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FA rules force Amaranth player to leave club
Ten-year-old Bethany Turner has said her goodbyes to her Amaranth team-mates with Football Association rules now enforcing her to play her junior football elsewhere.
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Bethany has played with Amaranth for four seasons and netted in the U-11s' season finale which they lost 9-4 to Horton Foxes.
However, there will be no fifth campaign for Bethany with girls forbidden to play in mixed teams beyond 10-years-old.
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Carl Harrison, coach of Amaranth U-11s, feels his female star player should not have to suffer due to mere red tape.
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"Up until under-11s, boys and girls can play in the same team but beyond that the girls have to play together," he told Cross Gates Today. "It's as simple as that.
"I genuinely believe that if kids are good enough then they should have the opportunity to mix with the best but now she is on the look-out for another team.
"She is quite disappointed.
"It would be nice if this could get sorted longer-term for other girls in a similar position and we did discuss the possibility of us, as a club, making a plea to Parliament or something.
"As time goes on, she could lag behind the boys physically, so from that point of view maybe it is for the best. But if a player is somebody else's equal they should be given the opportunity."
Amaranth's loss will be another team's gain – Bethany is in talks with the West Riding County FA about their development group for ladies teams.
Harrison says Bethany has much to offer her prospective new club, not least a highly-commendable attitude.
"She can play basically anywhere in the back four but for the last game of the season I put her up front for the last 10 minutes," said Harrison.
"We won a penalty and she scored it so she got her first-ever goal!
"She is a very good player and I wish I had a pound for every time somebody said 'oh, great, they have got a girl in their side'.
"She then makes a great tackle and wipes the smile off the opposition faces.
"She is a tremendously solid player and one of these players with what I call a real football brain.
"We just have to accept it and move on but her attitude throughout has been superb."
* Amaranth are now looking for new players ahead of next season, with those interested asked to contact Carl Harrison at: carlh@fsmail.net or on 0779 2070470.
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Friday 18 May 2012
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