This week, a number of boys, including some residents of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, are playing field hockey for the East Coast Junior and other teams at the National Championship tournament in Chula Vista, Calif.

And yet, in a recent conversation between sophomore Mat Levine and Waynesboro (Pa.) athletic Director Dennis McLaughlin, the latter said, “Boys don’t play field hockey.”

A month ago, a sophomore in a Miami high school was not given a chance to retake a chemistry exam and was given a failing grade. Her only crime was to miss a day to compete in a field hockey tournament, despite the fact that numerous such retakes are granted to football and basketball players at her school.

On this July 4, especially with a Commander-In-Chief whose political slogan was “Yes We Can,” please think about people in this country who don’t have the freedom to compete, to play in the sport of their choosing, on a safe competition surface with common-sense rules mirroring those governing the sport in the rest of the world.