to play in a Missouri high school's soccer team. (U.S. District Courts)
A Missouori mom claimed in a federal suit that her teenage son was the victim of age and sex discrimination after he failed to make his high school's varsity soccer team and-- due to his age-- could no longer play on the school's junior varsity team either, St. Louis' Fox 2 Now reported.
The unnamed mother of a Ladue High School student filed a temporary restraining order last week to allow her son to play for the school's junior varsity team, the station reported. The request was denied by the court.
School officials had said if a junior fails to make a the varsity team, he is also not allowed to play on the junior varsity team, the report said. The reason was to allow younger students to develop their skills for varsity.
The mother said her son, identified as John Doe in the suit, already played on the J.V. soccer team, and is good enough to play again this year.
The suit also claimed that the rules are different for the girls' soccer team, according to Fox 2.
“Female juniors get to play on the female junior varsity team, but male juniors don’t get to play on the male junior varsity,” said the family’s lawyer, who asked not to be named, according to the New York Post.
The lawyer offered John Does' player performance ratings from other coaches that show he is better than some of the males who made varsity, the report said.
The teen's mother claiming she had no choice but to turn to federal courts, said her son will face "irreparable harm" if not put on the soccer team "swiftly," St. Louis' River Front Times reported.
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